§ Baroness Williams of Crosbyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their assessment of the current situation in Afghanistan in relation to the prospects for free and fair elections, the percentage of voter registration and the proportion of women registered to vote. [HL2526]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Joint Elections Monitoring Body (JEMB), a joint Afghan Government and UN body, is leading preparations for elections. The Afghan Government are currently considering a draft electoral law and has approved a revised media law, both important steps in preparing for free and fair elections. The UK is committed to supporting the electoral process. Last year we contributed £10.55 million to support election registration. We have pledged a further £0.5 million 9WA for voter education and £2.77 million to support preparations for the elections themselves. We are working with the UN, coalition parties and NATO to consider how the international community can support the Afghan Government in delivering security to the election process.
Phase I of voter registration (in Kabul and regional centres) has been completed, and Phase II (designed to reach more rural areas) was launched on 1 May. As of 22 April 18.6 per cent of the target electoral roll has been registered (1,859,992 of 10,000,000); of which 30 per cent (551,693) were women.