Written question asked by Liam Fox (Conservative) on Thursday, 13 December 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 December 2007. It was answered by Douglas Alexander (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 January 2008 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Afghanistan

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the statement by the Prime Minister of 12 December 2007, Official Report, column 305, on Afghanistan, if he will make a statement on the national solidarity programme in Afghanistan.

Answer: I have been asked to reply.In his recent statement on Afghanistan, the Prime Minister announced funding of £21.65 million for the next phase of the Government of Afghanistan's National Solidarity Programme (NSP). This reflects the UK Government's continued commitment to this important programme. NSP has been running since May 2003 and has so far reached over 20,500 communities, providing over $400 million to support more than 31,000 development projects in the areas of agriculture, education, emergency response, health, irrigation, legal livelihoods, power, public buildings, rural development, transport, water supply and sanitation.DFID has committed a total of almost £50 million to NSP since 2003. We provided £17 million for Phase I (2003-06) and have made available up to £10.9 million for the roll-out of NSP in Helmand (2006-09).

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 470 c555W; 175481
Session: 2007-08
Related items: Afghanistan
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Commons
Subjects: Development aid Afghanistan
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk