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Afghanistan

I am grateful for what my hon. Friend has said, particularly about her constituents who have performed brave service in Afghanistan, through the work of the Navy and the naval reserves. I also agree with her that women have an important part to play in the future of Afghanistan. When I said that Afghanistan had a higher proportion of women MPs than most western countries, I was talking about a country where 80 per cent. of women were not given the chance to read and where primary and secondary education were denied them for years. Enormous advances are being made. I also agree with my hon. Friend that we should support the development of a police force that comprises women as well as men, and I shall look at what she said about that. There is another point to make. The advances that can be made in local government can be made also with support from local councils and people who are involved in local government in this country. I know that strenuous efforts are being made to link up experts on local government here with those people in Afghanistan who want to create better systems of local government there. In all those areas, local communities here as well as the Government have a role to play.