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Projects funded by DFID in Afghanistan since 2002 that are now complete, including NGOs
Project title	Purpose	Implementing partners—including NGOs
International Financial Institutions arrears clearance	To clear arrears with the International Financial Institutions incurred by the Afghan Government, in order to allow them to access further loans from these institutions	World Bank
Ministry of Finance/Central Bank Enhanced economic and financial management in Afghanistan	To help build the capacity and systems of the Ministry of Finance and Central bank for enhanced economic and financial management in Afghanistan	Ministry of Finance
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Fund	Support to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency for the Afghanistan Investment Guarantee Facility (AIGF)	World Bank
Procurement Support for the AACA	Procurement support for the Afghanistan Authority for the co-ordination of Assistance (ACCA)	Afghanistan Authority for the Co-ordination of Assistance (Govt)
Bridging support for Tax Administration in Afghanistan	To provide bridging support for tax administration to the Afghan Transitional Government	Ministry of Finance
Budget Support to the Ministry of Health	Enhance the delivery of health services in Afghanistan by providing direct funding to the Ministry to enable it to begin managing its own resources and understanding the difficulties of resource allocation and budgeting	Ministry of Health
Support to Customs in Afghanistan	To provide four experienced customs officers to support the present Afghan customs advisers to implement manual customs cargo processing systems at Kabul airport and Kabul customs house	Ministry of Finance
Support to Statistical Office	The purpose of this mission is to assist the Central Statistical Office (CSO) in preparing a Strategy Plan for the whole statistical system in Afghanistan	Central Statistic Office
Counter Narcotics Trust Fund Budget	To set out a clear framework and to establish a Counter Narcotics Public Investment Programme (CN PIP) within the Government of Afghanistan’s Core Development Budget process for expenditure on Counter-Narcotics including through the Counter-Narcotics Trust Fund (CNTF)	United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
IMF/WB Technical Assistance	To participate in an IMF/World Bank mission which scope the technical assistance requirements of the Afghan Central Bank	World Bank
Accelerating Budget Execution	To kick-start the mechanisms for the acceleration of the execution of the non-salary operating budget in Afghan provinces	Ministry of Finance
Public Expenditure Review	Support the World Bank Public expenditure review through provision of an expert who will conduct a Security Sector Public Expenditure Review	World Bank
Budget Process Adviser	The primary objective is to assist the Ministry of Finance in doing a gap analysis of the budget process with particular emphasis on budget preparation and execution	Ministry of Finance
Voter Registration	To support the UNDP voter registration process in Afghanistan	UNDP
Support to 2004 Afghan Elections	To support the planning and implementation of elections in Afghanistan	UNDP
Support to Afghanistan’s Parliamentary Elections	Support to UNDP and Afghan Civil Society Forum in their efforts to provide civic education for September 2005 elections	UNDP
Civic Education for Voter Registration Project	To support Swiss Peace in their efforts to provide civic education in preparation for the elections	Swiss Peace
Constitutional Review process	To develop a new constitution for Afghanistan	United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
Constitutional Study	To identify the key issues underpinning Afghanistan’s constitutional and political development and to identify key policy options for the Afghan Transitional Administration and other members of the international community	UNAMA
DFID Support to Provincial Reconstruction Teams	To improve security in Afghanistan and to provide development assistance in the regions	UK Provincial Reconstruction Teams
Election monitoring	To improve the electoral process by monitoring it closely and making an independent assessment of the first presidential election of Afghanistan	Free and Fair Elections Foundation for Afghanistan (FEFA)
Ministerial Salaries	To design a system to ensure ATA ministers are paid salaries and expenses in a timely manner	Crown Agents/Ministry of Finance
Ministerial Expenses Support	To support the accommodation, security, travel and hospitality of Cabinet Ministers	Crown Agents/Ministry of Finance
Support to OAA and IARCSC	To provide interim capacity building support to the Office of Administrative Affairs and the Independent Administrative Reform Civil Service Commission in Afghanistan	Adam Smith Institute
Support to Afghanistan’s Parliamentary Elections	Support to UNDP and Afghan Civil Society Forum in their efforts to provide civic education for September2005 elections	UNDP and Afghan Civil Society Forum
Support to election register	To provide support to the UNDP plan to carry out election registration in Afghanistan	UNDP
Badakhshan, Integrated Rural Rehabilitation to Improve Livelihoods and Curb Poppy Cultivation	To provide support for sustainable economic and social incentives to make food production and off farm employment an attractive alternative to opium cultivation. The program is part of AKF’s larger integrated food security and social development strategy for Badakhshan	Aga Khan
Food security and health in poor rural settlements in Badakhshan, Konar and Ghor	To improve inter-district road access, strengthen local development management capacity, improve capacity, improve crop production and livestock health, improve mother and child health and raise awareness of gender and child rights	AfghanAid
Improving access to primary education in western Afghanistan	To reconstruct and rehabilitate primary schools. To provide accommodation for 16,200 children (over 50 per cent. girls) and employment opportunities for 300 teachers and 10 headmasters and the provision of stationery and textbooks	Ockenden International
Rehabilitation of Agriculture systems in Badakshan	To re-establish and strengthen food production capacity for reducing the poverty and vulnerability of farming communities affected by complex disasters over the last 20 years of the Afghan conflict	Aga Khan
ACTED—Rehabilitation of livelihoods in conflict affected areas, Kabul and Baghlan provinces	The rehabilitation of essential water supply and transport services, supporting the re-establishment of returnees by providing starter kits for housing construction and work opportunities for local people	ACTED
Afghanistan drought relief interventions and ongoing rehabilitation	To provide improved food security and living conditions for 12,600 vulnerable families of Takhar and Badakhshan provinces, and emergency winter shelter and assistance for 4,000 in East Kunduz and West Takhar provinces	TEARFUND
Relief to vulnerable families, Herat and Badghis	To meet the short-term humanitarian needs and address the medium-term livelihood needs of conflict and drought affected families in four districts of Badghis and Herat provinces	Christian Aid
Okenden International—Emergency Relief Assistance to IDPs in Badghis	To provide immediate relief to displaced families in Kushk-e-Kuna and ala Murghan through the supply of appropriate and targeted relief materials and foodstuffs	Okenden International
Vulnerable Family Food Assistance and Livelihood Restoration Programme	To provide 22,780 drought affected and vulnerable families with 50 kg of wheat per family per month over five months	Christian Aid
Solidarities-Seeds and Fertilizers’ Distribution to returnees of Bamyan Province	To increase agricultural production, to stabilise the returnees and initiate sustainable development through (1) helping 6,800 families of returnees from Bamyan and Saighan districts settle again by starting agricultural activities and (2) improving the yields obtained by farmers usually cultivating spring wheat through introduction of improved wheat seeds	Solidarities (NGO)

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) staff and (b) funds his Department have committed to Helmand Province and Kandahar Province. [98905]

Hilary Benn: As part of the original UK Joint Plan for Helmand, DFID deployed one development adviser to work alongside other UK Government Departments in Helmand. In January 2007, DFID will fund and take responsibility for the quick impact project manager.

DFID has committed £4 million this financial year to the UK Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) funding allocation of £6.5 million for the delivery of quick impact projects (QIPS) in Helmand.

DFID has also funded the £30 million Helmand Agricultural Rural Development Programme (HARDP) which will run for three years.

Some of DFID’s other livelihoods programmes operate in Helmand. Through the £3 million DFID-funded Research into Alternative Livelihoods Fund (RALF), the Restorative Agriculture and Rural Economy Research Project, implemented by Mercy Corps, is working on export feasibility of grapes, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplants and okra, and has made strong contacts with raisin importers (organic and fair-trade). The programme is evaluating at least 10 different small-scale agri-processing industries, and producing case studies of enterprises that prove to have value added, for example tomato paste.

We have not committed any funds specifically to Kandahar. A development adviser has been recruited to be based in Kandahar for 2007.

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2006, Official Report, column 1887W, on Afghanistan, how many staff from his Department are based in Helmand Province to oversee the spending of the £37 million referred to; and what auditing procedures are in place to ensure value for money and transparency. [99041]

Hilary Benn: The UK Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) (referred to in answer, Official Report, column 1887W to which DFID has committed £4 million) is managed by the Helmand Executive Group,
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consisting of members of four UK Government Departments, with financial accountability resting with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The UK has deployed a Quick Impact Project Manager to Helmand to manage the GCPP financial systems on behalf of all Government Departments. DFID has deployed one Development Adviser to work alongside other Government Departments in Helmand province.

The £30 million committed to the Helmand Agricultural Rural Development Programme (HARDP) is implemented by the Government of Afghanistan. This is an important way of strengthening Government systems and building effective state institutions that will be able to continue to meet Afghanistan's development needs. This is managed by the three-person Livelihoods Team in Kabul, who work closely with the Ministry of Reconstruction and Rural Development (MRRD) and the Ministry of Finance in Kabul to ensure proper implementation. In the delivery of HARDP all procurement for services is undertaken by the Ministry of Reconstruction and Rural Development (MRRD) using recently adopted Government of Afghanistan procedures, which are based on World Bank procurement best practice. MRRD is responsible for identification, selection and appointment of Facilitating Partners. This is carried out through a competitive bidding process.

DFID funds are channelled through Crown Agents Financial Services Limited (CAFSL). The Ministry of Finance and MRRD will be required to provide annual audited statements by the Government of Afghanistan Auditor General, with copies to DFID. This will provide assurance that the funds are transferred for the purposes specified in the agreement with the Government of Afghanistan. The existing National Priority Programmes were set up following international accounting and auditing procedures, and there are oversight mechanisms already in place which will provide adequate reassurance that fiduciary risks are being managed.

Referring to the £3 million funding to the Research into Alternative Livelihoods Fund (RALF), this is similarly managed by DFID Afghanistan. Lead agencies implementing projects under RALF (i.e. Mercy Corps implementing the Restorative Agriculture and Rural Economy (RARE) Research Project in Helmand) account to the International Centre for Agriculture and Rural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) on utilisation of project funds. ICARDA account for utilisation of programme funds (including funds allocated to individual projects) to DFID, reporting on a six monthly basis.

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2006, Official Report, column 1887W, on Afghanistan, how many of the projects cited (a) have been completed, (b) are currently under way and (c) are yet to be undertaken. [99042]

Hilary Benn: Referring to the answer of 25 October 2006, Official Report, column 1887W, on Afghanistan, 12 projects have been completed, 40 are currently on-going and 7 are committed but yet to be undertaken.

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The number of projects has increased to 59 since the answer of the 25 October.

Departmental Staff

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years for which information is available; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if he will make a statement. [98519]

Mr. Thomas: The following two tables give the number of non-pensionable bonuses awarded to DFID staff in the last four years (figures for 2001-02 are not available) with total cost in each year and the largest single payment in each year.

Non-pensionable bonuses awarded to DFID senior civil servants (SCS)
	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Number of awards	27	57	68	65
Number of awards as a proportion of the number of DFID SCS staff (percentage)	43.5	73.1	79.1	77.3
Total cost (£)	85,051	189,500	266,750	377,100
Largest individual payment (£)	5,793.00	5,407	5,500	8,000

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