1 Introduction
1. Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 there
have been significant improvements in Afghanistan. 5.8 million
children are now going to school compared to just one million
under the Taliban, 2.2 million of them girls compared to just
5,000 under the Taliban.[1]
Approximately 57% of the population can now access a health facility
within one hour's walk compared to just 9% in 2002, and more than
one in three pregnant women (36%) receive antenatal care compared
to only 16% in 2003.[2]
Over this period Afghanistan has received nearly $30billiion in
aid and approximately $243billion in support to the International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Afghan National Security
Forces (ANSF).[3]
2. Our predecessor Committee visited Afghanistan
in 2007 and reported on DFID's progress in 2008.[4]
We decided to inquire into what the developments had been since
then. We wanted to see the benefits UK aid spending had brought
to Afghanistan as well as how DFID could operate in a potentially
changing political and security context so therefore what DFID's
policy should be in the future.
3. There have been a number of developments in
the international community's and the UK's interaction with Afghanistan
since our predecessor Committee reported. It has been agreed that
responsibility for security across Afghanistan will gradually
transfer from the ISAF to the ANSF. The aim is for this to be
completed by the end of 2014. UK and other foreign troops will
only be present in Afghanistan after this date as advisers and
mentors. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office notes, transition
is not just about the transfer of security control:
a resilient ANSF is only part of the solution. Development
of a viable Afghan state and a durable political settlement are
also vital, and we will continue working with the Afghan Government
and our international partners towards this.[5]
4. Two important international conferences have
taken place in the last year which have demonstrated to the Afghan
people that the international community is committed to support
Afghanistan for as long as is necessary. The Chicago Summit in
May focused on the future funding of security forces in Afghanistan
and the Tokyo Conference in July discussed the future of aid funding
to Afghanistan. As the then Secretary of State, Rt Hon Andrew
Mitchell MP, told us the outcomes from the conferences can "give
confidence to people who are driving progress in Afghanistan that
the international community will not desert them when the transition
is complete."[6]
5. Following the formation of the Coalition Government
in the UK the National Security Council (NSC) was formed to oversee
all aspects of Britain's security.[7]
The NSC has approved an overarching strategy for the UK's engagement
in Afghanistan. The strategy has three mutually reinforcing pillars
covering security, political settlement and creating a viable
Afghan state. DFID leads on the 'viable state' pillar, which
aims to improve governance and the rule of law, create a stable
and growing economy, tackle corruption and increase access to
basic services.[8] DFID's
vision is for "a more peaceful, stable, viable and prosperous
Afghanistan."[9] This
is unique in DFID's work and a departure from its traditional
aim of 'poverty alleviation'. Since 2012 there has been a refocusing
of DFID strategy with a stronger commitment to conflict and fragile-affected
states accompanied by an increase to 30% the proportion of UK
Official Development Assistance (ODA) spent on them.[10]
In addition, the UK Government undertook a review of its bilateral
programme and as a result has decided to increase aid to Afghanistan.
It has announced that DFID's programme in Afghanistan will be
£178million per year until 2015.[11]
6. In January of this year the Prime Minister,
the Rt Hon David Cameron MP, signed an 'Enduring Strategic Partnership'
with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in which the UK Government
confirmed its long term development support to Afghanistan subject
to the Government of Afghanistan progressing with key reforms.
The Prime Minister made clear that:
After our combat troops have left in 2014, there
will be a strong relationship between Britain and Afghanistan;
a relationship based on diplomacy, based on trade, based on our
continued aid programme to help the Afghans build a stronger country.[12]
7. We were helped on this inquiry by the specialist
advice of Ashley Jackson, Research Fellow at the Overseas Development
Institute in London who we would like to thank. We would also
like to thank all the people and organisations which provided
written evidence to the inquiry and the academics, subject specialists
and organisations who appeared before us to give oral evidence.
In addition we took oral evidence from the previous Secretary
of State, Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP and had informal meetings
with Rory Stewart MP, representatives from the Independent Commission
on Aid Impact and Adam Smith International, all of whom we also
thank.
8. As part of the inquiry, we were keen to hear
from Afghans, about their knowledge and opinions of DFID's work
in Afghanistan. Following our call for evidence we did not receive
a single submission from an Afghan citizen. We therefore worked
with the Parliamentary Outreach Office and Mayvand Faqir, Chair
of the Afghan Council, to organise two events for the Afghan diaspora
in London to engage with the select committee process. At the
events we held discussion groups focusing on: the benefits of
DFID's projects in Afghanistan; criticisms of DFID's programme
in Afghanistan; and the future of DFID in Afghanistan. We would
like to thank the Afghan Council and the members of the Afghan
diaspora for their participation in the events and the evidence
gathering.
9. We visited Afghanistan in June to help us
understand what conditions were like on the ground for DFID staff,
to hear how DFID projects were working first hand from the Afghan
people and to meet senior Afghan Ministers. We visited Kabul before
splitting into two groups. One group visited Bamiyan in Bamiyan
Province whilst the second group went to Lashkar Gah in Helmand
Province. We thank all the civil servants and members of the armed
forces who helped to facilitate the visit as well as all the organisations
who met us and welcomed us to their facilities and offices.
Box 1
| We must note that our ability to get out and see DFID's work in Afghanistan was severely
limited due to security reasons. On other overseas visits we have been able to meet the
beneficiaries of DFID aid and observe projects to see their effects; in Afghanistan this
was not an option. As can be seen from our visit programme annexed to this report, while
some of us saw a few DFID-supported institutions, notably the impressive International
Red Cross Hospital in Kabul and a school just outside the city, most of our meetings were
with Afghan Ministers in their Ministries; NGOs, line ministry staff, civil society groups
and a few local Afghans who came to us at the embassy or PRTs as well as DFID staff.
The visit to the city of Bamiyan, which is one of the safest locations in Afghanistan, was a
particular disappointment. An excellent programme had been devised which involved
meeting local farmers and others. The New Zealanders in charge of the PRT were happy
to drive us to the locations, but the UK Government refused to permit us to travel with
them. This report is accordingly based more on what we have been told and the evidence
we have received than what we have seen firsthand.
|
1 Ashley Jackson, High Stakes: Girls' Education
in Afghanistan, Oxfam International, February 2011. Back
2
Ev 40 Back
3
Lydia Poole, Afghanistan: Tracking major resource flows 2002-2010,
Global Humanitarian Assistance January 2011, p 2 Back
4
International Development Committee, Fourth Report of Session
2007-08, Reconstructing Afghanistan, HC 65-I Back
5
"Top ten facts about transition", FCO Website Back
6
Q55 Back
7
"Establishment of a National Security Council" No
10 press release, Wednesday 12 May 2010 Back
8
Ev 40 Back
9
DFID Afghanistan, Operational plan 2011-15, June 2012 Back
10
DFID, FCO, MoD, Building stability overseas strategy, March
, July 2011 Back
11
DFID Afghanistan, Operational plan 2011-15, June 2012 Back
12
"Prime Minister and President Karzai Press Conference",
No 10 Website Back
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