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Afghanistan
remains a high priority for
the government. The
reconstruction process
continues to generate a
great deal of interest both
in Parliament and with the
British public. In June 2003
the Department for
International Development
(DFID) set out what it is
doing to help to rebuild a
peaceful and stable
Afghanistan and to reduce
poverty there in a Parliamentary
briefing paper on
Afghanistan.
Donors pledged nearly
$1.9bn dollars for 2003/04
for Afghanistan. This is an
increase on what was
disbursed in 2002/03
($1.8bn) and represents
nearly 90% of what the
Afghanistan Transitional
Administration has requested
from donors. This is a
testament both to the
international community's
commitment to Afghanistan
and its belief in the
changes taking place there.
The United Kingdom's
Department for International
Development has programmed
£160m for Afghanistan over
the next three years. The
Afghanistan Transitional
Administration have asked
DFID to concentrate on areas
of their National
Development Budget where
we have a comparative
advantage over other donors.
These include capacity
building in government
ministries, livelihoods
work, which takes into
account the problem of poppy
cultivation, support to the
constitutional process and
continuing humanitarian
assistance. For more
information see DFID
publication "a
changing nation" DFID
support to Afghanistan
After consultation with
the Afghanistan Transitional
Administration and other
stake holders DFID published
its Transitional
Country Assistance Plan
for Afghanistan in August
2003. The plan sets out our
strategy for the next two
financial years with a
revised and longer-term
Country Assistance Plan for
Afghanistan to be published
by March 2005, subsequent to
the election of a new Afghan
Government.
Information on
Afghanistan's political and
constitutional development
has been published in a
report financed by DFID and
managed by the Humanitarian
Policy Group at the Overseas
Development Institute. Click
for the full
report or for the summary
and key recommendations.
Further Information about DFID's involvement can be found in the current edition of
Statistics
on International Development
and in the current
DFID Departmental Report
Detailed statistical
information about the
country, including
indicators of social and
economic development over
the past thirty years,
gender, health, nutrition
and population statistics,
is available from the World
Bank Group here.
The Foreign &
Commonwealth Office website here
holds detailed information
in its Country Profiles
section. The 'World
Factbook', accessible here,
covers the following issues:
Geography, Population,
Government, Economy,
Communications,
Transportation, Military,
and Transnational Issues.
For further information about DFID's development priorities and activity,
contact DFID
Afghanistan or e-mail enquiry@dfid.gov.uk
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