Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

My noble Friend, the Minister for South and Central Asia, North Africa, United Nations and the Commonwealth (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon), has made the following written ministerial statement:

Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis remains severe. This is despite the massive response mounted since August 2021 preventing the UN and aid agencies’ worst fears from being realised over the winter. Afghanistan faces acute hunger, over 6 million people have been internally displaced and millions of children are out of school. The UK continues to be at the forefront of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. It remains a priority for the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Ministers of State.

We have delivered on the Prime Minister’s commitment to double assistance for Afghanistan in 2021-22, delivering humanitarian assistance to over 6.1 million people. Working with aid agencies, we disbursed £286 million, including £17 million for support to Afghan refugees in the region. A full breakdown appears in the annexes attached. All our humanitarian assistance is going to UN agencies and other experienced international partners.

On 11 January 2022, the UN launched an appeal for $4.4 billion for 2022, the largest humanitarian appeal on record, reflecting the magnitude of the humanitarian challenge ahead. The UK was at the forefront in responding to this and on 31 March, alongside Qatar, Germany, and the UN Office of Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UK co-hosted the 2022 Afghanistan Pledging Conference, where $2.4 billion was pledged.

On 30 March, the Foreign Secretary announced the UK pledge of £286 million for 2022-2023, the second highest commitment to the humanitarian response plan for Afghanistan to date. This commitment reflects the UK’s enduring commitment to the people of Afghanistan.

HMG officials continue to press the Taliban to respond to international concerns, including the protection of human rights, and especially the rights of women and girls. We regularly make it clear to the Taliban that the provision of humanitarian assistance requires, among other things, a lack of interference with humanitarian operations, unconditional access for female aid workers, and the full access of women and girls to services.

We have also worked with the World Bank, United Nations, and United States of America to find solutions which will allow international NGOs to access currency in Afghanistan. In January we successfully worked with the Asian Development Bank to make $405 million available and on 1 March the World Bank Board agreed to make the remaining $1 billion in the Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund available for health, education, livelihoods, and food security.

The UK also played a key role in pressing for a resolution establishing a humanitarian exception under the UN Afghanistan sanctions regime. In line with UN Security Council 2615 the UK has passed legislation to provide an exception from the assets freeze against listed members of the Taliban solely for the provision of humanitarian assistance and other activities to support basic needs. This will save lives and reduce the impediments faced by humanitarian agencies in reaching those most in need.

“Statistics on International Development: Provisional UK Aid Spend 2021” was published on 12 April. This set out that the UK spent almost £11.5 billion on official development assistance (ODA) in 2021, representing 0.5% of gross national income (GNI).

In November 2020, my right hon. Friend the former Foreign Secretary confirmed to the House that the UK would temporarily reduce the aid budget from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5%, as a result of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the UK’s economy. The Government intend to return to spending 0.7% of GNI on ODA as soon as the fiscal situation allows: when on a sustainable basis the Government are not borrowing for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling. On 13 July 2021, the Government gave Members of Parliament the opportunity to debate their proposed course of action and a pathway back to 0.7%. The House voted clearly to approve the approach set out in the Treasury’s written ministerial statement.

The publication of the report is the first official release confirming the UK has not met the target of spending 0.7% of GNI on ODA as required by the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015. That Act requires the Secretary of State to lay a statement before Parliament if the 0.7% target is not met explaining why it has not been met, as soon as reasonably practicable after laying the FCDO’s annual report and accounts (see section 2(1) and 2(3) of the 2015 Act).

The FCDO’s annual report and accounts will be laid before the summer recess.

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