Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to (a) accelerate payment of the £286m of humanitarian assistance committed to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan; how much of that funding has been distributed to-date; and when the remainder of the funding will be distributed.

The UK is providing life-saving aid to the most vulnerable Afghans. Since April 2021, the UK has disbursed £515 million to help urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. We have disbursed £229 million in aid for Afghanistan since April 2022, including payments to the UN Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (£50 million), World Food Programme (£95 million) and UNICEF (£28 million). A further £17 million is due for disbursal in March 2023.

We are supporting 4 million people with food assistance through the World Food Programme this financial year (FY22/23) and continue to support basic services, such as health, education and livelihoods.