UK Aid to Afghanistan

Lord Browne of Ladyton Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Browne of Ladyton]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take in response to the report by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact UK aid to Afghanistan: Country portfolio review, published on 24 November 2022; and in particular, its assessment that “channelling funding in such high volumes through weak state institutions distorted the political process and contributed to entrenched corruption”.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park) (Con)]

My Lords, the UK Government welcome the commission’s report and provided our formal response on 10 January. In Afghanistan, we are no longer providing support through the state. We recognise that large-scale financial support in conflict-affected contexts can come with considerable risk. We will work with ICAI and colleagues across departments to fully assess the impact of these recommendations on wider government policies. We will continue to press the Taliban Government to recognise the inalienable rights of women and girls.

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords, looking forward, Ukraine, like Afghanistan, has weak institutions and a long history of entrenched corruption in both government and civil society. Since December, the UNHCR has been piloting the use of blockchain technology to get cash to internally displaced people there, and in 2020, a trial in the Colombian public sector procurement process showed that hybrid blockchain technology has the potential radically to reduce corruption and increase transparency and accountability. What plans does the FCDO have to examine the benefits of blockchain, ensuring that UK aid gets through to where it is intended despite weak and corrupted state institutions, both in Ukraine—which will be a major recipient of aid in years to come—and elsewhere?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, the department is and has been looking at other mechanisms, including blockchain, for delivering aid more effectively and minimising the risk of corruption, which is always there in the main trouble spots around the world—which include Afghanistan and, for different reasons, Ukraine. Notwithstanding its recommendations, the ICAI report was also very complimentary about the positive influence the UK has had in Afghanistan, in leveraging significant sums of finance from some of the multilateral development banks and ensuring that our own investments yield the kinds of results that taxpayers expect.