Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting charities that support pregnant women and newborn babies in Afghanistan.

The UK is committed to supporting vital health services in Afghanistan, including for pregnant women and newborn babies. Our £161 million aid programme provides support to the most vulnerable, delivered through non-governmental organisations, UN agencies, and the Red Cross Movement. In 2023/24 the UK helped more than 1.4 million people, of whom over 1 million were women, to access essential health services, and we reached at least 57,000 children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women with dietary supplements.