Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what ways they are currently supporting the education and advancement of women in Afghanistan.

The UK has prioritised education for girls as part of its development support to Afghanistan. The UK provides £58 million through its Girls Education Challenge Fund, which supports over 180,000 girls in some of the poorest rural and hard to reach areas of Afghanistan to have better access to a quality education. In addition the UK supports the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), a World-Bank managed multi-donor fund. A proportion of this is used to support education and as a result, in 2015 there were more than 3.2 million Afghan girls attending school compared to virtually none in 2001.

The UK also supports programmes to protect women from violence, promote women’s economic empowerment, and strengthen political participation – all necessary to achieve lasting and transformative change for women in Afghanistan.