Afghanistan: future in balance.

As well as in the DFID office in Kabul, DFID representatives are working through Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Mazar-e Sharif, Bamian, Kandahar and Gardez. PRTs are joint civil-military operations whose objectives are to help build a secure and stable environment in the provinces, and to help the Afghan Government strengthen its authority beyond Kabul.

At the UK-led PRT in Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, DFID works closely with Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence colleagues. The military and political components of the PRT have helped the Afghan Government broker and maintain ceasefire agreements between local warring factions, while DFID has focused on rebuilding police stations, provincial courthouses and other municipal buildings while providing training to key ministry officials.

The purpose of the UK-led PRT is not to enable DFID to carry out these projects, however, it is to help create the long-lasting security required for others, including NGOs and the Afghan Government to implement their plans for development in the north of Afghanistan.

How DFID is working to help Afghanistan become a freer and fairer society:

• Working with other donor governments and aid agencies, the UK is helping the Afghan Government to restore peace and rebuild the country.
• The UK is helping to improve security in Kabul and the provinces so people can live and work in safety. Britain has contributed peace-keeping troops to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
• Long-term, DFID is helping to build an effective state with a solid political base and a thriving economy.
• In pursuit of Afghans’ desire for fair and democratic government, DFID is supporting the voter registration process leading up to Presidential and Parliamentary elections in the Autumn.
• DFID is helping the Afghan Government stamp out the inequality and corruption that has led to the privileged few (including warlords and drugs barons) profiting at the expense of the majority of Afghans.

Image © Massoud Wasiq/AINA