UK humanitarian aid to Afghanistan 2023-24

This report found that UK aid has made a meaningful difference in Afghanistan but funding has now fallen from the level it was at in the first two years following the 2021 Taliban takeover. ICAI heard reports of ‘donor fatigue’ as the world’s attention turns to other crises. It also noted that delivery of aid remains challenging, in part due to Taliban restrictions on women working for the UN and other humanitarian organisations.

Proposed lines of enquiry

1. How should the UK and other donors maximise the impact of humanitarian assistance while minimising the benefits which accrue to the de facto authorities?
2. How can the UK move beyond a crisis response towards other modes of development assistance that build durable local capacities and reduce dependence on humanitarian aid?
3. What strategy should the UK and other donors adopt to preserve, as far as possible, the rights and opportunities which women and girls won before 2021?
4. How should the UK respond to the risk that other donors may disengage from Afghanistan as a result of growing insecurity and the Taliban edicts?
5. Should the UK consider making the case within the international community for wider engagement with the Taliban, without implying that this would lead to recognition or normalisation of relations?
6. What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of the UK re-establishing a physical presence within Afghanistan, when security conditions allow, to exercise more effective oversight of UK aid?