During his recent visit to Pakistan, the Prime Minister signed a new 10-year Development Partnership Arrangement (DPA) between the UK and Pakistan. The Prime Minister also announced a doubling of UK aid to Pakistan, from £236 million for the period 2005 to 2008, and up to £480 million for the period 2008 to 2011. This new development partnership reaffirms our resolve to help Pakistan and its people to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Government of Pakistan has made progress in fighting extreme poverty and hunger, but very real needs remain. One in ten children die before their fifth birthday; around eight million children do not go to school; approximately 50 per cent. of the adult population are illiterate, two thirds of whom are women; and at the last count in 2005, some 38 million were living below the poverty line. As part of the DPA, the Government of Pakistan has made specific commitments to work towards achieving the MDGs, including in health and education.

We will set out our priorities for the increased aid allocation in a new Country Assistance Plan (CAP) for Pakistan. DFID officials are now preparing for the consultation process. We will seek as wide a variety of views as possible and ensure they are fed into our CAP thinking and planning. We will explore with Government of Pakistan partners how we can provide more support to their plan to reduce poverty, including increasing support for education and doing more on health, water and sanitation. We also anticipate extending the geographic coverage of our programme to all provinces. We will consult Pakistan civil society, Pakistan Provincial Governments, other key donors, the Pakistan Diaspora in the UK, and other UK Government Departments.

Our development assistance for Pakistan, including the significant increase just announced, is separate from the support we are providing for post-earthquake relief and reconstruction, which totals some £124 million following this major natural disaster in which over 70,000 people were killed.