DFID is in the process of preparing a new Country Assistance Plan for Pakistan for 2008 to 2012. As part of that preparation, we have commissioned an independent evaluation of DFID’s impact on the three strategic outcome areas of the 2005 Country Assistance Plan: (1) increased incomes for the poor; (2) improved delivery of education, health and population services to the poor; and (3) greater accountability of the state to its citizens. We aim to publish this evaluation by the summer.
We have also just completed consultations within Pakistan, and with the Pakistan Diaspora, on what our future priorities should be. The overwhelming sense from these consultations was that DFID’s programme in Pakistan has been making an impact, and that we should look to increase our efforts in support of Pakistan’s poverty reduction strategies and plans.
DFID’s work, especially in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake, has won the UK many friends in Pakistan and has contributed to strengthening the ties between our two countries. This was illustrated in November last year when my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister signed a 10 year Development Partnership Arrangement (DPA) with Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz. The DPA is based on a shared commitment to pursuing poverty reduction objectives, respecting the human rights obligations entered into, and improving financial management and accountability in Pakistan.
The total DFID bilateral expenditure to Pakistan in each of the last five financial years is set out in table 1 following, alongside projections for 2007-08.
Expenditure (£000) 2002-03 38,314 2003-04 66,240 2004-05 31,377 2005-06 97,413 2006-07 1101,118 2007-08 2101,000 1 Provisional. 2 Projection.
Projections beyond 2007-08 will not be available until the Comprehensive Spending Review is concluded later this year.
UK funding to multilateral institutions cannot be directly attributed to any country; however table 2 contains estimates of the UK’s imputed shares of multilateral aid to Pakistan. These estimates are based on the UK’s funding of each multilateral institution and each multilateral’s distribution of aid to Pakistan. They are only available on a calendar year basis.
Imputed aid (£000) 2002 28,343 2003 34,391 2004 27,729 2005 43,968 Note: The list of multilateral organisations used in the production of these data is not exhaustive; the multilaterals analysed are those that provide the Development Assistance Committee with detailed information about their distribution of funds to Pakistan and to whom DFID provided funds over the period.
Data for 2006 are not yet available.