The UK's Helmand PRT supports the Afghan Government to promote counter narcotics, security, good governance, rule of law and social and economic development in order to promote a more developed, secure and stable Afghanistan.

The UK assumed control of the PRT in Lashkar Gah (LKG), Helmand province in May 2006. Despite difficult working conditions, in the toughest of environments, Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Department for International Development (DfID) and Stabilisation Unit (SU) staff are working hard alongside UK and other National Armed Forces in Helmand Province to provide a seamless package of reconstruction assistance.

The UK is delivering reconstruction, recovery and development activity to a part of Afghanistan that the Afghan Government and the international community is committed to helping succeed.

The UK PRT, with support from Danish and Estonian officials, is focusing on establishing an effective police force, a functioning legal system and sound provincial administration in the province. The PRT is also facilitating development assistance in Helmand and helping to create a sustainable legitimate economy capable of providing livelihoods for the local population.

FCO, DFID and SU officials are working with a wide range of people in the province, from the Governor of Helmand, Mohammad Gulabuddin Mangal, to local non-governmental organisations to deliver the UK Joint Plan for Helmand. Governance, police reform, counter-narcotics and justice sector experts are in place in the PRT to work with provincial officials and help strengthen and reform local governance structures.

Development is necessarily a long-term activity but the PRT, working within the improved security environment provided by the Task Force Helmand and in partnership with Afghan Security Forces is already implementing reconstruction work that brings the benefits of peace to the people of Helmand.

The efforts most evident on the ground at this early stage are the Quick Impacts Projects or QIPs, designed to provide swift and well-executed reconstruction assistance to the local population.

Key facts: Helmand Province, Southern Afghanistan

• at 62,337 sq km Helmand is Afghanistan’s largest province, divided into 13 districts
• estimates put the province’s population between 700,000 to 1.4 million (although the most recent census was undertaken in 1979)
• the province’s capital is Lashkar Gah – where the UK Provincial Reconstruction Team is based
• in the 1970s Helmand was one of the most agriculturally productive areas in Afghanistan. But after years of conflict and drought, much of this productivity has been lost, or redirected towards poppy cultivation and drug trafficking.