Mark Malloch-Brown made his first Ministerial visit to Afghanistan from 16-18 October 2007. The Minister noticed many positive changes, particularly in Kabul.

The Minister for Africa, Asia and the United Nations said "Good Progress has been made in Afghanistan in spite of all the problems. Britain and America are committed to supporting the Government of Afghanistan".

Aims

His aims for the visit were to:

1. see for himself the situation in Afghanistan and to learn about the complex problems there
2. reaffirm the UK's commitment to Afghanistan - we have committed £1 billion to reconstruction and development since 2001, we're in this for the long haul.

Visits

During a hectic 48 hours the Minister:

• met with President Hamid Karzai on how bets the UK could help Afghanistan
• saw representatives of Afghan civil society and of the local and international NGO community
• met the Embassy staff and heard about the valuable work they are carrying out
• spent a day in Helmand, being briefed by the Provincial Reconstruction Team and meeting members of the Helmand Provincial Council and the local media.