UK likely to raise aid to Pakistan upto 350m Pounds

ISLAMABAD: United Kingdom will likely to increase its aid to Pakistan upto 350 million (Pounds) a year till 2015, prioritizing uplift of education and health sectors.

"The major portion of our aid will focus on getting more than four million children into school, recruit and train 90,000 new teachers and provide more than six million text books," George Turkington, Head of the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) in Pakistan said.

During his visit to a crisis centre for women (Bedari) in Chakwal, he said the UK government would provide assistance to prevent 3,600 mother's deaths in childbirth; another half a million children from becoming under-nourished and another 400,000 couple’s access family planning and contraceptives.

The UK will also support the country to empower women by strengthening legislation on land rights, marriage rights and domestic violence and get more girls and women involved in decision making at community and federal level so that they can demand their basic rights.

Head of DFID said that over recent years, UKaid has provided 35,096 women victims of violence with counselling, refuge, rehabilitation support and legal aid.

He said that UKaid provide monthly stipends to some 680,000 poor girls to help keep them in school and provided millions of free school text books.

He said that UKaid has also facilitated 1.2 million micro finance loans to poor women, helping them to lift their families out of poverty.

The DFID official also met beneficiaries at Bedari office a local NGO.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011