Afghanistan wins support for more say on aid funds 06.04.2005 Afghanistan won support from the World Bank and Britain on Tuesday in its bid to have a bigger slice of the billions of dollars of aid money that flow into the country channelled through its own budget. Britain also offered to arrange an international donors conference on Afghanistan one day before a Group of Eight foreign ministers meeting it is also hosting in June. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has argued that large amounts of aid are wasted due to inefficiency or corruption among non-government organisations stepping outside their role as providers of humanitarian and development aid. The government, formed three months ago after Karzai's election victory in October, is under pressure to show signs of economic progress in terms of infrastructure projects and jobs, even though it has little control over funding allocations. A World Bank representative backed Karzai's request for greater control of the purse strings, not least to enable Afghan firms to become more involved in reconstruction. "Capacity will not be built if aid is delivered off budget and the government has little knowledge of what is being done and how much it costs," Praful Patel, World Bank's South Asia regional vice president told the forum. The Afghan government, for its part, should take a tough line to combat corruption and hire international firms to ensure funds are used appropriately, he said. This week's Afghan Development Forum (ADF) in Kabul, which includes donors from some 40 countries, is focused on spending strategy and prioritising needs. The three-day meeting is due to end on Wednesday. At the Berlin ADF in 2004 multi-year pledges of $8.3 billion were made for the country's post-conflict reconstruction. PLEDGING CONFERENCE IN JUNE Britain also backed Karzai's view and offered to host an international donors conference on June 22 one day before the Group of Eight foreign ministers meet in London, a date aimed at keeping Afghanistan's profile high on the international agenda. The conference would aim to raise fresh reconstruction and development aid before current commitments are exhausted. "Our suggestion is that this meeting should focus on increasing donor commitments, preferably multi-year commitments, to the government's budget," Charlotte Seymour-Smith, Asia Director of Britain's Department for International Development, told the forum. Those commitments would primarily be made through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan and the new Counter-Narcotics Trust Fund. In 2002, the Tokyo forum pledged $4.5 billion for Afghanistan, as the world came together to help the country after U.S.-backed forces toppled the Taliban, following their refusal to surrender Osama bin Laden in the wake of al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Humanitarian and emergency needs were the priority back then but governments recognised that developing Afghanistan to lessen the risk of the country sliding back into conflict required their long term commitment. << | >> |
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