Donors pledge US$16b for Afghanistan
Source: Agencies |
July 9, 2012, Monday
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MAJOR donors yesterday pledged to give Afghanistan US$16 billion in development aid to the end of 2015 in a bid to prevent the country from sliding back into chaos when foreign troops leave, but demanded reforms to fight widespread corruption.
Donor fatigue and war weariness have taken their toll on how long the global community is willing to support Afghanistan and there are concerns about security following the withdrawal of most NATO troops in 2014 if financial backing is not secured.
"Afghanistan's security cannot only be measured by the absence of war," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an international donors' conference in Tokyo.
"It has to be measured by whether people have jobs and economic opportunity, whether they believe their government is serving their needs, whether political reconciliation proceeds and succeeds."
The roughly US$4 billion in annual aid pledged at the meeting, attended by 80 countries and international organizations, fell short of the US$6 billion a year the Afghan central bank has said will be needed to foster economic growth over the next decade.
Clinton and other donors stressed the importance of Afghanistan taking aggressive action to fight graft and promote reforms.
"We have agreed that we need a different kind of long-term economic partnership, one built on Afghan progress in meeting its goals, in fighting corruption, in carrying out reform, and providing good governance," Clinton said.
According to "mutual accountability" provisions in the final conference documents, as much as 20 percent of the aid could ultimately depend on Afghanistan meeting benchmarks on fighting corruption and other good governance measures. However, a Japanese official said it was up to each donor whether to make its aid contingent on such reforms and that the benchmarks could vary from country to country.
World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the pressure was on the Afghan government to deliver reforms and ensure fair elections in 2014 in order to secure aid beyond the amount pledged in Tokyo.
"This is a fragile conflict state," Indrawati said. "Three years is a very short time for a country to be able to build stable and competent institutions."
International donors provided US$35 billion in aid to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2010, but the return on that investment has been mixed and the country remains one of the poorest in the world.
President Hamid Karzai admits his government needs to do more to tackle corruption.
While strides have been made in schooling and improving access to health care, three-quarters of the 30 million Afghans are illiterate and the average salary is about US$530 a year, the World Bank says.
Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said the Tokyo conference had shown aid donors were committed to the long haul.
Donor fatigue and war weariness have taken their toll on how long the global community is willing to support Afghanistan and there are concerns about security following the withdrawal of most NATO troops in 2014 if financial backing is not secured.
"Afghanistan's security cannot only be measured by the absence of war," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an international donors' conference in Tokyo.
"It has to be measured by whether people have jobs and economic opportunity, whether they believe their government is serving their needs, whether political reconciliation proceeds and succeeds."
The roughly US$4 billion in annual aid pledged at the meeting, attended by 80 countries and international organizations, fell short of the US$6 billion a year the Afghan central bank has said will be needed to foster economic growth over the next decade.
Clinton and other donors stressed the importance of Afghanistan taking aggressive action to fight graft and promote reforms.
"We have agreed that we need a different kind of long-term economic partnership, one built on Afghan progress in meeting its goals, in fighting corruption, in carrying out reform, and providing good governance," Clinton said.
According to "mutual accountability" provisions in the final conference documents, as much as 20 percent of the aid could ultimately depend on Afghanistan meeting benchmarks on fighting corruption and other good governance measures. However, a Japanese official said it was up to each donor whether to make its aid contingent on such reforms and that the benchmarks could vary from country to country.
World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the pressure was on the Afghan government to deliver reforms and ensure fair elections in 2014 in order to secure aid beyond the amount pledged in Tokyo.
"This is a fragile conflict state," Indrawati said. "Three years is a very short time for a country to be able to build stable and competent institutions."
International donors provided US$35 billion in aid to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2010, but the return on that investment has been mixed and the country remains one of the poorest in the world.
President Hamid Karzai admits his government needs to do more to tackle corruption.
While strides have been made in schooling and improving access to health care, three-quarters of the 30 million Afghans are illiterate and the average salary is about US$530 a year, the World Bank says.
Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said the Tokyo conference had shown aid donors were committed to the long haul.
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