By KUNA,
Kabul : The reconstruction activity in war-devastated Afghanistan is set to draw USD 20 billion from the international community and donors during the Paris Conference, scheduled to be held June 12.
The Paris meeting is the third to be held for rebuilding the war-battered country after the formation of the Afghan government as a result of the Bonn Agreement and the Loya Jirga in Kabul in late 2001.
The earlier two conferences that drew pledges from the international community and donor organisations were held in Tokyo and London.
The questions that will face more than 60 delegates, government representatives, and donor organisatons include the ongoing war on terror, poppy cultivation, pace of reconstruction efforts, the security situation in cities and rural areas, and the level of international assistance in Afghanistan.
While the Bonn Conference in Germany had proved helpful in bringing an end to the full-fledged war and internecine in Afghanistan, analysts expressed hope that the Paris Conference would help concentrate on reconstruction by pledging more money for the purpose.
The recent Taliban-related insurgency in Afghanistan, which has increased manifold since 2005, will also be discussed and the participants will try to find out why the country could not achieve lasting peace and stability and what should be done to get the objectives, said Kabul-based analyst Wadir Safi.
He said the most needed things are on the reconstruction and rebuilding fronts and the channelisation of the maximum amount of the aid money through the Afghan government.
At present, nearly 60 percent of the aid money is spent through foreign organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) while the Afghan government receives little amount.
He said the need is to spend the amount through the Afghan government to avoid lavish spending of the aid money and use it in real reconstruction activity in the country.
Before the London Conference in 2006, the Afghan government was allowed to spend only 22 percent of the aid money while the remaining 68 percent was spent by the donor organisations and NGOs. It was during the London Conference that heed was paid to the voice of Afghans and the international community promised to give more share to the Afghan government in the aid money.
A report released by the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBR) in March this year states that western countries have delivered only USD 15 billion of the 25 billion they had promised. This, the report says, has undermining prospects for peace and development in Afghanistan. It says about 40 percent of aid returns to donor nations as corporate profits and high consultant costs.
In his recent statement in Kabul, Afghan Education Minister Hanif Atmar had accused donor countries of failing to provide enough aid to prevent resurgence of the Taliban. He said, “The West wants a victory at a discount price.” According to Afghanistan’s Finance Minister Syed Anwarul Haq Ahadi, his country hoped to receive pledges of USD 50 billion in aid at the Paris Conference to carry forward its next five-year developmental plan.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul last Sunday, Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said his country would urge the donors to let the Afghan government spend the aid amount. He repeated the government’s earlier stance that only a small part of the foreign aid was being spent through the government of Afghanistan.
During the Tokyo Conference held in 2002, which was the first meeting after the Bonn Conference of 2001, the international community pledged over USD 16 billion for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
The Tokyo Conference was followed by the London Conference during which the donors pledge around USD 4.5 billion, besides agreeing to let the Afghan government to spent 20 percent of that amount.
Addressing a news conference at the Presidential Palace on May 27, President Karzai’s chief spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said that the government of Afghanistan would ask for USD 20 billion in aid at the upcoming Paris Conference.
He said the country needed USD 51 billion to carry forward its developmental plans for the next five years.
Besides other countries, Kuwait will also participate in the Paris Conference. Kuwait was among the major donors at the Tokyo Conference, making a pledge of USD 30 million for 2.5 years developmental plans.
Commenting on Kuwait’s role in reconstruction of Afghanistan, Afghan MP Malay Shinwari said that the two countries had good, cordial and brotherly ties.
She said that this could be judged from the fact that President Karzai had recently visited Kuwait twice in a short span of time.
Besides providing generous humanitarian support, grants and donations for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, especially for the improvement of the health and education sectors of the country, Kuwait had also extended generous support for the Afghan refugees living in Pakistan during the era of war, she said.