Afghanistan

From the Department for International Development

June 2003

Parliamentary Briefing Paper on Afghanistan 

Afghanistan continues to generate a great deal of interest both in Parliament and with the British public. It also remains a high priority for the government. This paper sets out what the Department for International Development (DFID) is doing to help to rebuild a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and to reduce poverty there.

Aid provided by the international community

Following the fall of the Taliban, the international donor community met in Tokyo in January 2002 to pledge their support for Afghanistan. In response to a needs assessment by the World Bank, the United Nations and the Asia Development Bank, donors pledged US$4.5 billion. Because of their different procedures, donors made pledges which covered periods from one to five years. This total has increased to $5.2 billion.

The international community is delivering on these pledges. The Afghanistan Transitional Administration figures show that over $1.8 billion was provided by donors to Afghanistan in 2002/03. In March this year, the Transitional Administration presented a $2.2 billion budget to donors for 2003/04. The Transitional Administration's target is to raise $200 million towards this from domestic revenues. Donors undertook to provide nearly $1.9 billion, including $750m from the European Union. So the current shortfall for the budget for 2003/04 is less than 5%.

DFID pledged £200 million over five years at the Tokyo conference. We provided £75 million of our pledge in 2002/03 and have provided a total of £122 million since October 2001. We are planning to provide up to £160 million over the next three years. We will continue to support Afghanistan for the long term.

In 2003/04, DFID will provide at least £40 million, in line with our Tokyo pledge. We will provide an extra £10 million if the Transitional Administration makes progress in public administration reform. The Transitional Administration has welcomed this incentive. In addition, DFID will contribute an estimated £40 million to Afghanistan this year through multilateral channels, like the European Community, the United Nations and the World Bank. The joint DFID-FCO-MOD Global Conflict Prevention Pool will provide a further £18 million for Afghanistan this year.

Progress so far and the challenges ahead

This aid has delivered significant improvements in Afghanistan in the last 18 months. There is no longer a humanitarian emergency. The 2002/03 winter passed without any major disasters and the wheat harvest increased by 80% in 2002, compared to 2001, after increased rainfall. The number of vulnerable people reliant on direct assistance, as measured by the World Food Programme, has come down to an estimated 5.9 million people. DFID will provide at least £5 million in humanitarian assistance this year through the United Nations and the Red Cross to these vulnerable groups, such as refugees, returnees and internally displaced people.

The focus of our programme is now on long-term development. 4.5 million children are expected to go to school this year. Polio has almost been eradicated and 9 million children have been vaccinated against measles. Reconstruction work has started in Kabul and the provinces on the rehabilitation of power supplies, hospital, schools and roads.

However, Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest countries and is emerging from over twenty years of internal and external conflict. Major challenges remain. The lack of security is a serious problem, particularly in the south of the country. This is hampering reconstruction and humanitarian work. The political situation also remains fragile and the capacity of the Transitional Administration is very low. Reducing poverty will therefore take many years and we are committed to helping Afghanistan face this challenge. DFID is working with the rest of Whitehall and our partners in the international community to address all of these issues.

Security and the political situation

The security situation in Afghanistan is very worrying. There needs to be a major effort in 2003 to extend security across the whole country. Work continues by the UN and the five lead nations on security sector reform (US, Germany, Japan, Italy and UK). A programme for the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration of ex-combatants needs to start as soon as possible. The UK has provided £2m and seconded an ex-British army Colonel to the United Nations over the past six months to accelerate this process. The US is training a new Afghan National Army. Eight international joint civil-military Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) are also being deployed around Afghanistan this year, to improve security and extend the influence and authority of the Afghanistan Transitional Administration in the regions. As Geoff Hoon announced recently, the UK will lead one of these teams in the north of the country, in the Mazar-e-Sharif region. It will be deployed at the beginning of July. DFID is seconding a development adviser to this and other PRTs, as well as providing resources for small-scale and strategic development projects within PRT regions.

Elections are due to be held in Afghanistan in June 2004. The UN has started to prepare for these and we are ready to contribute. However, security will need to improve if they are to be free and fair. DFID is already supporting the work of the Constitutional Commission to consult the Afghan people on a draft new constitution between now and a Constitutional Loya Jirga, a traditional council, which will approve the constitution, probably in October.

Reconstruction and development

The Transitional Administration set out its development plans in its budget in March this year. We are supporting priority programmes in this budget. It is essential that other donors do the same rather than set up separate projects outside this policy framework. These budget programmes will mainly be implemented by private companies, NGOs and UN agencies, rather than the Transitional Administration itself.

The Transitional Administration has asked donors to pool some of their resources in the World Bank administered Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). This improves co-ordination and reduces the high costs of administering separate projects. It will also be used to contribute to the Administration's recurrent costs (eg. for public servants' salaries) until Afghanistan can meet these from its own revenues. We are planning to provide up to £30 million through the ARTF in 2003/04. We are encouraging other donors to channel more resources through the ARTF as well.

However, until the Transitional Administration's capacity improves, it will be necessary for donors to continue to fund some priority development programmes directly. We are focusing our direct support on helping to build some of the key functions of government as well as promoting economic development to generate income opportunities for poor people. This complements the work of other donors in areas like education and infrastructure.

Afghanistan needs a more effective government. We are providing support to help reform and build the capacity of the Transitional Administration to deliver services to poor people. We are providing technical assistance to the Civil Service Commission and the Ministry of Finance. This is designed to facilitate public administration reform and address key economic management issues such as raising revenues and sound public expenditure management.

Private sector development is essential to reducing poverty. We are helping to develop the capacity of relevant ministries to oversee the implementation of two major national development programmes (Livelihoods and Social Protection, and Natural Resource Management) that are essential to rebuilding livelihoods in rural areas. Part of this assistance is being directed to the establishment of a livelihoods monitoring system that will facilitate measurement of impact of a wide range of development interventions.

Tackling the illicit drugs economy

Developing sustainable, licit livelihoods, including through the above programmes, is also essential to tackling the illicit drugs economy in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the number one supplier of Britain's heroin. Opium production is also a source of conflict and economic distortion in Afghanistan, maintaining the power base of warlords and terrorist elements, and the country has its own growing drug abuse problem. Tackling the drug problem is therefore in the mutual interest of Afghanistan and the UK. This requires a long-term, comprehensive approach, combining improved law enforcement and alternative livelihoods. President Karzai is committed to eliminating poppy production within the next 10 years. The UK has taken the international lead on counter-narcotics coordination in Afghanistan and has developed a cross-Whitehall Drug Strategy to help Afghanistan achieve this target.

DFID is contributing £5 million over the next three years to the alternative livelihoods elements of the Drug Strategy. In addition, we are currently co-funding, with the US, a pilot project implemented by the Aga Khan Development Network in Badakhshan to develop and promote alternative livelihood opportunities in poppy growing districts. Our entire country programme, comprising elements of improved governance, economic management and financial assistance, in addition to developing sustainable livelihoods, contributes towards countering narcotics production, both by developing the licit economy and improving the capacity of the Administration to tackle the illicit opium economy. We are working with relevant Afghan agencies and other donors to ensure that all development programmes contribute towards tackling drugs-related issues.

Improving life for women and girls

DFID wants to see real improvements in the status and lives of women and girls in Afghanistan. Life has already improved for women, especially in Kabul. Over 30% of children returning to school are girls. But there is more to do. It is essential that the new constitution promotes and protects women's rights. We aim to promote women's rights across our whole programme. We have also supported a number of specific projects that work particularly with vulnerable women, including: £4.7 million to the World Food Programme's employment projects for vulnerable women such as widows and women-headed households; £200,000 to a micro-finance project for women run by the Bangladeshi Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and; £1m to the Aga Khan Development Network livelihoods project in Badakhshan province.

DFID 
June 2003

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