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 15 May 2008 13:05 BST

Afghanistan 'suffering from $10 billion aid shortfall'

Tuesday, 25 Mar 2008 17:16
Report criticises international community over 'missing' Afghanistan aid
International donors have failed to deliver $10 billion (£5.02 billion) worth of aid to Afghanistan since 2001, a report claimed on Tuesday.

The Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (Acbar) said only $15 billion (£7.53 billion) out of $25 billion (£12.55 billion) of aid had been committed over the last seven years.

Acbar - an alliance of 94 international aid agencies – said forty per cent of aid which had been delivered was returning to rich countries via corporate profits and consulting costs.

Today's report accuses the US of delivering only half of its $10.4 billion (£5.22 billion) aid commitment between 2002 and 2008 and also criticises European countries and the World Bank for failing to fulfil their aid pledges.

Britain has distributed $1.3 billion (£0.652 billion) of its $1.45 billion (£0.728 billion) aid commitment, the report claims.

Matt Waldman, the report's author and Oxfam's Afghanistan policy adviser, said this "massive shortfall" in aid was further damaging a country wrecked by decades of conflict and already relying on international donors for nine tenths of its public spending.

"The reconstruction of Afghanistan requires a sustained and substantial commitment of aid - but donors have failed to meet their aid pledges to Afghanistan. Too much aid from rich countries is wasted, ineffective or uncoordinated," he said.

"Given the slow pace of progress in Afghanistan, and the links between poverty and conflict, the international community must urgently get its act together."

The report concedes that donor under-spending may reflect a lack of government capacity, corruption and challenging security situations.

But it says the policy of directing aid towards political and military objectives, rather than widespread poverty, is "short-sighted".

"Spending on tackling poverty is a fraction of what is spent on military operations," Mr Waldman added.

"While the US military is currently spending $100 million (£50.16 million) a day in Afghanistan, aid spent by all donors since 2001 is on average less than a tenth of that - just $7 million (£3.51 million) a day."End of story

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