AFGHANISTAN (March 25, 2008) – Western countries are failing to deliver on their promises of aid to Afghanistan to the tune of $10 billion, according to a new report written by the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR). ACBAR is an alliance of 94 national and international non-governmental organizations working in Afghanistan, including CARE.
The international community has pledged $25 billion to Afghanistan since 2001 but has only delivered $15 billion. Nearly 90 percent of all public spending in Afghanistan comes from international aid, so the massive shortfall hinders efforts to rebuild infrastructure damaged by two decades of war, and to ensure the widespread delivery of essential services such as education and health.
According to the report, the U.S. military expenditures alone in Afghanistan are nearly $100 million a day, while less than a tenth of that – $7 million – is allocated by the international community for humanitarian aid activities each day.
"The aid shortfall means that the gains that the people had hoped for are just not being made," said Jamie Terzi, Assistant Country Director for CARE in Afghanistan. "Unless people see some outputs from the money coming into Afghanistan, they are going to get increasingly disillusioned and disheartened. The more impact we can show, the more we can build support for the future of Afghanistan."
ACBAR is calling on the international community to increase aid and focus it on poverty reduction first and foremost, particularly in rural areas. The agency is also calling for more effective coordination, transparency and information flow between donors and the Afghan government and better measurement of the impact, efficiency and relevance of aid. The report recognizes that a level of donor under-spending can be expected due to limited government capacity and accountability as well as challenging security conditions. However, it points to the size of the shortfall as a call to donors to make greater, more concerted efforts to address these issues.
The report is also critical of the high profit margins and consultancy fees of for-profit companies implementing some of the reconstruction work in Afghanistan. While international expertise is needed to help rebuild the country and the skills of the local workforce, donors should be more accountable in ensuring that international aid is benefiting Afghans.
"Aid money to Afghanistan should be for the people of Afghanistan," said Terzi. "If we don’t show that, then it makes people question the donor community’s commitment to the people of Afghanistan," said Terzi.
Highlights of CARE’s work in Afghanistan
Over the past 10 years, CARE has supported 10,000 widows and their families through provision of emergency food aid, and helped many of them become self-reliant through vocational trainings and microfinance opportunities.
In the most remote areas in Afghanistan, CARE is working with rural communities to provide education for children, particularly for girls, who have historically not been given the opportunity to go to school.
CARE just completed one of the most comprehensive and unique urban shelter projects in Afghanistan, providing integrated shelter assistance to more than 3,500 poor and vulnerable people in unplanned areas of Kabul city and to displaced people and refugees returning to Kabul after the war.
For more information, please contact Bill Dowell, CARE International, Geneva, [email protected]
About CARE: Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE has more than six decades of experience delivering emergency aid during times of crisis. Our emergency responses focus on the needs of the most vulnerable populations, particularly girls and women. Women and girls are at the heart of CARE’s emergency relief efforts because our experience shows that their gains translate into benefits for families and communities.