Where is all the promised international aid for the rebuilding of Afghanistan? It has been estimated by aid agencies that up to $30 billion is needed this decade. Following the Tokyo donor conference at the start of this year, pledges of just a tenth of that sum were made, principally by Japan, the US, the European Union and Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom has already delivered substantial amounts of its promised aid, over and above the millions of dollars from both official and private sources that were handed over after the disastrous earthquake hit the country. However, other international financial commitments within the even the $3 billion rebuilding package have been alarmingly slow to arrive.
Some donors have pointed out that they are not prepared to pour money into the country unless they can be sure that it is being used for the purposes for which it was earmarked. This reluctance applies in particular to large infrastructural projects such as the rebuilding of roads and bridges. It has been undeniable that the Afghan governmental infrastructure necessary to implement such major works has been lacking. However, in the early euphoric days of the Taleban’s ouster, the international community was talking enthusiastically about providing the know-how to get government departments up and running properly. That know-how has unfortunately been remarkably slow in appearing. So far, the largest flows of aid are still coming through the international nongovernmental agencies (NGOs). These are fine at the level of rebuilding homes, restoring local communications and perhaps most importantly for farmers, land mine clearance, but NGOs are not equipped to mount major infrastructural projects. There have been bilateral links between the Afghan administration and donor governments, but the aid on offer here, is perhaps unsurprisingly, all too often tied to the work being undertaken, almost on a turnkey basis, by contractors from that country. Kabul and Afghanistan’s other major urban centers ought to be massive construction sites, buzzing with rebuilding activity. That they are not is mute but damning evidence that most of the international community has yet to deliver on its promises.
Indeed, when the British handed over the command of the international peacekeeping force to the Turks this summer, it seemed to be the start of a general disengagement by all the Europeans. The United States’ presence in Afghanistan remains primarily focused on seeking out the elements of the Taleban and Al-Qaeda that remain in Afghanistan, and interdicting any attempt by these forces to return from their refuges in Pakistan.
In these depressing circumstances, it is therefore heartening that the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), made up of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan as well as Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, meeting this week in Istanbul, agreed to set up a specific fund to drive on the task of rebuilding Afghanistan.
None of these countries has anything like the disposable wealth of those Western states that were so loud in their early pledges of financial assistance. It must be hoped, however, that ECO’s intervention in Afghanistan’s troubles serves to galvanize the wealthy West into honoring its commitments.
