Western countries are undermining the prospects for peace in Afghanistan by failing to deliver on $10 billion in promised aid, says the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR).
ACBAR, an alliance of national and international aid agencies working in Afghanistan, says the international community has pledged $25 billion to Afghanistan since 2001 but only delivered $15 billion.
The U.S., which is the biggest financial donor to Afghanistan, only delivered half of its $10.4 billion commitment between 2002 and 2008, ACBAR said, citing Afghan government sources.
The sources said that Germany distributed less than two-thirds of its $1.2 billion commitment during the same period. The World Bank has distributed a little more than half of its $1.6 billion commitment.
Meanwhile, Canada has pledged $779 million and given $731 million, according to the figures.
An estimated 40 per cent of the money spent by Western nations has returned to rich donor countries, such as the U.S., through corporate profits, consultant salaries and other costs, said ACBAR.
Since about 90 per cent of all public spending in Afghanistan comes from international aid, the shortfall impedes efforts to rebuild infrastructure and to implement essential services such as education and health, said ACBAR.
"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," said the report's author Matt Waldman, an Afghanistan policy adviser at international aid agency Oxfam.
"Given the slow pace of progress in Afghanistan, and the links between poverty and conflict, the international community must urgently get its act together.
"Spending on tackling poverty is a fraction of what is spent on military operations."
Waldman said the U.S. military is currently spending $100 million a day in Afghanistan but the average money spent on aid by all donors since 2001 is one tenth of that -- $7 million a day.
"The priority now is to increase the volume of aid and ensure it makes a sustainable difference for the poorest Afghans, especially in rural areas," said Waldman.
"Aid must address Afghan needs, build local capacities and help Afghans help themselves."
ACBAR's main recommendations are:
- Increasing volume of aid, particularly to rural areas.
- Ensuring transparency by donors and improved information flows to the Afghan government.
- Improving assessment of the impact, efficiency and relevance of aid.
- Introducing an independent commission on aid effectiveness to monitor donor performance.
- Effective co-ordination between donors and with the Afghan government.
