Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Steven Edwards, Ottawa Citizen Cited: http://www.senliscouncil.org Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Afghanistan Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/NATO Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Senlis (Senlis Council AFGHAN ANTI-DRUG FUND LANGUISHES IN BANK ACCOUNT The Chief Donor to the Fund, Britain, Is So Alarmed by the Lack of Progress That Is Has 'Turned Off the Tap,' Writes Steven Edwards at the United Nations. Back in February, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced to great fanfare that his government would substantially increase its funding for Afghan reconstruction and development. A big portion of that new money, Mr. Harper said, was earmarked for anti-drug programs, including a fund to be spent by the Afghan government. It now emerges the Afghan bureaucracy is so cumbersome that almost $42.3 million U.S. that Canada and other donors have given to the Counter Narcotics Trust Fund since its 2005 launch is languishing in bank accounts, unused. Britain, the chief donor to the fund, is so alarmed that it has "turned off the (money) tap." Critics say the idle fund is particularly scandalous given Canadian and other NATO troops are locked in a daily struggle to make the country safe for reconstruction. Since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, 56 Canadian soldiers and a Canadian diplomat have been killed. Almost 500 other soldiers of the international forces have also died. Canadian officials were more guarded about whether Canada has also stopped putting money into the fund. "The trust fund is relatively new and operates in a challenging environment," said a Foreign Affairs spokesperson, while acknowledging the fund is not working properly. The department did not respond to questions on the exact status of $3 million Mr. Harper pledged in February out of $200 million for other anti-drug, reconstruction and development programs. The Canadian International Development Agency confirmed it has already delivered $1.2 million to the fund, which is one of the Afghan government's flagship reconstruction programs to combat drug production partly by giving Afghans other means to earn a living. "Our appeal to donors is to trust the trust fund," said Afghan Counter Narcotics Minister Habibullah Qaderi at the fund's launch. Since then, deposits and pledges total $74.5 million U.S., according to figures supplied yesterday by the United Nations Development Program. While a management board including Afghan, UN and donor officials has approved more than $27 million U.S. in projects, the Afghan government has spent only about $1 million U.S. "It's basically an administrative mess," said one international source. "There is something inherently wrong with the entire program, from the complicated application process, to confusion over what projects are eligible, to the sheer impossibility of working out who's actually doing the approving and the rejecting." "I have not seen any impact of the significant financial contributions to that trust fund on the ground in Helmand or Kandahar, which is where I work," said Norine MacDonald, a leading Afghanistan researcher with the Senlis Council, a think-tank that has been scathingly critical of CIDA's aid record in the country. She said poppy cultivation is up in those provinces. "I think there are a lot of indicators that there is a lot of private dissatisfaction with how counter-narcotics policy is going in Afghanistan," she added. Britain says it still has faith in the fund, but can't justify adding to it as long as the Afghan government is unable to absorb the cash. "It's not about a continuous tap," said one British official. "It's rather, you turn on the tap and give a certain amount, and when the bucket's full, you turn off the tap. When the bucket is a bit emptier, you can add more." Other donors include the European Commission, Australia, Japan, Poland and Sweden. "There are plenty of other places where this stagnant money could be used," said an Australian diplomat. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake