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. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake