$10 to 15 billion fund may be created for
Afghanistan
From SHAMIM
AHMED RIZVI
Islamabad
Dec 03 - 09 , 2001
The 3-day international conference on
"Preparing for Afghanistan's Reconstruction" jointly
sponsored and hosted by the World bank, United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) commenced in
Islamabad on Tuesday. Over 330 delegates comprising Afghans, donors
representative, regional stakeholders attending, the conference,
called for an early setting up of a broad based interim government in
Afghanistan so that the development and reconstruction work in that
war-ravaged country could be undertaken.
The donor agencies are expecting that an
international fund of $10 to 15 billion may be created to immediately
start the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Multilateral donors have
shown willingness to contribute generously to the programme which may
be started once a coalition government is installed and peace returned
to Afghanistan.
Pakistan is expecting to play a major role in this
gigantic development programme. Only last week Gen. Pervez Musharraf
directed that all relevant ministries and government departments along
with Pakistani businessmen should be ready with detailed plans and
expertise to claim maximum share for Pakistan companies in this world
effort. The holding of the Afghanistan reconstruction moot in Pakistan
is a significant indication that Pakistan is going to play a major
role.
In her opening speech the vice President of the
World Bank South Asia, Ms Mieko Nishimizu said "we all share a
dream of Afghanistan in peace and free of poverty and with
international cooperation that dream can be converted into a
reality". The sole purpose of this conference was to listen to
Afghan and set priorities right for development and reconstruction
along side a political settlement efforts taking place in Bonn,
Germany.
Continuing she said that we need consultation,
cooperation and guidance of Afghan people in this gigantic effort.
"How dare we think about rebuilding Afghanistan without listening
to the sovereign people. How dare we continue the very exclusion that
has blighted the lives of the Afghan people so long". She
observed that if the assistance community were to drive the rebuilding
of Afghanistan, it would merely become part of the problem, instead of
part of the solution that it could be. She said that the
reconstruction of Afghanistan would be inseparable from its long-term
development. "And, I think of development as a process of
economic, social and political transformation, of a society, by the
society for the society", she suggested an outsiders role as of
honest brokers' be they governments, NGOs or international agencies
like the World Bank.
Regarding Bonn process, she said the bank had a
deep respect for such efforts, in which Afghanistan finds its
leadership to steer the nation's reconstruction and development. The
quality of leadership, in governments and throughout civil society, is
one such factor that is of enormous importance for poverty reduction,
she added.
"Reducing poverty is about sharing tangible
and intangible fruits of economic growth equitably. Strategy, policies
and actions to achieve it are about changes with winners and
losers". She maintained that citizens need to feel that they are
truly consulted and that they have participated actively in the
process of change. They need to feel convinced that they can honour a
consensus, and share deeply in a common vision, strategy and actions,
she said, adding that such a participatory process of change is the
only way to secure a sustainable development path. She concluded her
remarks reciting translation of verses from the Holy Quran.
"Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until
they change it themselves, with their own souls."
David Lockwood, the UNDP Deputy Director for Asia
and the Pacific, said the next three days would be a first step
towards an Afghan-driven needs assessment. "The Afghans are a
proud nation who resent and resist attempts by outsiders to plan their
lives. If we are going to help break the cycle of increasing desperate
dependency on external assistance, we have to act quickly, and with a
clear plan of action which can be readily supported by all parties and
factions, and can, therefore, be adopted easily by the interim
authority and supported financially by donor countries".
A number of speakers shared the experience of the
international community in dealing with post-conflict reconstruction
else where. Dr. Iwasaki reviewed the ADB's experiences with
post-conflict rehabilitation in Cambodia, Tajikistan and East Timor.
In rehabilitating the agriculture, education,
transport and poor sectors, the ADB had undertaken detailed appraisals
and implementation had proven very successful. However, lead times had
been long and extended institutional support had been required. In
Tajikistan, a quick-disbursing policy and institutional support
programme was implemented for the transport and power sectors. This
programme was vital for putting modern systems in place, providing
incentives for efficiency and achieving cost recovery. In East Timor,
the ADB is assisting the transport, power, telecommunications, water
and sanitation, and micro-finance sectors. Physical implementation is
proceeding well, but failure to establish a policy framework for cost
recovery has unnecessarily burdened the budget.
The representative of the International Monetary
Fund said the IMF role would be aimed at three areas namely the
establishment of a functional financial and payments system; a
reactivation of governmental institutions to ensure delivery of
essential government economic services, and, the improvement of
capacity to implement macro-economic policies to ensure that
reconstruction takes place in a non-inflationary environment.
Speaking in the session on lessons from
international experiences, Dr. Paul Oquist of the UNDP warned against
"quick fixes" and donor fatigue arguing that there should be
a "post-war" concept of special institutions and resources
over a considerable period of time. He said post-war Japan and Germany
were good examples of countries which had been able to transform
destroyed industrial infrastructure into an opportunity to construct
modern competitive economic and industrial infrastructure.
Afghanistan does not have a government apparatus,
he said, but that can be transformed into an opportunity to create a
modern, participatory and responsive state for the 21st. Century.
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