'This paper outlines urgent action necessary to address immediate challenges in Afghanistan and to avert humanitarian disaster. It does not seek to address all issues of concern but focuses on essential policy change in development and humanitarian spheres.

While aid has contributed to progress in Afghanistan, especially in social and economic infrastructure – and whilst more aid is needed – the development process has to date been too centralised, top-heavy and insufficient.'

'Increasing insecurity and criminality is jeopardising progress in Afghanistan. With low government revenues, international assistance constitutes around 90% of all public expenditure in the country, thus how it is spent has an enormous impact on the lives of almost all Afghans and will determine the success of reconstruction and development. Given the links between development and security, the effectiveness of aid also has a major impact on peace and stability in the country. Yet thus far aid more...

'Increasing insecurity and criminality is jeopardizing progress in Afghanistan. With low government revenues, international assistance constitutes around 90% of all public expenditure in the country, thus how it is spent has an enormous impact on the lives of almost all Afghans and will determine the success of reconstruction and development. Given the links between development and security, the effectiveness of aid also has a major impact on peace and stability in the country. Yet thus far aid more...

The 2007 Afghanistan Human Development Report ranks the country as one of the poorest in the world, and the poorest nation in the entire Asia and Pacific region. Despite significant security and development since the 2001 ouster of the former Taliban regime, the people of Afghanistan continue to suffer widespread insecurity; weak governance; inadequate healthcare, education, and other public service; and gender inequality.

The Country Strategy and Program (CSP) is prepared in active consultation with developing member country stakeholders: the government, NGOs, civil society groups, the private sector and other development agencies. It is usually prepared once every five years. A CSP update is prepared every year to reflect any important country developments and adjustments to the program. CSP contents are:
• Recent Political and Social Developments
• Economic Assessment and Outlook
• Implications for t more...

The multilateral Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) was set up in May 2002 to provide support to Afghanistan. As of December 21, 2007, 28 donors have pledged US$2.4 billion, of which US$2.2 billion had been paid-in to the Trust.

ARTF is the primary instrument for financing the civilian operating budget. As of February 2008, US$ 1.4 billion had been disbursed to fund civil servants salaries and the Government’s operations and maintenance expenditures.

This report, jointly researched by Transparency International, Tufts University's Feinstein International Center, and the Overseas Development Institute's Humanitarian Policy Group, documents perceptions of corruption in humanitarian operations through interviews with staff of several leading international humanitarian NGOs.

The report finds that many humanitarian agencies are aware of corruption risks and have developed a range of strategies to prevent it. Whistleblower policies, codes of c more...

As one of the least developed countries on earth, Afghanistan faces many challenges in attaining its targets for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

These include significant poverty, food insecurity and health risks, and what was once called 'the worst education system in the world'. In recognition of its special situation, the target date for the MDGs in Afghanistan has been put back from 2015 to 2020.

Calling the Paris conference "a decisive moment" for Afghanistan’s future, US First Lady Laura Bush opened the conference with an announcement that Washington was pledging $10.2 billion in aid. Overall, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s administration is hoping the Paris conference can generate as much as $50 billion in new assistance. Karzai also wants foreign governments and international aid organizations to work more closely with the Afghan government. "The current development process that more...

'This report is intended as a wake-up call for action. It does not examine individual nations or institutions in depth and recognises that many of the
constraints are the result of national systems – for instance,
how aid is dispersed or troop commitments are approved. It
emphasises, however, the need for all actors in the
multilateral endeavour to summon “the political will
to do things most countries don’t want to do”.'