Ayaz Gul
VOA News
April 25, 2018
ISLAMABAD — The World Bank has disputed U.S. government findings that billions of dollars of donor funds flowing into Afghanistan are at risk due to lack of oversight and transparency.
The project in question is called Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, or ARTF, and is being administered by the World Bank. It is one of the largest sources of funding to Afghan government operations outside the security sector.
The U.S. has paid about $3 billion dollars of the total $10 billion in direct assistance to Kabul since 2002, making it the largest contributor.
On Wednesday, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, released its audit of the project, saying that once the U.S. or any donor provides its contributions to the fund, neither the World Bank nor USAID can account for where and how the funds are being spent.
SIGAR noted in its audit report that the World Bank is unable to accurately measure ARTF sector-level performance.
“Without an accurate, reliable evaluation, the World Bank will be unable to determine the impact the roughly $10 billion in donor funding has had in improving Afghan development,” said the U.S. government watchdog.
SIGAR is tasked with auditing U.S.-funded reconstruction programs and providing recommendations for preventing waste and corruption. In its quarterly reports submitted to the U.S. Congress, the agency has been critical of the mismanagement of reconstruction funds, and it disclosed massive corruption in certain areas, including Afghanistan’s security sector.
While the World Bank swiftly questioned the report, it welcomed the watchdog’s recommendations an opportunity to strengthen the focus on the fund’s results and accountability.
“Most of the findings, however, are somewhat anecdotal, and do not fully take into account measures taken to improve the reporting on how funds are used,” the Bank noted in a statement sent to the media on Wednesday.
The program focuses on improving and expanding access to health care and education, developing rural infrastructure, and improving farmers’ crops and incomes.
“We are proud of the tangible results Afghanistan has achieved with the support of ARTF for Afghans in the past 15 years and continues to deliver,” the World Bank asserted.
The United States has spent about $1 trillion overall to secure and stabilize Afghanistan. Most of the funds have been devoted to creating and training Afghan National Defense and Security Forces so they could tackle the Taliban-led insurgency.
Security has deteriorated in recent years, though, with the insurgents controlling or contesting more than 44 percent of the country.
SIGAR has routinely identified and blamed corrupt practices by Afghan security institutions and forces for battlefield setbacks.
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A country of over thirty million people, after the grand invasion of 2001, was left to be run by ignorant naive politicians and incompetent localized officials- all under the general supervision of the the ruthless and corrupt militant invaders who have shown no traces of sincere respect, devotion and civilized good-well towards the locals.
.
*
Anglo/US war criminals destroyed all hopes, for building up any normally-run solid economic base for the people of Afghanistan.
Well; it all turned Int to an expected fiasco- the coward miscalculating invaders gambled it all on expenses of the local population across all of Afghanistan- no viable economic ventures materialized based on earlier empty promises- the assumed ensured anarchy kept getting increasingly uninsurable which will eventually lead to economic collapse of whole of Afghanistan.
They lbased the funds for the foundations of all local infrastructures upon initial foreign aid and revenue-generating war bonanzas.
All hopes were set to revive the internal resources of Afghanistan to somehow magically pay off the high general expenditures on the top of a self-reliant local economy.
Well; it all turned Int to unexpected fiasco- the miscalculating invaders gambled it all on expenses of the local population across all of Afghanistan- no viable economic ventures materialized based on earlier empty promises- the assumed ensured anarchy kept getting increasingly uninsurable which will, for sure, eventually lead to economic collapse of whole of Afghanistan.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA
HOW TO RECOVER IT ALL
FROM THE PAST DISASTROUS ECONOMIC AND SOCISL POLICIES IN AFGHANISTAN.
*YOU
MISERABLY
NEED HELP !
…
LIKE IT OR NOT:
••••••••••••••••••••••
AN
INTERNATIONAL PEACE
CONFERANCE
ON AFGHANISTAN
IS ON ORDER-
.
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT
TO ALL INVOLED PARYIES THAT ARE STATIONED ON
CURENT
MURKY
GROUNDS OF AFGHANISTAN.
Yes;
The country is still ranked the lowest on all crucial indexes, with the exceptions of boxing matches and empowering music bands – obviously, our imminent great hopes for the people of Afghanistan elapsed with the grand invasion of 2001..
But; regardless- it is all back,
up to the people of
Afghanistan.
*A
glimmer
of
hope !