Reward Peaceful Afghan Provinces

SECURITY FIRST
Aid should target stable provinces, says United Nations representative to Afghanistan Kai Eide in Kabul.
Photo by AFP

Development aid should be targeted at stable provinces in central Afghanistan where projects can be more successful and effective than in conflict zones, says the United Nations.

“We focus too much on conflict provinces, and we spend enormous amounts of money there, and it does not have much impact because of the conflict,” said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Kai Eide, during a visit to Bamyan Province in August.

“The balance [of aid spending by donors] is wrong,” he said, adding that development aid had little impact in the insecure provinces but significant effect in stable provinces like Bamyan.

“I am afraid that if we don’t spend more money in stable provinces we will also see instabilities here. It should be a warning signal to us all [and] teach us a lesson [to] direct money to the stable provinces,” Mr. Eide said.

More than 60 multilateral donors have spent about $36 billion on development, reconstruction, and humanitarian projects in Afghanistan since 2002, according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance.—IRIN news service •