07 November 2001
Text: World Bank Announces Meeting on Afghanistan Reconstruction
(Conference to focus on post-war recovery) (1330)
The World Bank will host a three-day conference in Islamabad,
Pakistan, to target new proposals for reconstruction in post-war
Afghanistan.
In a November 7 press release the Bank said the "Preparing for
Afghanistan's Reconstruction" conference will cover the immediate
post-crisis recovery, including stimulating agriculture recovery and
employment generation. It will look to scale up quickly existing
programs such as food security, education and de-mining, once the
conflict ends. It also will cover development of social and
infrastructure areas, including managing urban redevelopment and
rebuilding irrigation system and roads.
The conference will be held November 27 to 29.
The Bank's approach is to involve partnerships with the broad
assistance community, including official and non-governmental. The
Bank hopes to bring together Afghan and other experts and to find
Afghan professionals living outside the country who could contribute
to Afghanistan's reconstruction.
"Tomorrow's leaders in Afghanistan could have a real opportunity to
develop their country in a way that doesn't just clear the rubble but
opens a whole new horizon," said William Byrd, World Bank acting
country manager for Afghanistan.
Following is the text of the World Bank press release:
(begin text)
World Bank Releases Approach Paper on Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, November 7, 2001 -- The World Bank has released an
approach paper on Afghanistan as it prepares to co-host a conference
on the country's reconstruction with the United Nations Development
Programme and the Asian Development Bank.
The three-day conference, "Preparing for Afghanistan's
Reconstruction," will be held from November 27 to 29 in Islamabad,
Pakistan, where the organizers hope to gather not only a wide range of
experienced participants from the assistance community but
representatives from the community of knowledgeable Afghans.
"We expect that the November conference will begin an intensified
process of consultation and cooperation aimed at identifying and
agreeing on Afghanistan's future reconstruction requirements," says
William Byrd, World Bank Acting Country Manager for Afghanistan. "We
will be building on the operational experience of various NGOs and
other agencies in the country, on analytical work that the Bank and
partners have been producing in recent years and on international
experience with post-conflict reconstruction elsewhere. We do not
begin this work on a blank slate, but recent events present new
possibilities and it is critical that we take our preparedness to the
next level."
The Bank's approach paper suggests that once a post-conflict
government is in prospect, reconstruction funding would most sensibly
be channeled through a trust fund, a mechanism which would ensure
effective prioritization and utilization of funding across a wide
range of reconstruction and development activities.
"International experience has shown us that aid management will be
critical for the success of Afghanistan's reconstruction effort," says
Byrd. "You need a sound financial mechanism, good aid coordination
based on real partnerships, and last but not least, Afghans must play
an integral role in reconstruction, from planning to implementation. "
On the agenda of the conference will be the main issues of the
immediate post-crisis recovery period, including how to stimulate
agricultural recovery and employment generation to provide
income-earning opportunities and food security for communities. In
addition, discussion will address the development of social and
infrastructure areas, including education and health services,
managing urban redevelopment and rebuilding essential infrastructure
like irrigation facilities and road networks.
The Bank's approach paper, which will guide the development of a
strategy for the institution's contribution to Afghanistan's
reconstruction, says it is premature to put a price tag on the work
ahead, but the cost is expected to be high. In addition, levels of
assistance will be determined by what could be expected to be quite
large balance of payments and budgetary financing needs on the one
hand and initially low domestic absorptive capacity on the other, in a
country where human capital has been eroded by decades-long conflict.
"Reconstruction cannot be separated from the longer-term economic and
social development of Afghanistan, " says Byrd. "Services like
education and health never reached most of the population before the
1979 Soviet invasion, and agricultural production will have to support
a considerably larger population than before (an estimated 25 million
if all Afghan refugees were to return). Roads and other infrastructure
services will need to reach towns and communities that have always
been cut off from the cities and main roads. Tomorrow's leaders in
Afghanistan could have a real opportunity to develop their country in
a way that doesn't just clear the rubble but opens a whole new
horizon."
The heart of the challenge is not merely a restoration to the
pre-conflict situation of the late 1970s, which will merely return
Afghanistan to its status as one of the world's poorest countries as
measured in both incomes social indicators. Currently, UN and
non-governmental estimates of infant mortality, for example, place
Afghanistan among the highest in the world with 165 deaths per 1,000
live births. A further 257 out of 1,000 toddlers die before they reach
the age of five. An estimated 1,700 mothers out of 100,000 die in
childbirth, an recent World Bank study estimated that in the mid to
late 1990s, about 500 people each month fell victim to landmines or
other unexploded ordnance.
Key economic institutions of State such as a central bank, treasury,
tax collection and customs, statistics, civil service, law and order
and a judicial system are extremely weak or simply missing. Basic
infrastructure like roads bridges, irrigation, canals,
telecommunications, electricity and markets have been destroyed or,
without maintenance, are not functioning. These issues all point to
the need for a broad-based development effort in Afghanistan.
The Bank's approach paper stresses close partnership with the broader
assistance community, both official a non-governmental. Some existing
assistance programs already in place could be scaled up rapidly when
the conflict ends to generate quick relief. These areas include food
security, education and de-mining, the latter which is already
underway in some parts of the country. Based on the de-mining
experience so far, the Bank estimates that countrywide clearance could
cost about US$500 million, as an example of just one of the man
important activities that would need substantial funding during
reconstruction.
Short-term priorities for the reconstruction period could include,
according to the Bank:
-- Agricultural recovery and food security;
-- Livelihood generation for returning refugees and displaced people;
-- Support, to existing communities through provision of basic
services and small-scale development and empowerment programs;
-- Rapid rehabilitation of Afghanistan's main road network;
-- Expansion of the de-mining program;
-- Massive short-run employment generation through public works
programs;
-- Re-starting and expanding key social services like education and
health, with a focus on reaching girls and women; and
-- Human capacity mobilization for social services, infrastructure and
public administration.
Other elements of the reconstruction agenda are likely to come to the
fore as a post-conflict government find; feet and takes ownership of
its development challenge.
-- Establishment of sound economic management institutions like a
Central Bank, Ministry of Finance, Treasury, Statistical System;
-- Developing education and health systems that reach the bulk of the
population;
-- Developing a lean, effective and honest civil service and
institutions of public accountability;
-- Urban management and, in particular, avoiding permanent large
"refugee cities";
-- Enabling environment for private sector development -- particularly
to attract and productively utilize Afghans Pakistan, Iran and the
Middle East;
-- Export development, focusing on agricultural and livestock products
and minerals;
-- Energy development and management; and
--Environment and natural resource management, especially forestry.
The conference later this month will intensify the work on this broad
reconstruction agenda among all development partners. The Bank hopes
also to bring together Afghans and other experts on the country for it
and advice and to conduct a search for Afghan professionals living
outside their country who could contribute Afghanistan's
reconstruction.
(end text)
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