15 January 2002
Text: Joint Report Says $15,000 million needed for Afghanistan
(Cites reconstruction costs over next 10 years) (860)
The reconstruction of Afghanistan is expected to cost $15,000 million
over the next 10 years, according to a report from the U.N.
Development Program, World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
The report was released to the international community January 15, one
week before a conference on Afghanistan's reconstruction in Tokyo,
according to a World Bank news release issued the same day.
The report says there is urgent need for "up-front" reconstruction and
support from international donors.
It said during the first 30 months Afghanistan will need $1,800
million to cover recurrent costs, such as salaries for civil servants.
The cost of reconstruction in the first two and one-half years will be
$5,000 million, according to the release.
The report, a preliminary needs assessment for discussion at Tokyo,
was developed with input form senior officials in Kabul and civil
society, the release said. The country's interim administration is
expected to take a leadership role in developing reconstruction
priorities, it said.
Short-term priorities include providing access to health care; getting
children, especially girls, back in school, and getting adults back
into productive livelihoods. Demining and drug control are also
priorities, the release said.
The report focused on building a community-based approach to
development and involving women in planning and decision-making,
according to the release.
(Note: In the following text, "billion" equals 1,000 million.)
Following is the text of the World Bank news release:
(begin text)
Donors Receive Estimates for Afghanistan's Reconstruction Ahead of
Tokyo Conference
WASHINGTON, Tuesday, January 15, 2002 -- The reconstruction of
Afghanistan is expected to cost about $15 billion over the next
decade, according to a preliminary needs assessment prepared jointly
by the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank.
The document was shared with the international donor community today,
a week before they are hosted by the Government of Japan in Tokyo to
discuss the report and make their commitments to a new start for
war-ravaged Afghanistan. Japan forms the Steering Group for the
Reconstruction of Afghanistan along with the European Union, Saudi
Arabia and the United States.
"In the immediate months ahead, the Afghan administration will be
under pressure to achieve quick results in its reconstruction efforts,
meeting pressing needs in a way that gives the citizens a stake in
peace and stability, and enhancing national integration," says the
report. "This underlines the urgent need for up-front reconstruction
activities and support from the international assistance community."
It is estimated that reconstruction will cost about $5 billion in the
first two and a half years, the period spanning the current interim
authority and the transitional government due to follow that in
accordance with the Bonn Agreement. The 10-year figure for
reconstruction costs has been put at $15 billion.
Part of the estimate for the first 30 months under Afghanistan's new
arrangement will have to cover the country's recurrent costs as its
authorities are unlikely to be able to collect taxes in the
foreseeable future. It is estimated that the country will need about
$1.8 billion to cover recurrent costs during this period, including
the salaries of civil servants who lost their jobs during the Taliban
era and who the interim authority plans to rehire. In earlier Afghan
governments, about 43 percent of civil servants were women.
The document for discussion in Tokyo is a preliminary needs
assessment, with further work on a more comprehensive needs assessment
planned to take place in Afghanistan soon. The country's interim
administration is expected to play a leadership role in drawing up the
priorities for a reconstruction strategy based on the initial findings
of the assessment. Senior officials in Kabul were consulted on the
work done so far but time has been limited since the inauguration of
the interim authority on December 22 last year. In addition, Afghan
civil society has been consulted in an intense round of conferences
and meetings since late November.
In the short term, the preliminary needs assessment expects these
priorities to be focused on helping as many Afghans as possible
reclaim their lives with access to health services, children --
especially girls -- going to school and adults returning to productive
livelihoods, many of them in the fields and orchards. To this end,
demining is expected to remain an important priority. There is a
special focus in the report on a community-based approach to
development and on the role of women in the reconstruction of
Afghanistan, making space for them both in the economy and in the
planning and decision-making processes. Another clear priority is drug
control. It is expected that as the benefits of peace, security and
the beginning of development activities are demonstrated, refugees
will return home in larger numbers.
The challenge of Afghanistan's development ranges from the
reconstruction of infrastructure to the delivery of social services
and the creation of an environment which allows the private sector to
flourish productively.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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