THE World Bank’s management has signed off on a proposal that would repurpose US$600 mil of the just over US$1 bil left in a frozen trust fund to benefit Afghan education, families and communities, a source familiar with the plan said.
The board of the World Bank is due to discuss the proposal on March 1, with a final decision on disbursement of the funds left up to the donors of Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which is administered by the bank, the source said.
The funds would be disbursed by various United Nations (UN) agencies, including UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization, amid escalating concerns about the collapsing Afghan economy, the source said.
Donors to the trust fund in December approved the transfer of US$280 mil from the trust to the World Food Program and UNICEF to support nutrition and health in Afghanistan.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres urged the UN Security Council last month to free up the remaining US$1.2 bil in the fund to help Afghanistan’s people survive the winter.
The fresh funds will help support food security, health and education programmes in Afghanistan as it sinks into a severe economic and humanitarian crisis. The crisis accelerated in August when the Taliban overran the country as the Western-backed Government collapsed and the last US and allied troops withdrew.
The US and other donors cut off the financial aid that had kept Afghanistan running during 20 years of war after the Taliban takeover.
The UN is warning that nearly 23 million people – about 55% of the population – are facing extreme levels of hunger, with nearly nine million at risk of famine as winter takes hold in the impoverished country.
The US last week announced plans to free up half of the US$7 bil in frozen Afghan central bank assets on US soil to help the Afghan people while holding the rest to possibly satisfy terrorism-related lawsuits against the Taliban, the White House said yesterday. – Feb 19, 2022
