INTERVIEW - Security problems block Afghan aid - World Bank
Date: 12-Sep-02
Country: JAPAN
Author: Tamawa Kadoya
"Internal peace and security isn't there and that's a prerequisite," Mieko Nishimizu, the World Bank's vice-president for South Asia, told Reuters in an interview.
An assassination attempt on the life of Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week and a huge car bomb in the capital, Kabul, were reminders of the fragility of the post-Taliban regime.
A transitional government is in place after U.S.-led troops ousted the Taliban regime, which protected leaders of the al Qaeda network blamed for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
However, much of the country remains under the control of warlords and plagued by bandits.
"Even in areas with local stability and good leaders, if you don't know whether the mines have been cleared, we can't touch anything...in terms of development assistance," she said. "So there are a lot of bottlenecks."
But Nishimizu said there was progress, noting some $17-18 million had already been disbursed from the World Bank, which in June approved a pledge of some $100 million in aid.
"That shows, in numbers, how quickly things can move when there are people determined to do things."
The bank restarted its lending to Afghanistan in April with $10 million for emergency public administration projects. It was the first loan to the country since 1979.
Japan is the second largest shareholder in the World Bank.
More than $1.8 billion was committed by international donors this year at a Tokyo meeting on Afghan reconstruction.
Nishimizu said some $800-900 million had already been spent, but it had gone mainly on humanitarian assistance - food and medicine for instance - and emergency repair work like fixing airports and providing snow removal equipment to keep vital lifelines open during the winter.
JAPAN ODA CUTS REGRETTABLE
Nishimizu said that a cut in Japan's official development assistance (ODA) was "regrettable but understandable to an extent" and that it would be a good time to be more discriminating in where aid money went.
"The kind of advice I have given to policymakers here is strategically focusing on countries with good policies, those serious about introducing and keeping good governance," she said.
"That means saying no to countries and leaders who are not so good. Saying 'No, we can't share precious Japanese resources with you because you're not good enough' is a very important thing to do."
Japan cut ODA by some 10 percent in this year's budget as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government attempts to rein in the ballooning public debt, which is approaching 140 percent of gross domestic product, although aid to Afghanistan and surrounding countries is projected to rise around three percent.
Nishimizu, formerly an economics professor at Princeton University, called on Japan to implement structural reform and conduct policies which help not only the recession-bound nation but other poorer nations.
"Major structural reforms are being designed and contemplated. The only thing I can say is 'implement as if your life depends on it', because it does."
She also called on Japan to open up trade to poor countries and focus more on environmental issues.