Tokyo conference welcomed with cautious optimism

Afghans expressed cautious optimism over the rebuilding of their war-ravaged country following the opening of a major donor conference on Afghanistan that began in Tokyo on Monday. Representatives of some 60 countries along with major international organisations and NGOs are attending the two-day event. "If [Hamid] Karzai returns home with money, it will boost the morale of Afghans and they will be more optimistic about future," Idress Zaman, programme manager with Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy conservation in Afghanistan (AREA), an Afghan NGO, told IRIN. While Afghans were positive, they feared the collapse of the new government if money was not injected quickly, Zaman said. "The interim administration had estimated US$ 45 billion as the reconstruction cost but I believe that any estimates should be based on elaborate planning," he explained. International donors pledged more than US $3.5 billion in reconstruction aid for Afghanistan on the opening day of the Tokyo conference. European contributions will total US $1.5 billion over the next four years. The conference host, Japan will grant US $500 million over the first two and a half years. Of that, US $250 million will be made availabe this year. Zaman said every segment of the Afghan population had its own priorities. "Social development, education, health, food, along with physical infrastructure such as roads and communication are the cross-cutting themes now," he maintained. Hedayatullah Alefi, a former economist at Kabul University, told IRIN that skills were just as critical as money right now. "In a recent visit to Kabul, I felt a general shortage of professionals," he said. "We need Afghan professionals to circulate the money," he explained, adding just pumping money into the country would not solve Afghanistan’s complex problems. Alefi stressed the need for creating a new financial system to better manage the incoming aid. "A new organisation under international supervision will remove the gaps in the present aid delivery and disbursement mechanisms," he said. In addition to US $400 million in humanitarian assistance committed by the United States last autumn, the US had pledged US $269 million for 2002. It will also release millions of dollars of Afghan money frozen during the Taliban era. Britain will donate some US $288 million. Saudi Arabia, which co-chairs the summit with Japan, the US and EU, has pledged US $220 million over the next two years. The World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had estimated that US $15 billion would be needed over the next decade to rebuild the war-torn country. The World Bank and ADB each will provide US $500 million over the next two years. The World Bank will inject US $50 to 70 million in immediate grants.