IRELAND/AFGHANISTAN: Ireland is to donate €12 million to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, it was announced yesterday in Tokyo. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said the funds would be made available over the next three years.
The money comes on top of "continuing financial support" for the country, expected to exceed euro €5.08 million this year.
Mr Cowen made the announcement while attending a conference on Afghan reconstruction. The money will be used for the reconstruction of schools and hospitals, water and sanitation systems, bridges, roads, natural resource management, agriculture and other needs. Mr Cowen said: "The challenges facing the Afghan people at the present time are enormous. Unimaginable devastation and suffering has been caused by two decades of conflict and three years of drought even before the recent events.
"We share the common goal of rebuilding Afghanistan in a way that promotes economic and social development as well as human rights and equality."
Afghanistan's interim leader, Mr Hamid Karzai, arrived in Japan yesterday. Mr Karzai, on his first international tour since he took office last month, will outline his vision of how to rebuild Afghanistan.
Representatives from almost 60 governments and international organisations will gather in Tokyo today and tomorrow to pledge money for a $15 billion rebuilding process over 10 years.
The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, and the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, will also attend.
A significant show of financial support for Afghanistan is seen to be key to ensuring that it does not breed radical movements such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda again.
Mr Karzai said on arrival in Tokyo that he hoped to go back to his country and to his people "with my hands full".
"I will be conveying to the conference the extent of the destruction in Afghanistan and the extent of the needs of the people of Afghanistan and request them to see to it that those needs are taken care of," he said.
However, donors will want proof that Kabul has a viable plan to wean the economy of its opium trade dependence, and that they can keep track of how their contributions are spent.
The UN, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have estimated that reconstruction will require $15 billion over a decade with $5 billion needed up to 2005, and $10 billion in the first five years. One issue is the time frame for the doling out of funds. Japan has been focusing on the first two-and-a-half years, while the EU is looking at a five-year span. The US may pledge only for one year. - (Additional reporting by PA)
In Riyadh earlier yesterday, Mr Karzai won $20 million after seeking funds from Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.