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ADB Approves US$15 Million of Technical Assistance Grants for Afghanistan

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (30 May 2002) - A US$15 million package of technical assistance grants for wide-ranging capacity building in Afghanistan was approved today by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This is the first step towards a resumption of full ADB operations in Afghanistan since 1979.

One cluster of grants is to build capacity in several sectors - agriculture and natural resources, education and health, road transport and energy, and finance. In addition, a separate grant was approved to help Afghanistan better manage natural disasters, including drought and earthquakes.

"Training, especially on-the-job training, is essential for it is critical that as many qualified Afghans as possible be involved in leading and undertaking the rehabilitation and reconstruction process," says Yoshihiro Iwasaki, Director General of ADB's South Asia Department.

The bulk of the assistance, a cluster of grants totaling US$14.5 million, will go towards strengthening the ability of various government ministries and departments to formulate policies and plans and implement projects in the following sectors:

• Agriculture and Natural Resources. As well as rationalizing agricultural administration and service delivery, the goal is to address serious environmental problems of resource degradation.

• Education, health and women's affairs. In addition to rebuilding schools, the aim is to create capacity to formulate policy, train teachers and refine the curriculum and textbooks. The health sector needs strengthening in terms of its ability to develop infrastructure, restore essential services, and support effective health care delivery. Support will also be provided to the Ministry of Women's Affairs to improve the welfare and status of Afghan women and, in particular, to support the Ministry's relationship with NGOs.

• Roads and energy. The transport sector needs assistance in areas ranging from the institutional structure and legislative framework to project planning and execution, including addressing gender and resettlement issues. Work in energy will focus on addressing critical gaps, assessing investment needs, and planning gas and petroleum projects.

• Finance. Assistance will concentrate on restoring private sector activities as well as developing immediate access to financial and advisory services for enterprise development in coordination with other aid agencies. Technical support will be extended to set up the essential market infrastructure and in building capacity.

All these projects will be carried out over two years by implementation cells to be established within key ministries, through the executing agency, the Ministry of Finance.

In addition to the above cluster, ADB agreed to provide US$500,000 to help Afghanistan's Office of Disaster Preparedness become a credible coordination agency and a focal point for multi-disaster issues ranging from prevention to relief and reconstruction. As well as suffering from civil conflicts for over two decades, Afghanistan experiences frequent earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush, a region of mountains and rough terrain. Severe drought is another natural hazard that needs to be mitigated.

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