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Signing Ceremony for Education and Road Projects in Afghanistan

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (11 October 2002) - The signing ceremony for ADB's grant assistance for the reconstruction of education and road sectors in Afghanistan was held yesterday in Kabul.

The Afghanistan Government was represented by Mr. Mohammed Yunos Qanooni, Minister of Education, and Mr. Abdullah Ali, Minister of Public Works. ADB was represented by Mr. Frank Polman, ADB's Afghanistan Program Director. The Japanese Ambassador to Afghanistan, Kinichi Komano, was also present.

Participants signed documents for a US$15 million grant to rehabilitate a large portion of the 100-kilometer Kandahar to Spin Boldak road and a US$4 million grant to help rebuild the education system. Both grants will be from ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), financed by the Government of Japan.

"The projects are critically important as they pilot sustainable approaches to assisting refugees and displaced persons while at the same time rebuilding key infrastructure and providing basic education," says Mr. Yoshihiro Iwasaki, Director General of ADB's South Asia Department. "They also take into account the need for physical facilities and materials as well as training teachers and school management."

The road project will provide jobs for 10,000 returning refugees and internally displaced person. It is important to settle the refugees temporarily near Kandahar and find them jobs before they can return their places of origin. Over 200,000 refugees who have returned from the southern route are settled in the north and west of Kandahar. If the refugees proceed to Kabul, they will exacerbate an overcrowded situation.

The project will also provide training for road construction, income generation, microcredit services, and nutrition and childcare. It will offer basic health education and services through 400 community health workers, and medicines, as well as the rehabilitation of health services.

The education project will stress community-based, gender-sensitive education. It will address Afghanistan's enormous nonformal education needs - to provide literacy and vocational skills to street children, former child combatants, and ex-soldiers. About 37,000 pupils will benefit from the project, including over 7,000 girls who will receive a stipend.

Both projects are expected to begin in October 2002. The JFPR was set up in 2000 with an initial contribution of 10 billion yen (about US$90 million), followed by additional contributions of $155 million and a commitment of $50 million. The fund supports projects that target poor people and prioritizes innovative approaches.

ADB is processing grants and loans for different sectors of Afghanistan. Assistance is expected to total around US$500 million, between 2002 and mid-2004.

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