From Jim Kunder, USAID Acting Deputy Administrator
Afghanistan Assistance and Response to ACBAR Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2008
Press Office: 202-712-4320
Public Information: 202-712-4810
www.usaid.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. - We have seen the report by the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) that is critical of Western aid disbursement in Afghanistan. We agree with the spirit of the report because it appears to have the Afghan people's best interest in mind. Unfortunately, we believe that it distorts the realities of the aid disbursement process in the country.
The report misrepresents the amount of aid that the U.S. government has disbursed compared to the amount committed to Afghanistan. The U.S. Government has met, and continues to meet, its pledges to the Afghan people. Seventy percent of the amount pledged by the U.S. government has been disbursed in Afghanistan. The remainder of these funds are committed against projects, such as roads, schools, electricity and supply projects that are planned or under way.
It is important to note that the U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Government of Afghanistan and our U.S. and international partners, have made tremendous strides across the country. We have built or refurbished over 680 schools; trained over 65,000 teachers through radio broadcasts and 10,500 teachers through accelerated learning programs; and printed and distributed over 60 million textbooks - helping to make it possible for over 5.7 million children, both boys and girls, to attend school versus just 900,000 boys only during the Taliban rule. We have also built or refurbished more than 670 health facilities and trained over 10,500 health workers. Now over 7.5 million Afghans receive health services every year and infant mortality has dropped by 22 percent since 2001.
USAID alone has invested more than $4 billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars in development programs in Afghanistan since 2002. As a result we are not only bound by laws to monitor this money with a process that is as efficient, transparent and effective as possible, we feel obligated to do so. Therefore, we will always work to further improve our aid disbursement system any way possible.
These are just some of the examples of the positive efforts we are achieving in Afghanistan and though much work remains to be done, we are committed to helping the Afghan people and in turn, supporting the safety of our own country.
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years.
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