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نظری بر جریانات فعلی افغانستان و موضوع حاکمیت ملی -01.02.2002
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Reconstructing Afghanistan: Efficient and Substantiated Growth Through the Creation of a Bank for the Reconstruction and the Development of Afghanistan (BRDA)
By Dr. Assem Akram
The International Conference on the Reconstruction of Afghanistan has just ended in Tokyo. Under the co-chairmanship of the US, Japan, European and Saudi delegations, the participating 61 countries have pledged to contribute a total amount of about $ 4.5 billion for the recovery of war-devastated Afghanistan.
Although the target of 15 to 25 billion dollars estimated to be necessary during the course of the next decade to resuscitate Afghanistan and put it on a sound track not only economically but also socially was not met, the amounts pledged at this start can give hope of a sustained backing from the international community.
One of the main issues that lies not only ahead of the Afghan Government but also of the international contributors’ community –whether States or organizations- is to assure a maximum efficiency and transparency in the way sums are spent to acquire a correlated credibility, which is key to asking for and obtaining more funds necessary for the completion of the daunting task set forth. I insist on the fact that it’s to the mutual interest of Afghanistan and the International Donors Community, as represented at the Tokyo summit, that what is accomplished in Afghanistan to be a success. On that very success depends the credibility of the Afghan Government, no mater who runs it, and the credibility of the international community to showcase its determination to bring back to normalcy one of its own for the sake of world and regional stability.
It is in line with this very basic but fundamental reasoning that I am putting forward the idea of creating a body that would collect, control and dispense the funds aimed at Afghanistan’s reconstruction. The Bank for the Reconstruction and the Development of Afghanistan (BRDA) would be created in a common effort and participation between the Afghan Government, the Tokyo summit participant countries (expandable) and UN and International bodies and institutions such as the UNDP, World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, etc. The BRDA would be headquartered in Kabul and its President would be appointed by the Afghan Government.
The BRDA could take inspiration for its constitution and modalities after famed predecessors such as the IBRD or the BERD with a major difference that the Bank for the Reconstruction and the Development of Afghanistan (BRDA) would be concentrating its efforts on a single country for which one must acknowledge the situation is specific and requires a sustained targeted effort!
Let us insist once more on the fact that the creation of such an entity would be beneficial for both parties: the Afghan government would be able to take advantage of banking, financial and technical expertise. It would not have to spend an enormous amount of time to negotiate with “pledging” governments on ways and means to finally get the promised finances/assistance since everything would be centralized and somehow standardized through the BRDA. It goes without saying that the overall coordination and planification of the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan would be largely homogenized and coordinated as compared with a myriad of projects with as many promoters insisting on having it done their way or not at all: the kind of situation that could lead to an anarchic development is definitely not for the good of the Afghan people and could result in failure of the entire experience.
I am therefore urging the Afghan Government, the United Nations Secretary General’s Personal Representative for Afghanistan H.E. Lakhdar Brahimi, representatives of the Governments of the United States, Japan, the European-Union, Saudi-Arabia, the President of the World Bank and other countries involved in the Tokyo conference on Afghanistan to adopt this idea and rapidly engage into discussions to make the Bank for the Reconstruction and the Development of Afghanistan (BRDA) a reality.
© Assem Akram