Afghanistan (Hansard, 23 October 2002)

§ Clare Short

I met with the High Commissioner for Refugees on 4 July when we discussed UK support to Afghanistan and other issues. Our officials remain in close contact.

My department has provided significant support to UNHCR to assist with the repatriation of refugees to Afghanistan. Since September 2001, the UK has contributed over £5 million to UNHCR for their programmes of assistance to Afghan refugees. In addition we have provided over £3.5 million to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees to Afghanistan. We are also supporting a number of other humanitarian programmes which will help to create an environment for the sustainable return of both refugees and IDPs.

In addition, earlier this month the governments of Afghanistan and the United Kingdom and UNHCR signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) setting out a detailed framework for the voluntary repatriation of Afghans residing in the UK and their reintegration back in Afghanistan. Under the agreement, UNHCR will provide information and counselling to Afghans in the UK—to ensure that any decision to repatriate is taken in the "full knowledge of the facts". UNHCR will also monitor the voluntariness of the returns prior to departure, as well as other aspects of the agreement—a role that both states have pledged to respect. Similarly, once returnees are back in Afghanistan, the agency has guaranteed access to them from the moment they land at the airport. UNHCR believes that the MoU contains all the necessary safeguards to ensure that Afghans who still need international refugee protection continue to receive it and that returns under the agreement would be sustainable. A similar tripartite agreement had earlier been signed with the French government. It is hoped that the MoU will become a model for other countries who are interested in offering assisted voluntary repatriation for Afghans.

§ Clare Short

I attach a table of estimated disbursals produced by the Afghan Assistance Coordination Authority (AACA). This was produced for the recent Implementation Group meeting in Afghanistan and outlines donor's pledges, commitments and disbursals for 2002, as known to the AACA. It is currently estimated that overall 67 per cent. of 2002's pledge has been disbursed.

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Table 1: Transitional Government Data on Donor Pledges, and 2002 Commitments and Disbursements
V = 11 October 2002
Donor	Amount pledged at Tokyo (Grant + Loan) (donor currency)	Amount pledged at Tokyo (Grant + Loan) (US$m)	Amount pledged at Tokyo as Grants (US$m)	Over how many years?	Amount of any Additional Pledge (US$m)	Over how many years?	Total Overall Pledge (Tokyo + Additional)	Rough annual Pledge for 2002	Commitment against Tokyo + Additional Pledges	Disbursement against Tokyo/Additional Pledges	Disbursements as % of 2002 Pledge	Comment
ADB	—	500	85	2.5	…	…	500	50	50.0	0.7	1.4
Aga Khan	—	75	75	…	…	…	75	…	16.2	8.2	…	Pledge 2002 not avail
Austria	—	10	10	2.5	…	…	10	4	…	…	…	Unknown
Australia	A$17m.	9	9	1	2	1	11	11	7.7	7.7	72.2	Estimate
Belgium	Euro 33 m.	28	28	5	…	…	28	9	8.1	7.2	80.0	Estimate
Canada	CDN․100m.	63	63	1.25	…	…	63	63	31.3	31.3	49.9
China	—	1	1	1	150	5	151	31	31.0	30.0	96.8
Denmark	DKK500m.	60	60	5	46	2	106	28	28.0	16.5	58.9
EC (Recon supp)	Euro 1000 m.	864	864	5	…	…	864	173	182.5	78.4	45.4
EC (Hum.—ECHO)	—	—	—	—	65	1	65	65	58.0	45.0	69.5
Finland	Euro 30 m.	26	26	3	…	…	26	10	10.0	7.9	79.0	Estimate
France	Euro 26 m.	22	22	1	10	1	32	32	34.2	27.8	86.9	Estimate
Germany	Euro 320m.	276	276	4	43	1	320	113	112.6	120.6	107.1
India	—	100	100	1	…	…	100	100	31.7	31.7	31.7
Iran (Islamic Rep)	—	560	560	6	…	…	560	50	40.0	32.7	65.4
Ireland	Euro 12m	10	10	3	2	1	12	5	6.8	6.8	123.6
Islamic Dev Bank	—	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	Unknown
Italy	—	43	43	1	10	1	53	53	39.7	24.1	45.5
Japan	—	500	500	2.5	92	2	592	250	259.0	209.0	83.6
Korea (Rep. of)	—	45	45	2.5	…	…	45	10	10.0	2.2	22.0	Pledge duration
Kuwait	—	30	30	n.a.	…	…	30	30	1.6	2.1	7.0	unconfirm
Luxembourg	Euro 5 m.	4	4	1	…	…	4	4	4.9	0.1	2.3	Estimate
Netherlands	Euro 70 m.	60	60	1	5	1	65	65	68.7	68.7	105.0
Norway	NOK 350m.	40	40	1	…	…	40	40	40.0	32.0	80.0
Pakistan	—	100	50	5	…	…	100	50	50.0	17.7	35.4	See Note 6
Russian Fed.	—	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	Unknown
Saudi Arabia	—	220	220	4	…	…	220	55	27.1	27.1	49.3
Spain	Euro 120 m.	104	104	5	…	…	104	21	6.4	6.4	30.7	Estimate
Sweden	SEK 750–1000 m.	90	90	3	…	…	90	30	18.5	18.5	61.7
Switzerland	—	20	20	2	…	…	20	12	11.0	9.0	75.0
Taiwan	—	29	29	3	…	…	29	10	…	…	…	Unknown
Turkey	—	5	5	5	…	…	5	2	2.2	2.2	100.0
UAE	—	36	36	n.a.	…	…	36	…	…	…	…	Unknown
United Kingdom	£200 m.	288	288	5	55	1	343	130	91.6	77.5	59.6
USA	—	297	297	1	143	2	440	297	360.0	360.0	121.2
World Bank	—	570	100	3	…	…	570	150	100.0	9.6	6.4	See Note 7
Total:	—	5,087	4,151	—	623	—	5,710	1,952	1,738.7	1,318.5	67.5

Notes:

1 These are indicative estimates based on information provided to the Transitional Government to date; AACA is moving to project based aggregations based on entries in AACA's Donor Assistance Database (http://aacadad.undp.org)

2 The figures in Table 1 represent the commitments and disbursements made since the Tokyo Pledging on 22 January 2002;

3 Table 2 reflects the substantial support also provided to Afghanistan in 2001 by many donors.

4 Exchange rates: Pledges made in currencies other than the US Dollar have been converted at the exchange rate prevailing in January.

5 Exchange rates: Commitments and Disbursements have been converted at the average rate effective January and 4 October 2002.

6 Grant over one year;

7 US$470m incl some grants (up to approx $110m)

Source:

Transitional Government of Afghanistan, AACA Aid Coordination Unit

Please email any comments or corrections to aidan.cox@undp.org and najeeb.azizi@afganistangov.org