German Development Minister Dirk Niebel said on Tuesday the country would boost aid to Afghanistan by 52 million ($78 million) to fund infrastructure and governance projects. An additional 10 million euros is slated to go to Pakistan, to support the government there.

The increase brings the 2009 spending total on Afghanistan aid to 144 million euros. The extra spending is intended for a regional reconstruction fund in the province of Kunduz where job opportunities for local Afghans are to be created. In addition a number of vocational training centers are to be built there, and the money will fund military training projects as well.

"This commitment is linked to clear demands towards the Afghan government," Niebel said. "We now expect the government to strengthen the country's security forces, to fight corruption and to improve governance, so that the stabilization process will eventually be successful."

NGOs are critical

But German non-governmental organizations operating in the region criticized the purpose of the aid and demanded a change of development policy.

Juergen Lieser is the deputy head of VENRO, an umbrella organization of 117 German charities. He said he agreed in principle with an increase in development aid for Afghanistan, but has his doubts about the situation as it is now.

"Our doubts are that this part of development aid is going to the region where the German military is operating and that this aid is used for political and military objectives,” he said.

German aid organizations argue that there is evidence that the current structures won't work; they say the costs for Germany's military presence - currently more than 800 million euros annually - would exceed by far the current 144 million euros currently earmarked for development assistance.

They also say the Afghan population's real needs, such as agricultural development and more job opportunities, aren't really being adressed.

Aziz Rafiee, the director of the Afghan Civil Society Forum, an organization coordinating reconstruction efforts, also said the military-led provincial reconstruction teams were proving counterproductive.

He demands a step-by-step withdrawal of ISAF troops, and argues that, contrary to popular belief, if the funds currently spent on the military would be used wisely for development, Afghanistan would not become a lost cause.

Five percent of the current Taliban are fundamentalists whose views will not be changed, he said, and 25 percent of the Taliban are "people who are seeking justice and only know how to maintain this justice with their guns."

But the 70 percent that remain are jobless people, he added: "Whoever will pay them they will join. They can be a policeman but they can also be a Talib fighting for the Taliban."

Author: Uwe Hessler (jen)
Editor: Michael Lawton