A group of international donors have agreed on more than 15 billion dollars in aid for Afghanistan. While leaders praised an Afghan commitment to tackle corruption, not all were convinced.
Image: Reuters./F. Lenoir
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International donors who gathered in Brussels on Wednesday pledged 15.2 billion dollars (13.6 billion euros) in aid for Afghanistan over the next four years.
Although there had been fears of donor fatigue - particularly in light of the Syrian war - the amount that was pledged fell only slightly below the four billion dollars per year that donors pledged at the last conference in Tokyo in 2012.
"Some were skeptical that we are going to face donor fatigue after 15 years," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a press conference.
EU development commissioner Neven Mimica said the pledges "surpassed some of our best case scenarios."
'Work begins tomorrow'
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani hailed it as a "truly remarkable day," but acknowledged that work was needed to meet attached conditions, which include tackling the corruption that is rife in the country.
"The work from the Afghan side begins in earnest tomorrow," Ghani said. "A credit line has been extended," he said. "If we do not muster the political will in the practical ways of dealing with corruption, these pledges will remain pledges."
'Fighting corruption has been a failure'
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Afghanistan's leaders "have been making impressive reforms and development plans to change the lives of people that have been suffering too long."
Dismay over promises
However, some participants at the conference complained that there was insufficient pressure on the government to tackle the problem of graft.
Ikram Afzali, from the anti-corruption civil society group Integrity Watch Afghanistan, told The Associated Press that the Afghan government's promises amounted to no more than "window dressing."
"The commitments to fighting corruption are very weak and we are disappointed," Afzali said.
Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini denied reports the EU was making aid conditional on Afghanistan taking back migrants who have fled to Europe.
Mogherini said there was "never a link between our development aid and what we do on migration."
Afghanistan has relied on Western aid and military support over the past 15 years, since a US-led coalition ousted the Taliban for harboring al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2001.
bw/rc (AP, AFP, dpa)
Modern Afghanistan - in the past
Under the Taliban, women were required to wear an all-covering burqa when venturing outside their homes. But there were times in Afghan history when they adopted a more Western clothing style, as these photos show.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Aspiring doctors
This picture, taken in 1962, shows two female medicine students at the University of Kabul listening to their professor as they examine a plaster showing a human body part. At that time, women played an active role in Afghan society. They also had access to education and were able to take up work outside home.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
Style on Kabul's streets
Two young women dressed in Western-style outfits are seen in this picture taken in 1962 outside the building of Radio Kabul in the country's capital city, Kabul. After the fundamentalist Taliban took over power in the mid-1990s, women were required to wear an all-covering burqa when in public.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Equal rights for all - not always
In the mid-1970s, female students were a common sight at Afghan education centers such as Kabul's Polytechnical University. But some 20 years later, women's access to education in the conflict-ridden country was completely shut down. And it changed only after the toppling of the Taliban regime in 2001. The right to education for both men and women was enshrined in the 2003 Afghan Constitution.
Image: Getty Images/Hulton Archive/Zh. Angelov
Computer science in its infancy
In this picture a Soviet instructor is seen teaching computing technology to Afghan students at Kabul's Polytechnical Institute. During the 10-year Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, a number of Soviet lecturers taught at Afghan universities.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
Students among themselves
This 1981 picture shows an informal gathering of female and male Afghan students in Kabul. In 1979, a Soviet invasion of land-locked Afghanistan led to a 10-year war. When the Soviets withdrew from the country in 1989, a civil war ensued which culminated in the Taliban's accession to power in 1996.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
Schools for all
This picture shows Afghan girls at a secondary school in Kabul at the time of the Soviet occupation. During the Taliban regime that followed just a few years later, women and girls were barred from attending school and denied access to education. They were also banned from taking up employment outside home.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
A two-class society
In this picture taken in 1981, a woman, unveiled and without a headscarf, is seen with her children. Scenes such as these have been rare ever since. Even almost 15 years after the collapse of the Taliban regime, women continue to struggle for equality in the male-dominated Afghan society. For instance, there is only one woman taxi driver in the entire country.
