Conditional aid
June 20, 2011
German Development Minister Dirk Niebel traveled to Afghanistan where he held talks with President Hamid Karzai and discussed the conditions for the release of a second round of development aid.
Niebel is traveling on a tour of South Asia with EU development commissioner Andris Piebalgs. He was previously in Pakistan and later travels to Bangladesh.
Germany has divided its aid for Afghanistan this year into two separate tranches, which Berlin hopes will give the central government in Kabul an incentive to implement reform programs that target corruption, among other issues.
Niebel was to discuss the second installment of the aid package with Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal.
"During the meeting, they will discuss which conditions must be fulfilled so the German development ministry can pay out the remaining second tranche," the ministry said.
The pending aid package amounts to 110 million euros ($157 million). Germany has pledged 430 million euros annually through 2013, making it the largest donor to Afghanistan in Europe.
Development offensive
"We have achieved considerable success through our development offensive," Niebel said.
According to the German Development Ministry, Berlin's development initiatives in Afghanistan offered 30,000 people vocational training and disbursed microcredit - or small loans - to 43,000 people.
Newly built irrigation canals have helped 26,000 households, while more than 100,000 households have better access to drinking water, the ministry said. More than 28,000 teachers have been trained for primary and secondary schools as well as an additional 250 teachers for vocational schools.
Security problems
Germany is the currently the third largest troop contributor in Afghanistan within the framework of the NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Berlin has 4,900 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, many of them in the northern province of Kunduz.
The north, however, has become increasingly volatile as the Taliban has stepped up bomb attacks. A German military convoy was attacked Sunday, killing at least two Afghan civilians.
Last month, a Taliban suicide attack killed two German soldiers, a regional police chief, and injured NATO General Markus Kneip during a meeting with a provincial governor about security.
Author: Spencer Kimball (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Andrew Bowen