AFGHAN ANTI-DRUG FUND LANGUISHES IN BANK ACCOUNT

The Chief Donor to the Fund, Britain, Is So Alarmed by the Lack of
Progress That Is Has 'Turned Off the Tap,' Writes Steven Edwards at
the United Nations.

Back in February, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced to great
fanfare that his government would substantially increase its funding
for Afghan reconstruction and development. A big portion of that new
money, Mr. Harper said, was earmarked for anti-drug programs,
including a fund to be spent by the Afghan government.

It now emerges the Afghan bureaucracy is so cumbersome that almost
$42.3 million U.S. that Canada and other donors have given to the
Counter Narcotics Trust Fund since its 2005 launch is languishing in
bank accounts, unused.

Britain, the chief donor to the fund, is so alarmed that it has
"turned off the (money) tap."

Critics say the idle fund is particularly scandalous given Canadian
and other NATO troops are locked in a daily struggle to make the
country safe for reconstruction.

Since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, 56 Canadian soldiers
and a Canadian diplomat have been killed. Almost 500 other soldiers
of the international forces have also died.

Canadian officials were more guarded about whether Canada has also
stopped putting money into the fund.

"The trust fund is relatively new and operates in a challenging
environment," said a Foreign Affairs spokesperson, while
acknowledging the fund is not working properly. The department did
not respond to questions on the exact status of $3 million Mr. Harper
pledged in February out of $200 million for other anti-drug,
reconstruction and development programs.

The Canadian International Development Agency confirmed it has
already delivered $1.2 million to the fund, which is one of the
Afghan government's flagship reconstruction programs to combat drug
production partly by giving Afghans other means to earn a living.

"Our appeal to donors is to trust the trust fund," said Afghan
Counter Narcotics Minister Habibullah Qaderi at the fund's launch.

Since then, deposits and pledges total $74.5 million U.S., according
to figures supplied yesterday by the United Nations Development Program.

While a management board including Afghan, UN and donor officials has
approved more than $27 million U.S. in projects, the Afghan
government has spent only about $1 million U.S.

"It's basically an administrative mess," said one international
source. "There is something inherently wrong with the entire program,
from the complicated application process, to confusion over what
projects are eligible, to the sheer impossibility of working out
who's actually doing the approving and the rejecting."

"I have not seen any impact of the significant financial
contributions to that trust fund on the ground in Helmand or
Kandahar, which is where I work," said Norine MacDonald, a leading
Afghanistan researcher with the Senlis Council, a think-tank that has
been scathingly critical of CIDA's aid record in the country.

She said poppy cultivation is up in those provinces.

"I think there are a lot of indicators that there is a lot of private
dissatisfaction with how counter-narcotics policy is going in
Afghanistan," she added.

Britain says it still has faith in the fund, but can't justify adding
to it as long as the Afghan government is unable to absorb the cash.

"It's not about a continuous tap," said one British official. "It's
rather, you turn on the tap and give a certain amount, and when the
bucket's full, you turn off the tap. When the bucket is a bit
emptier, you can add more."

Other donors include the European Commission, Australia, Japan,
Poland and Sweden.

"There are plenty of other places where this stagnant money could be
used," said an Australian diplomat.