By Jon Hemming
KABUL (Reuters) - Peace in Afghanistan is being underminedby the failure of Western nations to deliver promisedassistance, aid agencies said on Tuesday.
Afghanistan relies on international aid for 90 percent ofits spending as it tries to rebuild state institutionsshattered by nearly 30 years of war and at the same time fightoff a renewed Taliban insurgency that killed 6,000 people lastyear.
Foreign spending on aid and development is dwarfed by thatspent on international military operations in Afghanistan.
The U.S. military alone now spends some $100 million (49.9million pounds) a day fighting Taliban insurgents inAfghanistan, but spending on aid by all donors since 2001amounts to only $7 million a day.
"Given the links between development and security, theeffectiveness of aid also has a major impact on peace andstability," the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief(ACBAR) said in a report.
"Yet thus far aid has been insufficient and in many caseswasteful and ineffective," said ACBAR, an umbrella group fornon-governmental organizations working in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan received just $57 per capita in aid in the twoyears after international intervention, compared with $679 ahead in Bosnia and $233 in East Timor, it said.
"$10 BILLION SHORTFALL"
The international community has pledged to spend some $25billion on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan.
But, the report said, "just $15 billion in aid has so farbeen spent, of which it is estimated a staggering 40 percenthas returned to donor countries in corporate profits andsalaries".
While there are problems delivering development due to poorsecurity, government corruption and the ability of the countryto absorb aid, major donors have fallen far behind on theirpledges, ACBAR said.
The United States, by far the biggest donor, has paid outonly half of the $10 billion it committed in aid to Afghanistanfor the period 2002-2008, the Asia Development Bank and Indiaonly a third of their pledged assistance for the same period.
Two-thirds of international assistance to Afghanistanbypasses the Afghan government, undermining the rebuilding ofits state institutions. Donors also do not coordinate wellamong themselves and with the Afghan government, the reportsaid.
Afghanistan called for funds to be channelled throughgovernment coffers.
"The Afghan government has always said that implementingand funding projects through non-governmental resources costsmuch more and relying on international experts does not lead tomoney coming into the country but in fact the money is sentout," said Afghan presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada.
Fears of Afghan official corruption soaking up donor fundsmay be misplaced, analysts say, as countries such as Britainand Japan that support the government directly, channelassistance through an independently audited World Bank trustfund.
ACBAR called on donors to increase spending on developmentand humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, fulfil their pledges ofaid, coordinate spending more effectively and channel morefunds through the Afghan government.
But the European Commission said the ACBAR reportmiscalculated the aid commitment and distribution figures.
"We are delivering at the moment, there is no backlog,there is no delay, shortfall or lagging behind," EC spokeswomanChristiane Hohmann told a regular news briefing in Brussels.
She said criticisms of aid efficiency were already beingaddressed: "We know there is always room for improvement anddonors are working on that," she said, adding that one of theproblems was the low absorption capacity of the government.
The maximum figure for Commission spending on technicalassistance through NGOs that did not stay in the country was 30percent, Hohmann said.
"If you go to a country that needs to be rebuilt fromscratch, you need to import that knowledge and the expertise,and of course that doesn't come free of charge," she said.
(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi in Kabul and DavidBrunnstrom in Brussels; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
