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World Bank board backs using $1 billion in frozen Afghan funds for aid
The executive board of the World Bank on Tuesday approved a plan to use more than $1 billion from a frozen Afghanistan trust fund to finance urgently needed education, agriculture, health and family programs, the bank announced.
The plan, which will bypass sanctioned Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) authorities by disbursing the money through U.N. agencies and international aid groups, will provide a major boost to efforts to ease the country’s worsening humanitarian and economic crises, Reuters reported.
The approach “aims to support the delivery of essential basic services, protect vulnerable Afghans, help preserve human capital and key economic and social services, and reduce the need for humanitarian assistance in the future,” the bank said in a statement.
Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) was frozen in August when the IEA overran Kabul as the last U.S.-led international troops departed after 20 years of war.
According to the report foreign governments ended financial aid constituting more than 70% of government expenditures while the United States led in the freezing of some $9 billion in Afghan central bank funds.
The funding cuts accelerated an economic collapse, fueling a cash crunch and deepening a humanitarian crisis that the United Nations says has pushed more than half of Afghanistan’s population of 39 million to the verge of starvation, read the report.
The World Bank statement said that as a first step, ARTF donors will decide on four projects worth about $600 million that will support “urgent needs in education, heath and agricultural sectors, as well as community livelihoods.”
There will be a “strong focus on ensuring that girls and women participate and benefit from the support,” the statement continued.
A high-ranking Uzbek delegation comprising government officials and private sector representatives from the Republic of Karakalpakstan arrived in Kabul on Saturday to discuss the expansion of trade and economic cooperation with Afghanistan.
The delegation is headed by Amanbay Orinbayev, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Karakalpakstan.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the delegation is expected to hold talks with Nooruddin Azizi, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, focusing on strengthening bilateral trade and economic relations.
The ministry said the visiting delegation will also participate in trade connectivity meetings and business-to-business sessions aimed at enhancing commercial cooperation between the two sides.
As part of the visit, the Uzbek delegation is also scheduled to travel to Balkh province, where members will attend additional trade meetings and inaugurate an exhibition showcasing Uzbekistan’s domestic products.
Hamid Karzai, former president of Afghanistan, has expressed concern over recent developments along the Durand Line, saying Pakistan has increased military and economic pressure on villages and residents living near the line.
In a statement, Karzai said the apparent purpose of these pressures is to push residents of Durand Line areas to seek help from Pakistani institutions for resolving security and other local issues.
He added that, amid this situation, some tribal elders from both sides of the Durand Line recently signed documents described as “peace agreements,” which were later officially welcomed by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to Karzai, these developments amount to an effort by Pakistan to legitimize the Durand Line and represent an action against Afghanistan’s national sovereignty.
The former Afghan president also urged the relevant Afghan authorities to provide the public with a clear explanation regarding the recent agreements and developments along the Durand Line.
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SAARC failure pushes Pakistan toward trilateral ties with Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh: Dar
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that the failure of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is pushing Pakistan toward exploring trilateral cooperation frameworks involving Afghanistan, China, and Bangladesh.
Speaking at the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Conference in Lahore on Friday, Dar said SAARC has “unfortunately not been able to kick off,” limiting regional economic integration and cooperation.
He said Pakistan is now looking at alternative regional arrangements to strengthen economic connectivity and trade, including trilateral formats such as China–Pakistan–Afghanistan and China–Pakistan–Bangladesh.
Dar stressed that South Asia cannot remain in “isolation,” noting that the region, home to nearly two billion people, is missing significant economic opportunities due to weak cooperation among neighbouring countries.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985 to promote economic and regional integration among South Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The organisation was designed to encourage cooperation in areas such as trade, development, education, and cultural exchange. However, in recent years, SAARC’s effectiveness has been significantly limited due to political tensions between member states, particularly between India and Pakistan, leading to stalled summits and reduced regional engagement.
As a result, regional economic cooperation in South Asia has largely remained underdeveloped compared to other regional blocs around the world.
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