World Bank declines to resume incomplete projects with Afghanistan’s Rural Development Ministry

The World Bank has turned down requests to resume its previously funded but incomplete projects in partnership with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), senior government officials said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference to outline the ministry’s annual achievements, Acting Minister Mohammad Younus Akhundzada said that repeated efforts to engage with World Bank representatives on restarting the stalled projects have yielded no positive outcome.

Despite the lack of cooperation from international donors, the MRRD says it launched nearly 1,800 development projects across the country over the past year. Of these, a number have been completed while others are currently under implementation.

The projects cover key infrastructure and public service areas, including water supply systems, small-scale dams, retaining walls, and rural road construction.

One of the ministry’s strategic focus areas is the Wakhan Corridor in northeastern Afghanistan. Officials reported steady progress on the construction of a vital road through the remote region, with 49 kilometers already completed and the remainder nearing completion.

Other notable accomplishments include the construction of 143 small water dams across 13 provinces, a multi-thousand-meter retaining wall in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province, and a major water supply project in Badghis.

The total investment in these projects over the past year has amounted to 837 million Afghanis, the ministry said.