The international donor community has attached a series of conditions to the $16 billion in aid for Afghanistan that was announced at a conference in Tokyo on Sunday.
Here is a breakdown of the main points related to democracy, human rights, and governance outlined in the agreement adopted in Tokyo:
Representative democracy and fair elections:
— Afghanistan must hold credible and transparent elections in 2014 and 2015, with a timetable of dates for polls to be published early next year.
Governance, rule of law and human rights:
— Afghanistan must improve citizens’ access to justice, especially for women, respect human rights and allow the country’s Independent Human Rights Commission to do its work.
— The country must strengthen its fight against corruption with measures such as requiring senior officials to make public their income annually.
Fiscal transparency and banking:
— Afghanistan must improve the management of public funds and ensure transparency while boosting supervision of its banking sector.
— It must adopt international recommendations on ways to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.
National revenues and local government budgets:
— Afghanistan must improve its tax collection, raising the ratio of tax revenue as a portion of gross domestic product to 15 percent by 2016 and 19 percent by 2025, from 11 percent now.
Growth and sustainable development:
— Afghanistan must promote private-sector development and allocate sufficient resources to promote health, gender equality, education and food security.