US to announce new aid plan for Afghanistan

KABUL-

The Obama administration is expected to announce a package of aid initiatives for Afghanistan on Monday.

The announcement from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) of three new development initiatives worth almost $300 million is part of a U.S. effort to ensure that Afghanistan, as its ‘war economy’ ends, won’t slide backwards into greater poverty or reverse gains made over the last 12 years in health, education and other areas.

“The question is, what can we do now to make sure Afghanistan is as healthy, sustainable and feasible as possible going forward,” Larry Sampler, the agency’s chief official for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in an interview.

The initiatives extend U.S. assistance for Afghanistan’s food sector; seek to help the Afghan government boost revenue and join the World Trade Organization within a year; and secure agreements between U.S. and Afghan universities to ensure young Afghans are trained for jobs.

But how much outside help aid-reliant Afghanistan will receive in the years ahead remains in doubt, as uncertainty continues about a possible post-2014 NATO troop presence and as fiscal pressures in donor nations squeeze aid budgets.

Last month, U.S. lawmakers halved civilian aid for Afghanistan, reflecting growing reluctance in Congress to continue generous aid levels there, concerns about waste and fraud, and frustration with the Afghan government itself.

The Obama administration continues to press Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a bilateral security pact needed to keep U.S. troops there after this year. His refusal to do so has strained already fraught U.S.-Afghan relations.

Decisions by the United States on future aid levels to Afghanistan may in turn shape actions by other donor nations, which gathered in Tokyo in 2012 to announce their intentions to provide aid to Afghanistan for years to come.

While the United States did not pledge a specific amount for future aid, it had promised to seek aid near current levels of just over $2 billion at least through 2015.