The Senate
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee
Australia's overseas development programs in Afghanistan
May 2013
Commonwealth of Australia 2013
ISBN 978-1-74229-828-3
Printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra
Members of the committee
Core members Senator Alan Eggleston, LP, WA (Chair) Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens, ALP, NSW (Deputy Chair) Senator Mark Bishop, ALP, WA Senator David Fawcett, LP, SA Senator Helen Kroger, LP, VIC Senator Lee Rhiannon, AG, NSW (substituted for Senator Ludlam from 14.08.2012) Senator Scott Ludlam, AG, WA (until 14.08.2012)
Participating members who contributed to the inquiry Senator Anne McEwen, ALP, SA
Secretariat Dr Kathleen Dermody, Committee Secretary Mr Owen Griffiths, Principal Research Officer (from 22.10.12) Ms Jedidiah Reardon, Senior Research Officer Ms Penny Bear, Research Officer Ms Jo-Anne Holmes, Administrative Officer
Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee Department of the Senate PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Australia
Phone: + 61 2 6277 3535 Fax: + 61 2 6277 5818 Email: [email protected] Internet:http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committ ees?url=fadt_ctte/afghanistan/index.htm
iii
Afghanistan—a land of great beauty and stark contrasts
iv
Table of Contents
Members of the committee ...... iii Abbreviations ...... xiii Executive Summary ...... xv
Chapter 1 Introduction ...... 1 Conduct of inquiry ...... 1 Background to inquiry ...... 1 Key documents ...... 2 Definition of Official Development Assistance (ODA) ...... 3 Scope of inquiry ...... 3 Structure of report ...... 4 Acknowledgements ...... 4
Part I Background to development assistance to Afghanistan
Chapter 2 Background ...... 7 Recent history of conflict and violence ...... 7 Soviet withdrawal ...... 7 Rise of the Taliban...... 8 Afghanistan ...... 9 Taliban and al-Qaeda ...... 11 Terrorist attack on US soil ...... 12 Interim Administration ...... 13 Transitional Authority ...... 13 International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) ...... 15 United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) ...... 16 Conclusion ...... 18 v
Chapter 3 Development assistance to Afghanistan 2001–2010 ...... 21 International context ...... 21 Tokyo Conference 2002 ...... 21 Paris Declaration 2005 ...... 22 London Conference 2006 and the Afghanistan Compact ...... 23 Paris 2008 and the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) ...... 24 International assistance and the transition ...... 25 London Conference 2010 ...... 25 Kabul 2010 ...... 26 Summary of international developments 2001–2010 ...... 26 Overview—Australian ODA ...... 28 Funding and priorities before 2001 ...... 28 Funding and priorities—2001–2005 ...... 28 Funding and priorities—2006–2009 ...... 29 Funding and priorities 2010—2012 ...... 35 Post 2012 ...... 37 Conclusion ...... 37
Chapter 4 Challenges...... 39 Impediments to aid effectiveness in Afghanistan ...... 39 Physical impediments ...... 39 Magnitude of destruction and displacement ...... 40 Aid dependency ...... 41 Capacity constraints...... 42 Corruption ...... 44 Centralised government, loyalties and alliances ...... 46 Security ...... 48 Summary ...... 50 Achieving aid effectiveness ...... 50 Ownership ...... 51 Alignment and matching priorities ...... 53
vi
Coordination ...... 53 Managing for results ...... 53 Conclusion ...... 57
Part II The effectiveness of Australia's development assistance to Afghanistan
Chapter 5 Afghanistan's national budget ...... 61 On-budget support ...... 61 Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund ...... 62 Australia's funding through Afghanistan's core budget ...... 64 Benefits of funding through the ARTF ...... 64 The National Solidarity Program ...... 69 Overall effectiveness ...... 74 Assessment of funding through government systems ...... 75 2012 independent review of the ARTF ...... 76 Conclusion ...... 77
Chapter 6 International NGOs ...... 79 International agencies ...... 79 Multilateral organisations ...... 79 NGOs ...... 81 Partnerships with the Afghan Government ...... 82 Delivering education services ...... 83 Delivering health services ...... 83 Strategic use of NGOs ...... 84 Conclusion ...... 85
Chapter 7...... 87 Uruzgan Province ...... 87 Background ...... 87
vii
Australia's engagement in Uruzgan ...... 87 Achievements ...... 88 Overall progress ...... 96 Ownership and alignment ...... 96 Criticism of Australian development assistance to Uruzgan ...... 98 Managing for results—sustainability ...... 98 Dynamics of local politics—patronage networks ...... 100 Conclusion ...... 105
Chapter 8 Civil/Military development assistance ...... 107 Winning hearts and minds ...... 107 Australia's counterinsurgency strategy in Uruzgan ...... 108 Blurred perceptions ...... 110 Counterinsurgency objectives ...... 110 Effectiveness ...... 111 Distribution of aid...... 112 Local institutions ...... 114 Risk of attack ...... 114 Risk to non-military aid organisations ...... 115 Defence's perspective on civil-military relations in Afghanistan...... 117 Evaluation ...... 119 Conclusion ...... 119
Chapter 9 Case Studies...... 121 AliceGhan ...... 121 Tarin Kowt Waste Water Facility ...... 124 Visa applications for visiting Afghans ...... 124 Australian Leadership Awards Scholarships ...... 125 General criticism ...... 130 Whole-of-government ...... 131 Achievements ...... 131 Conclusion ...... 132 viii
Part III Transition to Transformation
Chapter 10 Security ...... 135 Transition to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) ...... 135 Australia's contribution to Afghanistan's national security ...... 136 Progress toward the transformation decade ...... 137 Transition in Uruzgan ...... 137 Security in Afghanistan ...... 138 Security in Uruzgan ...... 141 Post 2014 ...... 142 Conclusion ...... 143
Chapter 11 Safety of aid workers and Australian civilian personnel ...... 145 Safety of aid workers—limited access and ability to consult and monitor ...... 145 Summary ...... 147 Safety of Australian personnel ...... 147 Closure of PRT ...... 150 Summary ...... 150 Afghans who have worked with Australian aid agencies...... 151 Conclusion ...... 152
Chapter 12 Development assistance ...... 155 International conferences ...... 155 Bonn meeting 2011...... 155 Chicago summit 2012 ...... 156 Tokyo 2012 and mutual accountability framework ...... 156 Predictions and international responses ...... 157 Australia's assistance post 2014 ...... 160
ix
Commitments—increased funding, accountability ...... 160 Protecting the gains ...... 161 Focus and priorities ...... 163 Conclusion ...... 164
Chapter 13 Protecting the gains—education ...... 165 Education ...... 165 Girls ...... 166 Education—a priority for Australia ...... 168 Uruzgan ...... 169 Conclusion ...... 170
Chapter 14 Rural development and food security ...... 173 Land use in Afghanistan ...... 173 Summary ...... 174 Australia's contribution ...... 174 Distribution and accessibility ...... 178 Train the farmers ...... 179 Women in agriculture ...... 179 Disaster reduction and management—building resilience ...... 180 Opium cultivation ...... 182 Dependency ...... 182 Mining ...... 184 Potential driver of development ...... 185 Australia's contribution ...... 186 Concerns about mining in Afghanistan ...... 186 Proposed legislation...... 190
Chapter 15 Aid delivery channels ...... 193 On budget funding ...... 193
x
NGOs ...... 195 Summary ...... 196 Phasing out of PRTs ...... 196 Summary ...... 198 Civil society including local NGOs ...... 198 Civil society monitoring and evaluation ...... 202 Private sector ...... 203 Afghan diaspora ...... 205 Conclusion ...... 205
Chapter 16 The role of Afghan women ...... 207 Status of women in Afghanistan...... 207 Australia's aid program and women ...... 209 Combating violence against women ...... 211 Summary ...... 214
Part IV Transparency and accountability
Chapter 17 Evaluating the effectiveness of Australian aid ...... 219 ARTF ...... 219 Mutual accountability ...... 220 Importance of monitoring and evaluation ...... 221 Multilaterals and NGOs own systems ...... 222 Effectiveness of aid as delivered and used ...... 224 Difficulty evaluating projects in Afghanistan ...... 225 Independent evaluation ...... 226 ADF projects ...... 230 Whole-of-government ...... 232 Reporting ...... 233
xi
Parliamentary oversight ...... 235 Request to Auditor-General ...... 235 Conclusion ...... 235
Additional Comments Senator Lee Rhiannon for the Australian Greens ...... 237
Select Bibliography ...... 241
Appendix 1 Public submissions ...... 245
Appendix 2 Tabled documents, answers to questions on notice and additional information ...... 247
Appendix 3 Public hearings and witnesses ...... 249
Appendix 4 ...... 253
xii