KABUL, June 25, 2018 — , according to the results of a meeting held earlier today.
The ARTF is a multi-donor trust fund supported by 34 donors and administered by the World Bank. The ARTF’s Steering Committee, comprising Ambassadors of donor countries and co-chaired by HE Eklil Hakimi, Minister of Finance and the World Bank Country Director, met today at the Presidential Palace.
The Steering Committee approved the ARTF’s proposed Partnership Framework and Financing Program (PFFP) FY1397-1399 (2018-2020), which outlines how the Government will spend those funds with support from international partners.
“ARTF is an important mechanism for reliable, predictable and transparent on-budget support to the Government of Afghanistan. All planned investments in the PFFP are aligned with our core priorities based on the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF). Through this mechanism we are able to pool aid financing provided by the international community through a single mechanism with higher standards of transparency and accountability," said HE Eklil Hakimi, Minister of Finance addressing the Steering Committee.
Under the new PFFP, funding will continue to be provided for the priorities in the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework, introduced at the 2016 Brussels Conference on Afghanistan. The largest portion of ARTF funds, 37 percent, will be devoted to poverty reduction, service delivery, and citizen engagement, including programs in health, education, and the Citizens’ Charter.
, and will provide fiscal stability support for civilian expenses of the Government, including civil servant salaries.
“,” said Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan. “The 2018-2020 PFFP reaffirms the commitment of the ARTF partners to continue working with the government of Afghanistan to improve the lives of all Afghans.”
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About the ARTF and the PFFP: The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund Steering (ARTF) is a multi-donor trust fund supported by 34 donors and administered by the World Bank. It provides on-budget financing to support the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s development and reform priorities, and it is the single largest source of such funding to the Government. . Previous strategies ran from FY1391 to 1393 (2012 to 2014), outlining three-year financing totaling $3.6 billion; and from FY1394 to 1396 (2015 to 2017), which outlined priorities for financing totaling $2.4 billion. The strategies summarize specifics of ARTF support to Government development and reform priorities.
