CANADA STANDS BY AID
World Bank investigating alleged misappropriation of donor funds
The Canadian government has reaffirmed its funding of education programs in Afghanistan, despite a World Bank corruption investigation amid reports of millions of non-existent students at “ghost schools” in the war-torn northwest Asian country.
The Canadian government is standing by its commitment to increase the number of Afghan children and girls in school as the World Bank investigates whether aid funds earmarked for the country’s largest national education program were misappropriated.
“We have to wait for the results of the investigation to better understand the scope of the problem,” International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Canada has provided $117.2 million since 2006 to the Education Quality Improvement Project (EQUIP), which is administered by the World Bank through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund.
The AR TF, which is funded by 34 donor countries, including Canada, was established in 2002 as a way to support the government of Afghanistan.
“The World Bank is leading the investigation with the full cooperation of the government in Afghanistan,” Bibeau said.
The National Unity Government led by President Ashraf Ghani was elected in 2014 by a narrow margin following an election recount.
Ghani, who served as finance minister between 2002 and 2004 under the previous government led by Hamid Karzai, spent two decades working outside the country before jumping into politics. His business career included jobs with the United Nations and the World Bank.
After his 2014 election win, Ghani vowed to weed out government corruption and have the country be self-reliant within a decade, a tall order given the billions of dollars in aid it currently receives each year.
Bibeau welcomed his government’s co-operation as a “positive” step.
“It really demonstrates a desire on their part to improve their governance and maintain a good relationship with donor countries,” Bibeau said. “That compensates a bit for the deception, but let’s wait for the results of the investigation.”
Fears that the international community, including Canadian taxpayers, might have paid millions to fund nonexistent students, teachers and schools also adds to the complexity of reconstruction efforts.
Education Minister Assadullah Hanif Balkhi told Afghanistan’s TOLO news this month that a recent study showed that six million Afghan children were back in school — instead of the 11 million touted by the previous government.
“Indeed, it is worrisome to see that the numbers may not be the ones we thought,” Bibeau said.
Canada’s embassy to Afghanistan expressed its concern this month by a posting a tweet that the minister described as “fairly critical.”
“We are aware of allegations of corruption against the Min. of Education & the EQUIP prog. We are concerned and looking at potential followup,” the Canadian embassy said in its tweet.
Bibeau who has yet to speak directly with Kenneth Neufeld, Canada’s ambassador to Afghanistan, said the message was posted out of the need for “transparency.”
A report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) gave credence to reports of “ghost students, teachers and schools.”
“There may be problems with student and teacher absenteeism that warrant further investigation by the Afghan government,” the U.S. watchdog said in November.
John Sopko, the inspector general, prepared a special report warning the Trump administration about corruption and other “high-risk” factors that threaten to undermine U.S. reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
Potentially inflated numbers aside, Bibeau said, there have been signs of progress in Afghanistan.
“There is definitively important work that has been accomplished, that contributed to the development of the region; among other things, allowing young girls to obtain an education.”
According to the most recent figures from Global Affairs, Canada has disbursed about $2.57 billion in total aid from 2001 to 2015.
Humanitarian agencies like CARE Canada have made it a priority to increase the number of Afghan children, especially girls, in school after the downfall of the Taliban regime.
“There has been a huge increase in the last 10 years in the number of kids reaching school — but the number outside of school is still very high,” Gary McGurk, the country director in Afghanistan who oversees a number of programs funded by various donor countries, said in a phone interview.
“For many agencies, CARE included, we see education as a key element in the future of Afghanistan.
“It’s really something that we have to keep working at and building up. And not just focusing on functional literacy, but educating girls, which are the next generation of teachers, nurses, doctors, etc.”
Canada, the U.S. and other donor countries pledged during a NATO meeting in Warsaw last July to financially support Afghanistan until 2020.
Trudeau renewed about $465 million in aid over three years for projects in Afghanistan after a meeting with Ghani.
“I am not planning to make any changes to this commitment,” Bibeau said pending the outcome of the World Bank’s investigation.
“Would there be some modification to make to the different projects? ... Maybe. But education and health remain priorities for us.”
With a federal budget looming, Bibeau said there are no new “short-term” funding announcements on the horizon.