On Thursday, the executive board of the World Bank approved a new strategy for the organization’s interactions with the Afghan people, one that would allow for the availability of fresh funding, estimated to be worth $300 million, independent of the Taliban government.
The Bank said in a statement that its new approach to Afghanistan, known as “Approach 3.0,” will also bring back to life a regional infrastructure project that was put on hold when the Taliban took over the South Asian nation in August 2021.
Subject to additional board approval, the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s lending arm for some of the world’s poorest nations, will make about $300 million accessible over the next 15 months under the proposed method, a spokesperson told AFP.
However, as with other World Bank funding in the country, the new funding would be deployed “through grants to United Nations agencies and other public international organizations,” the Bank said in a statement announcing the board decision.
“These funds will continue supporting basic services nationwide, particularly those benefiting women, and will be outside the control of the Interim Taliban Administration (ITA),” it added.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban authorities have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, with women bearing the brunt of laws the United Nations has labeled “gender apartheid.”
In response, many governments, international organizations and aid agencies have either cut off or severely scaled back their funding for Afghanistan — with disastrous economic consequences.
Afghanistan’s GDP shrank by more than 20 percent in 2021 and more than 6 percent in 2022, according to estimates from the World Bank.
Ninety percent of the nation’s food aid comes from the World Food Programme, which recently informed AFP that it anticipates that about 16 million Afghans will require aid this winter, with 2.8 million experiencing an emergency degree of food insecurity.
Approach 3.0, according to the World Bank, will carry on with its “principled approach” to working with the Taliban government, which “puts women at the center of projects and ensures that project activities are implemented by and for women.”
