*2012–13 Estimated Outcome ODA funding breakdown and graphs will be updated from 15 May 2013.
Australia and Afghanistan signed a Comprehensive Partnership Agreement [external link] and a Development Framework Agreement in 2012. We made a significant contribution to the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework between the Afghan Government and the international community and are committed to a long-term partnership in the decade beyond the 2014 transition of security to Afghan national forces.
The bulk of AusAID’s assistance to Afghanistan, around 80 per cent, is delivered at the national level. Nationally and in Uruzgan, our assistance focuses on promoting education opportunities; rural development, particularly agriculture and community infrastructure; and improving the quality of governance, including public financial management, mining, electoral support and civil society engagement. A substantial ongoing aid program is an important part of the Australian government’s commitment to the international mission to Afghanistan.
For more information on the administration, management and objectives of Australia’s programs in Afghanistan, read:
Australia has invested $380.3 million in Afghanistan in the previous three years. Some of the key results include:
- helping increase access to basic health care services, providing maternal and child health consultations to more than 100,000 people, health education for more than 280,000 people, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health education for more than 39,000 people, and helping to immunise approximately 196,000 children in Uruzgan
- contributing to the construction of over 1,500 schools, graduating over 67,000 teachers, and providing school management training to over 11,000 principals and school managers
- support for the training of more than 700 farmers in new agricultural practices and better natural resource management—resulting in increased yields and animal populations—and assistance in clearing 1,724,684 sq km of land in Ghor and Kandahar provinces of unexploded ordnance.
More results can be viewed under the ‘See our results’ tab above.
Following the Government’s announcement on 17 December 2012 to reprioritise resources within the aid budget, the 2012–13 revised budget estimate for the Afghanistan program was reduced by $11.8 million. Australia remains committed to delivering results in Afghanistan. This comprises deferral of:
- new phase of an existing technical assistance program ($2.8 million)
- governance activities ($4 million)
- commencement of a new community resilience program ($5 million).
Australia expects to provide to $181.2 million in development assistance to Afghanistan in 2012–13. We will:
- enhance access, quality and use of basic health services for children and their families and continue to support the WHO’s polio eradication initiatives
- support community based education for more than 11,000 students, developing the leadership potential of girls and women in remote communities, and recruiting and training teachers
- support a portfolio of agriculture projects aimed at increasing agricultural productivity in grain, livestock and water management
- support the training and internship of civil servants to improve Government planning and management
- construct over 150 km of all-weather roads and 27 km of all-weather gravel roads in Uruzgan, as well as build government capacity to better plan, operate and maintain its infrastructure.
More on expected outcomes can be viewed under the ‘See our results’ tab above.