In June, 34 donor countries came together to pledge a new aid package for Afghanistan. The $2.8 billion in pledged funding will be funneled through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) over the course of the next three years. The package was finalized when the Afghan Ministry of Finance and the World Bank signed a formal agreement. The organizations stated that the funds would be used to finish incomplete development projects and undertake new ones. The remaining funds will bolster the Afghan government budget.
The Ministry of Finance has said that the funds will be disbursed across a wide range of sectors, from infrastructure to rural development and agriculture. In addition, some money will also support good governance and social protection initiatives.
ARTF was created in 2002 as a financing mechanism for the government of Afghanistan. At present, 34 donor countries support the fund, which is administered by the World Bank and has distributed about $8 billion through various development projects since its inception. The fund has fueled progress in a number of important areas, including education, health, and agriculture. ARTF maintains excellent relations with its donor countries by maintaining a high standard of transparency and keeping transaction costs as low as possible.
Part of the ARTF commitment to transparency involves tracking and reporting its results through a number of different platforms. Since 2013, the organization has annually released the ARTF Scorecard, which details progress and results in various sectors. The organization also publishes the ARTF Results Matrix, which offers an overview of the current portfolio of projects and their aggregated results. An Incentive Program that requires technical reviews also provides updates on project benchmarks. Finally, the World Bank also tracks progress through its Project Implementations Status and Results Reports, which outline specific indicators that are critical to each project and provide information on risks.