Aug 26, 2021: Pakistan during the two-decades-long US war on terror in Afghanistan faced huge economic losses where the country only received 31.3 percent of the total promised funding under the US Agency for International Development (USAID) during the period of 2001-2021.

Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in its research-based infographic rendered a stark contrast between the commitments made by the American agency and the actual amount provided to the nation facing the maximum impact of violence in the aftermath of the US war.

As per the infographic, the USAID had promised $33.32 billion funding out of which $17.10 billion were disbursed whereas interestingly only $8.55 billion funding was actualized, minuscule assistance as compared to the losses both in men and material borne by Pakistan.

The IPRI infographic also presented the ratio funding delivered by various US departments during 2001-2021. The larger chunk of funding out of the total received from the major funding agencies was contributed by USAID of 54.33 percent, followed by Department of Defence 31.84 percent, Department of State 7.54 percent, others 5 percent, Department of the Treasury 2.27 percent and a tiny amount chipped in by Department of Agriculture of 1.43 percent.

The study data revealed that the military assistance was lesser in contrast to economic aid provided by USAID as only $5.49 billion were provided in lieu of military aid and $11.81 billion for economic assistance.

It also provided an overview of recipients or receivers of the donations in Pakistan that included the government with the largest share of 63.03 percent, non-governmental organization (NGO) 11.98 percent, Multilateral 11.78 percent, and Enterprises 11.39 percent.

However, very limited funding was extended to universities and research institutes of 1.51 percent, Church and Faith-Based 0.5004 percent, Public and Private Partnerships 0.0058 percent.

The infographic mentioned the disclaimer as, “Apart from this Aid, US appropriated $14.57 billion as CSF, which is actually the reimbursement for logistical support and is made part of the discourse; it is technically not foreign assistance or aid. [Hoerever], almost 50% of the amount was spent on consulting and administrative costs”

It may be mentioned here that the sources of information for IPRI’s research-based infographic were USAID, Congressional Research Service.

APP

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