More cash for Afghanistan, but donors are worried

Afghanistan came calling for more money today, urging Western donors in Paris to dig deep despite increasing concern about the way funds are spent.

President Hamid Karzai presented an ambitious five-year plan costing some 30 billion euros. The United States has already announced six billion euros for this year and next, while France will double its contributions.

But they also urged Afghans to help themselves, particularly in security and the fight against corruption. “Security continues to be our biggest challenge, without which progress on every other objective that we have will be either difficult, or sometimes impossible,” said President Karzai.

Donors promised 20 billion euros and long-term support for Afghanistan, but also want to see concrete evidence of progress.

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