Financial sustainment of the Afghan security forces key to lasting security in Afghanistan

They exchanged views on the coordination taking place in Afghanistan between the Afghan authorities and the broader international community on the funding streams in support of the Afghan security forces, and on plans by the Afghan authorities to increase their yearly security expenditures and continue their reforms to enhance good financial governance.  They discussed future funding requirements for the Afghan security forces. Participants included also Mr. Eklil Ahmad Hakimi, Afghan Minister of Finance; Mr. Maarten Boef, Deputy Director for Security Policy at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Colin F. Jackson, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia; Major General Robin L. Fontes, Commander of the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan; and Ms. Barbara Pesce-Monteiro, Director of the United Nations Development Programme Representation Office in Brussels.

“In the framework of the Chicago Summit in 2012, the international community committed to supporting the Afghan security forces beyond the end of 2014 transition period and pledged funding for 2015 to 2017. At the Warsaw Summit in 2016, nations agreed to continue the financial support for the sustainment of the Afghan security forces until 2020,” Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General said. “The Afghan National Army Trust Fund has played an essential role in boosting Afghan security, by connecting donations with worthwhile projects. The upcoming Brussels Summit in July offers an opportunity to highlight donors’ continued commitment to the financial sustainment of the Afghan security forces,” he pointed out.  

As of 28 May 2018, total contributions made to the Afghan National Army Trust Fund amount to more than 2.3 billion U.S. dollars. The NATO-run Afghan National ArmyTrust Fund is one of three funding streams used by the International Community to channel its financial support to Afghanistan’s security forces and institutions. The other two are the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA), administered by the United Nations Development Programme, and the United States Afghanistan Security Forces Fund (ASFF). LOTFA is used to pay the salaries of police and correction personnel and to build the capacity of the Afghan Ministry of the Interior and the police. The ASFF is subject to a US-Afghan bilateral agreement and pays for equipping and running  Afghanistan’s security forces.

The Afghan National Army Trust Fund Board is composed of national representatives of donor nations and the Trust Fund manager (represented by the United States). The NATO Secretary General and a donor nation representative co-chair the Board in plenary sessions. Plenary meetings of the Board were held on 1 September 2014, 26 June 2015, 11 May 2016, and 2 May 2017.