Brussels
The European Union has presented an aid package for Afghanistan worth more than 600 Million Euros, during the EU-Afghanistan Troika meeting that took place on January 29, in Berlin.
The aid package for the next four years (2007-2010) will focus on three key priority areas: reform of the justice sector, health, and rural development, including alternative to poppy production.
The European Union made it clear that the aid package is only for civil purposes and not to be used for military purposes.
Since 2002, the European Commission has donated 135 Million Euros to support the salaries and training needs of the Afghan police, and this is included in the new package.
In order to support the justice sector, during the coming months, the European Commission will place experts in key justice institutions that will draw up a programme of reform in the judiciary and legal services, including a code of ethics, with the purpose of improving the qualifications, recruitment, and career structure for judges and prosecutors.
In the health sector, the new aid package will focus on the provision of primary health services in Afghanistan. Its aim is to help raise the coverage of basic health services from about 75 percent to hundred percent. Health clinics will be built and repaired and medical staff will be trained.
In the rural development program, the Commission is aiming at reducing poppy dependency through alternative livelihoods. Although, there was an overall increase in 2006 in cultivation in 2006, there were signs of sustained reduction in areas where the Commission has been active.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
The European Union has presented an aid package for Afghanistan worth more than 600 Million Euros, during the EU-Afghanistan Troika meeting that took place on January 29, in Berlin.
The aid package for the next four years (2007-2010) will focus on three key priority areas: reform of the justice sector, health, and rural development, including alternative to poppy production.
The European Union made it clear that the aid package is only for civil purposes and not to be used for military purposes.
Since 2002, the European Commission has donated 135 Million Euros to support the salaries and training needs of the Afghan police, and this is included in the new package.
In order to support the justice sector, during the coming months, the European Commission will place experts in key justice institutions that will draw up a programme of reform in the judiciary and legal services, including a code of ethics, with the purpose of improving the qualifications, recruitment, and career structure for judges and prosecutors.
In the health sector, the new aid package will focus on the provision of primary health services in Afghanistan. Its aim is to help raise the coverage of basic health services from about 75 percent to hundred percent. Health clinics will be built and repaired and medical staff will be trained.
In the rural development program, the Commission is aiming at reducing poppy dependency through alternative livelihoods. Although, there was an overall increase in 2006 in cultivation in 2006, there were signs of sustained reduction in areas where the Commission has been active.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report