UNAMA is responsible for the direction and oversight of all UN relief, recovery and reconstruction activities in Afghanistan. One of the main functions of UNAMA’s Aid Coherence Unit is to coordinate the humanitarian development activities of UN agencies and to promote aid effectiveness and good development practice.
Secretary-General's latest report
The UN Secretary-General's report to the Security Council released on 5 March 2013 provides an update on the implementation of the Kabul Process and aid coherence, and humanitarian assistance, since 6 December 2012, listed below. For a full copy of the report, click here.
IV. Implementation of the Kabul Process and aid coherence
32. The Government and its international partners continued work on implementing and monitoring commitments made at the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan, held on 8 July 2012. In ensuring continued progress, discussion has centred on finalizing hard deliverables on core elements of the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework to be implemented before the meeting of senior officials in July.
33. On 12 February, the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board endorsed an additional four national priority programmes: efficient and effective governance; water and natural resources; national comprehensive agricultural production and market development; and national energy supply. This brings the total number of programmes endorsed to 20 of 22.
34. After intense engagement, the Board also endorsed the aid management policy, a key commitment of the international community in Tokyo. The policy provides a five-year framework to ensure the realization of the aid effectiveness agenda, in line with the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States agreed upon at the Fourth High-level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 29 November to 1 December 2011, and addresses alignment with Government priorities, on-budget financing and parallel salary scales for the civil service. The United Nations and the World Bank have committed themselves to aligning Government staff currently paid through their funds with an agreed Government scale for national technical assistance. This progressive alignment of salaries will affect between 6,000 and 7,000 staff and will take place over the coming two to three years as part of the Capacity-building for Results Programme, an initiative aimed at increasing Government capacity on a long-term sustainable basis.
35. To ensure greater transparency and accountability, representatives of civil society organizations have been introduced into the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework technical and steering committees. UNAMA continued to support civil society through a series of workshops in Kandahar and Jalalabad on engagement in policy discussion, and development planning and implementation. Amid concern over the potential impacts of the transition process on women, the United Nations country team is also considering how to best support systematic monitoring and reporting on gender commitments in the Tokyo Declaration and the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework.
36. In December, the United Nations country team endorsed a policy framework on how to address requests to the United Nations to assume activities previously conducted by provincial reconstruction teams. The policy emphasized Afghan leadership as a core transition principle, with requests considered only on a case-by-case basis. Criteria include that the request comes from the Government of Afghanistan; that activities reflect and reinforce agreed Afghan national priorities and programmes, including the aid management policy; and that they are consistent with and contribute to United Nations mandates and priorities and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. United Nations agencies must maintain the ability to deliver assistance according to established development and humanitarian principles.
37. On 13 February, the second annual meeting of heads of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes in Afghanistan and Afghan line ministries was co-chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and my Special Representative. The meeting confirmed a reorientation of the relationship through the transition and the “Transformation Decade (2015-2024)”. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Zalmai Rassoul, noted that Afghanistan expected not less, but different, United Nations engagement. United Nations good offices should move from the traditional role to more technical support of Afghan-led political processes and capacity-building of Afghan institutions. A United Nations focus on development coherence, enhanced integration and strengthened delivery as one remained crucial.
38. From 22 January to 2 February, the International Monetary Fund conducted a review mission to Kabul. Elements of the review, in particular strengthening banking supervision and reforms, are central to the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework. Key actions identified for the Government to implement before the meeting of the Executive Board of the Fund in April include submission to the legislature of laws on banking, anti-money laundering and value-added tax. The last-mentioned, at 2 to 3 per cent of gross domestic product, is expected to contribute greatly to the Government budget.