NATO Allies and partners reaffirm their commitment to the financial sustainment of the Afghan security forces

At the plenary meeting of the Afghan National Army Trust Fund Board – held today (04 June 2019) at NATO Headquarters – NATO Allies and partners confirmed their steadfast support to the financial sustainment of the Afghan security forces. Together with representatives of the donors’ community, they reviewed the Trust Fund management, implementation and performance; and they outlined future requirements.

Participants included the Canadian Ambassador in Kabul, Dave J. Metcalfe (donor nation co-chair of the Trust Fund), Mr. Colin F. Jackson, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia (representing the Trust Fund manager), Lieutenant General Jim Rainey, Commander Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan, Mr. Mohammad Humayoun Qayoumi, Acting Afghan Minister of Finance, Mr. Abdul Hai Rauf, the Afghan Deputy Defence Minister; and Ms. 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 the 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.  Last year, at the Brussels summit, donors agreed to extend their funding support through 2024,” Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General said. “It is difficult to overstate the political significance of the demonstration of long-term commitment by the international community to Afghanistan’s security and how much this commitment is influencing the Taliban’s considerations to enter into a discussion on a negotiated solution to the conflict in Afghanistan; and the Afghan National Army Trust Fund plays an important part in linking this international commitment with worthwhile projects that improve the capabilities of the Afghan forces and help keeping them in the fight,” Mr. Stoltenberg added. Today’s meeting “is evidence of strong and continued commitment to the financial support of the Afghan security forces, improving chances for a negotiated solution to the conflict and for peace that all Afghans demand,” the NATO Secretary General highlighted. As of 15 May 2019, total contributions made to the Trust Fund amount to 2.8 billion U.S. dollars. The ANA Trust Fund is open for contributions by the broader International Community.

The NATO-run Afghan National Army (ANA) Trust 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 corrections personnel and to build the capacity of the Afghan Ministry of the Interior and the police. The ASFF pays for equipping and running Afghanistan’s security forces, as well as facility and infrastructure repair, renovation and construction.