Brussels, 17/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - The constitutional Loya Jirga now set up, means that the European Commission was able to approve on 17 December an allocation of an additional EUR 50 million to Afghanistan. This will be added to the EUR 400 million already used for reconstruction in the country for 2003-04. This is part of the extension of the substantial contribution already provided by the Commission and Member States for security, with the sending of troops for the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) and provincial reconstruction teams.
The Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA) was set up to ensure that police and training were paid for in time and was proposed on the initiative of the German police. It will be managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The additional contribution of EUR 50 million will be added to the current EUR 25.5 million contribution.
In 2003-04, EUR 100 million were set aside for rural development and will contribute to substitution jobs for people currently producing the heroin poppy. EUR 12 million more will be contributed to promoting new means for living in the east and for strengthening controls on the Afghan/Iran border.