Foreign aid to Pakistan
Pakistan receives foreign aid from several different countries and the international community. Those fundings are ment for the civil projects within the country but unfortunately most of it never reaches the common public because of corrupt politicians. The bulk of international aid to Pakistan is from the Coalition Support Fund which is reimbursement "to Pakistan for expenses already incurred and compensation for facilities made available to the coalition forces such as the Shamsi Airfield and Dalbandin air bases by Pakistan as well as $4 billion has been billed to CSF for the training and services provided by American Military and contractors." The amount transferred to the Pakistani Treasury in cash over 10 years has been $8.647 billion.The misuse of funding by the authorities in Pakistani is often ignored from the US government as their main interest is to use the military base in Pakistan as a passage to Afghanistan in fight against Taliban.[1]
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Multilateral aid [edit]
Pakistan has taken significant loans from the International Monetary Fund to help address the economic cost of the war on terror on its economy
Election support [edit]
One of the biggest organizations supporting the electoral process in Pakistan is the Election Support Group (ESG). ESG is an internationally supported group of interested parties, made 32 specific recommendations to the Election Commission based on the recommendations of 16 international organizations.[2] A meeting was held in October 2009 to present these ideas to the Commission.[3] The Commission commissioned ESG to provide them with a recommendations on how to best solve the addressed problems.[3]
United States [edit]
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson addressed senior bureaucrats at the National Management College and emphasized that the United States will assist Pakistan’s new democratic government in the areas of development, stability, and security.[4] The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations World Food Program, in Pakistan, officially announced the signing of an agreement valued at $8.4 million to help ease Pakistan's food crisis.[4] With relations between Pakistan and the United States cooling down, it is expected that Pakistan and the United States could return to being allies again not only in the War on Terror but also in other possible threats to regional and world peace. It is also hoped by the United States that Pakistan under the administration of Asif Ali Zardari would only strengthen relations between Pakistan and the United States.
Election support [edit]
In 2006, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) implemented a 9 million dollar contract through USAID to install a computerised electoral rolls system for the Pakistani government.[5]
USAID, IFES, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) have also coordinated a number of initiatives to help train election officials in Pakistan.[6] Part of this activity was the establishment of a Federal Election Academy and a library to support the Election Commission of Pakistan.[6]
U.S. financial aid to Pakistan since the September 11, 2001 attacks [edit]
Between 2002-2010, Pakistan received approximately $18 billion[7] in military and economic aid from the United States. In February 2010, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama requested an additional $3 billion in aid, for a total of $20.7 billion.[8]
Western officials have claimed nearly 70% (roughly $3.4 billion) of the aid given to the military has been misspent in 2002-2007 and used to cover the civilian deficit. However U.S-Pakistani relationship has been a transactional based and U.S military aid to Pakistan and aid conditions has been shrouded in secrecy for several years until recently .[9][10][10][11] Furthermore a significant proportion of U.S. economic aid for Pakistan has ended up in back in the U.S., as funds are channeled through large U.S. contractors. A U.S. lawmaker also said majority of U.S. economic aid has not left the U.S. as it spent on consulting fees and overhead cost.[12][13]
Military and economic aid [edit]
| Year | Military (USD in billions) | Economic (USD in billions) |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1.36 | 1.233 for 2002 to 2004 |
| 2003 | 1.500 | 1.233 for 2002 to 2004 |
| 2004 | 1.200 | 1.233 for 2002 to 2004 |
| 2005 | 1.313 | .338 |
| 2006 | 1.260 | .539 |
| 2007 | 1.115 | .567 |
| 2008 | 1.435 | .507 |
| 2009 | 1.689 | 1.366 |
| 2010 | 1.232 | 1.409 |
| 2011 | 1.685 | unknown |
| Total | 11.740 billion[14] | 6.08 billion[15] |
United Kingdom [edit]
United Kingdom has pledged £665 million to Pakistan from 2009-2013.[16]
Free trade deals [edit]
Pakistan has been trying to negotiate free trade deals with the EU and America as part of Western assistance in war against terror instead of aid . This policy is supported by the Washington based think tank Centre for Global Development [17]
Debt cancellation [edit]
Pakistan has been trying to negotiate debt cancellation currently Pakistan spends $3 billion on debt servicing annually to largely western nations and the International Monetary Fund [17]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=118118
- ^ International Foundation for Electoral Systems (2009). "Election Support Group". Retrieved October 25, 2009.
- ^ a b "CEC-ESG discuss Electoral Reforms Recommendations". Islamabad: The Associated Press of Pakistan. October 12, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
- ^ a b "The United States Embassy" (in English (U.S.)). Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ Computerised electoral rolls system installed Daily Times (Pakistan), September 10, 2008. Accessed July 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Capacity building key to meet modern day challenges, The International News (Pakistan), July 14, 2009. Accessed August 7, 2009.
- ^ http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=226110
- ^ "Pakistan got $18bn aid from US since 2001". The Times Of India. February 23, 2010.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Walsh, Declan (February 27, 2008). "Up to 70% of US aid to Pakistan 'misspent'". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- ^ Rohde, David; Gall, Carlotta; Schmitt, Eric; Sanger, David E. (December 24, 2007). "U.S. Officials See Waste in Billions Sent to Pakistan". The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- ^ "U.S. to channel more aid via Pakistan government". Reuters. April 14, 2010.
- ^ Upadhyay, Brajesh (May 16, 2008). "US aid 'failing to reach target'". BBC News. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- ^ http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/Final_DP_2009_06_08092009.pdf
- ^ Department of Defense statistics
- ^ UK Conservatives would step up Pakistan aid effort
- ^ a b http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6031139-pakistan-seeking-trade-not-aid-gilani
External links [edit]
- Reassessing Foreign Assistance to Pakistan
- Pakistan: U.S. Foreign Assistance Congressional Research Service.
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