WB proposal would shift about $1b from Afghan trust

The World Bank's management has approved a plan to use some $1 billion in a frozen Afghanistan trust fund for education, agriculture, health and family programs, according to a bank paper and two sources, in what would be a major boost to efforts to ease the country's worsening humanitarian and economic crises.

The plan, outlined in the paper seen by Reuters on Friday, is to bypass sanctioned Taliban authorities by disbursing the money in the World Bank-administered Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) through UN agencies.

It is set to be discussed by the World Bank board on March 1, the sources familiar with the plan told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Donors to the fund would then need to give approval for the release of any money.

The move would follow a successful disbursement of $280 million from the same trust fund to the World Food Program (WFP) and UN children's agency UNICEF to support nutrition and health in Afghanistan over the past few months.

The World Bank paper says the plan is to "make available just over US$1 billion in ARTF resources in calendar year 2022." Recognizing that the situation remains fluid, the plan aims for flexibility by making four disbursals of a total $600 million and the remainder "on a priority basis" for the rest of the year.

The aim "is to protect the vulnerable, help preserve human capital and key economic and social institutions and reduce the need for future humanitarian assistance," according to the World Bank paper. It called for the fund to be used for food security, health and education programs.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month called for the release of the remaining $1.2 billion in the fund to help Afghanistan's people survive the winter, stressing: "Time is of the essence."