Development Cooperation

The Australian Government\'s overseas aid program is improving the lives of millions of people in developing countries. Australia is working with the governments and people of developing countries to deliver aid where it is most needed and most effective.

Australia is a long-standing partner to Afghanistan and has provided over AUD 1 billion in development assistance since 2001.

Australia and Afghanistan signed a Comprehensive Partnership Agreement and a Development Framework Agreement in 2012. We made a significant contribution to the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework between the Afghan Government and the international community.

At the London Conference on Afghanistan in December 2014, Australia reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the Afghan Government and people through the Decade of Transformation.

Australia expects to deliver AUD 81.7 million in development assistance to Afghanistan in the 2015-16 financial year.

Australia’s assistance focuses on supporting economic growth and governance, increasing education opportunities, strengthening agriculture and rural livelihoods, empowering women and girls, and providing humanitarian assistance to those displaced by conflict and natural disasters.

Australia is committed to providing a minimum 50 per cent of its development assistance on-budget through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund and the Law and Order Trust Fund, and to aligning at least 80 per cent of its funding to the Afghan Government’s national priorities.

In 2013-14, some of Australia’s key development results included:

providing community based education classes to 6,715 children, including 960 girls, in Uruzgan province
providing education to 2,754 students (80 per cent girls) in 108 primary-level classes in Parwan and Kapisa, and supporting 12 lower-secondary classes in Khost Province (including 241 girls)
vaccinating more than 569,000 children against polio, and more than 198,000 children against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus
training more than 500 people (including 400 women) in better agricultural and horticultural practices, and running 253 dry-land farming field demonstrations
supporting the development of the World Food Programme’s first Strategic Grain Reserve facility in Kabul – a 22,500 tonne facility that is part of a network of facilities that, when complete, will be able to feed two million people for up to six months in times of crisis
training more than 500 civil servants in key Afghan Government ministries to improve public financial management
providing training to 3,586 people (1,464 women and 2,122 men)—including government officials, police, community members and teachers and students—on women’s rights and the Ending Violence Against Women Law
contributing to the distribution of 106,000 tonnes of rations to 3.5 million vulnerable people in 2013, including 1.6 million women and girls
supporting the clearance of more than 700 mines and 7,000 explosive remnants of war from 3.3 million square metres of hazardous land, benefiting more than 61,000 Afghans.

Development Cooperation Fact Sheets

Australia Afghanistan Community Resilience Scheme

Australia Afghanistan Education Program

Australian Support for Elections in Afghanistan

The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund

Elimination of Violence Against Women in Afghanistan

Public Financial Management Program in Afghanistan

Humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in 2015

Uruzgan Rural Access Program - Afghanistan

For more information, please see:
http://aid.dfat.gov.au/countries/southasia/afghanistan/Pages/home.aspx

Direct Aid Program (DAP)

DAP funding in Afghanistan is available on a not-for-profit basis to individuals, community groups and NGOs engaged in development activities in Afghanistan. The program focuses on supporting small-scale development projects and activities which can achieve practical outcomes related to community health and infrastructure, economic empowerment, youth, gender equality and poverty alleviation.

To be eligible for funding, projects must fall within the DAP guidelines. The Kabul DAP Committee will consider each application on its merits and make recommendations for funding based on expected development outcomes and whether the proposed project meets the guidelines.

Applications for DAP funding for 2015/16 have now closed. Applications for next financial year will re-open near the start of the 2016/17 financial year.

For further information on DAP, please see http://dfat.gov.au/aid/topics/development-issues/direct-aid-program/Pages/direct-aid-program.aspx