25 JANUARY 2021 | KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) welcomed the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) announcement of new grants for critical work of United Nations agencies in Afghanistan. The grant will be used to fund key monitoring of project implementation, assess the impact of aid, and conduct economic research to support direct, timely and effective assistance of ADB and UN partners to Afghanistan.

“The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $405 million in grants to support food security and help sustain the delivery of essential health and education services for the Afghan people,” according to the statement issued by ADB today.

“Under its Sustaining Essential Services Delivery Project (Support for Afghan People), ADB will provide direct financing to four United Nations (UN) agencies which have presence and logistics in Afghanistan, for immediate humanitarian support in response to the unprecedented crisis and to help sustain the country’s human development.”

UNDP will receive a US$ 5 million grant to provide monitoring services on the ground for ADB-funded initiatives, assess the impact of these initiatives, and expand its macro-economic and social research to inform policy strategies of the UN and other partners.

“We thank ADB for its trust in UNDP to monitor and  maximize the effects of its assistance in Afghanistan,” said UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan Abdallah Al Dardari. “We look forward to working with ADB and other partners to help prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and the collapse of services addressing basic human needs. Our collaboration around economic and social research will be critical to determine our continuous work on the ground with ADB and all partners to address the current crisis.”

UNDP has published several pivotal economic assessments since 15 August 2021, including:

• “Afghanistan Socio-Economic Outlook 2021-2022: Averting a Basic Needs Crisis” 
• Policy Brief: “The Afghan Banking and Financial System Situation Report”
• Rapid Appraisal: “Economic Instability and Uncertainty in Afghanistan after August 15”

“We call on other partners to urgently step up their funding support to preventing the collapse of the people’s economy in Afghanistan,” added Abdallah Al Dardari.

UNDP also launched the ‘ABADEI’ initiative, which connotes community resilience. Under the ABADEI, 13 UN agencies, including UNDP, and non-governmental organizations are supporting community-level solutions to complement ongoing humanitarian interventions. ABADEI activities, such as cash-for-work and cash-for-business, have already created over 47,000 paid workdays, including 5,400 workdays for women in need from vulnerable households in Mazar, Kunduz and Herat. These emergency employment schemes – implementing public works – are rapidly expanding to support basic human needs in Badghis, Farah and other provinces.

For media inquiries:
Stanislav Saling, Communications Specialist, UNDP: stanislav.saling@undp.org

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