The World Bank has put four projects in Afghanistan worth $600 million on hold amid concerns over a decision by the country’s ruling Islamist leaders to ban girls from returning to public high schools, the bank said.
The projects, to be funded under the revamped Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, were being readied for implementation by United Nations agencies to support projects in agriculture, education, health, and livelihoods, reported Reuters.
As a result, the bank said, the four projects will be presented to ARTF donors for approval only “when the World Bank and international partners have a better understanding of the situation and confidence that the goals of the projects can be met.” It was not immediately clear when that could occur.
U.S. officials last week canceled planned meetings in Doha with the Islamic Emarat over the decision to keep girls out of secondary school.
The executive board of the World Bank on March 1 approved a plan to use more than $1 billion from the ARTF fund to finance urgently needed education, agriculture, health, and family programs that would bypass sanctioned Islamic Emarat authorities and disburse the money through U.N. agencies and aid groups.
But Islamic Emarat leaders had said all girls would be allowed to return to classrooms later this month.
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