PESHAWAR, Sept 30 In a major shift in its development policy, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has decided to stop funding its partner organisations involved in uplift projects in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and disburse the funds through the Government of Pakistan instead.
Sources privy to this development told Dawn that the decision emerged from a review by the US of its assistance policy.
Unlike in the past, when the Government of Pakistan had no role in the disbursement of USAID funds, starting October the funds will be routed through the Government of Pakistan, enabling government agencies to utilise the funds according to their priorities.
The sources said USAID formally communicated to its partners operating in the region - Capacity Building Project and Development Associates Incorporation - at a meeting held in Peshawar last Sunday that funding to them was being discontinued because of changes in the policy.
However, a senior officer of a USAID-funded project claimed on the quiet that “the situation is not clear and the matter is still under discussion at the highest level”. He admitted that major changes in the policy were expected.
USAID partners, according to the sources, had formally informed its employees that projects were being wound up and they would get one month additional salaries. It is learnt that foreign consultants were also hired for these projects, who were paid $1,500 per day.
Employees with more than 12 months service in the project would be eligible for gratuity funds and also get additional salaries, according to the sources.
“USAID has categorically conveyed to its partners that funding is being stopped from next month,” said another source.
Chief of the Party of CBP-DAI Keith Smith, when contacted by Dawn for comments, said he would reply through a text message. However, no message was received.
The organisations have been working in the tribal area on various projects, including Upper, Lower Fata Development Programme, early warning communication programme for internally displaced people, community social mobilisation and Fata strengthening.
The sources said direct funding to the partners was one of the major bones of contention between Islamabad and Washington, as the former wanted utilisation of fiscal assistance through its channels and the latter was pursuing a policy where the government's role was less than a coordinator.
A statement of NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani regarding setting up a trust fund for the NWFP and Fata with US assistance is also being taken in the same context.
He had told journalists in Peshawar on Monday that the federal government had decided to set up a trust fund for the militancy-wrecked province and its adjacent tribal area with the financial assistance of the US as approved under the Kerry-Lugar bill.
The proposed “Trust Fund for Development of NWFP and Fata” would be governed through a board of trustees that would decide projects and dispose of all their financial affairs, he had said.