With the assistance of the United States and other donor nations, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan now has more control over the hiring and managing of technical advisors for its ministries.  The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) coordinated this effort with the donor community and assisted the Ministry of Finance in gathering support for its Civilian Technical Assistance Plan. 

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan formed a task force to identify the needs within the ministries at the national and sub-national level.  They gained consensus within the government, and presented a well thought out plan to achieve its goals. The plan is based on four guiding principles, including: “Afghan Ownership” by having technical advisors accountable to the Afghan ministries and agencies; “Demand Driven” to meet the specific needs and demands of the ministries and agencies; “Capacity-Development” to reduce the dependency on international organizations; and “Effectiveness” to report on the impact the advisors’ work is having on the lives of ordinary Afghan citizens.  Thanks to a $30 million budget transfer from the US to the Afghan Government and commitments from other international donors including the United Kingdom, the international community is providing more Afghan Ownership in aid.  

Minister of Finance (MoF) Dr. Omar Zakhilwal and USAID Mission Director William Frej signed a cash transfer agreement to support the Afghan-led Civilian Technical Assistance Plan, which gives the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan more control over the recruiting, hiring and placing of technical advisors in ministries. 

“This is a major step forward for the Afghanistan Government in determining its own development needs and priorities,” said USAID Mission Director William Frej. “The US Government is proud to support Afghan leadership, Afghan capacity-building efforts, and to be working with the other donor nations to collectively meet these needs - on their own terms, not ours. In short, we support this Afghan First initiative.”

"We are extremely pleased with donor support for the Civilian Technical Assistance Plan and its key principles" said Minister Zakhilwal.  "We are particularly excited that the US government has chosen to support this program through a cash transfer to the budget, a strong indicator of their confidence in the Ministry's ability to manage funds in a responsible and transparent manner."