ARTF financing under the Recurrent Cost Window enables the Afghan government to pay the salaries of teachers and health care workers.

Following the fall of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001 and the return of international aid agencies to Afghanistan, it was agreed with the interim government early on that a pooled financing mechanism was needed to ensure a coherent and coordinated reconstruction effort. Consequently, the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) was established in April 2002 with support in the first year from 20 donor countries.

Seven years later, the ARTF has become the leading multi-donor funding mechanism in the country, providing a predictable source of funding for essential government costs on the one hand and helping government align its development planning with available resources on the other. As nearly two thirds of financial aid to Afghanistan flows into the country outside the government’s own budget, ARTF resources have been critical to government planning. As a sign of strong commitment and support for the ARTF, donors agreed in 2008 to extend the lifetime of the mechanism for a further 10 years, through June 2020.

The National Solidarity Program is putting people in charge of their own development for the first time in history.

To date 30 donors have made contributions to the fund, of which around half are regular contributors. The donors to the fund are Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and the US. Annual contribution levels have risen substantially since the outset and have been at around $630 million for the last two years. Over the seven years of its existence, donors have contributed a total of $3 billion. These contributions enable the ARTF to finance both the essential running costs of the government (Recurrent Cost Window) and the key national programs under the Afghan National Development Strategy (Investment Window).

The ARTF's Recurrent Cost (RC) Window finances the running costs of the Afghan government, as well as operations and maintenance expenses. To date, the window has disbursed over $1.7 billion for the government's operating budget. Funds disbursed under the window have ensured that the government continues to function and deliver essential services, such as education and health care, to its people.These funds enable the government to pay the salaries of the 250,000 or so civil servants all over the country, including teachers and health care workers. Funds disbursed under the window are monitored by the auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The process has helped build capacity in the Ministry of Finance by creating a predictable source of funding that is administered through government.

The microfinance program is helping women to earn independent incomes by setting up small businesses.

Since 2002, the ARTF has committed $1.2 billion to the reconstruction of the country by financing those programs the government considers most important. This approach ensures that the Afghan government owns these programs; it also helps keep the focus on scaling up the delivery of essential infrastructure and basic services across the country. Some of the main programs that receive grant financing under the Investment Window are:

• The National Solidarity Program (NSP) which is putting Afghanistan's rural people in charge of their own development for the first time in history.
• The National Rural Access Program (NRAP) which is working to improve access for impoverished rural areas across the country.
• The Microfinance Program which is helping to develop a sustainable microfinance sector to provide flexible, convenient, and affordable financial services to poor people.
• The Education Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP) which is enabling communities, through school shuras, to rehabilitate school buildings and access quality teaching and learning materials.

In addition, the ARTF is contributing to other important development areas like urban infrastructure, power supply, public sector capacity building, justice reform and agriculture. Across the spectrum the ARTF has enabled program managers to plan ahead and scale up the reach of nationwide initiatives. For the foreseeable future, the ARTF will remain vital to these efforts as millions of citizens remain in line for further assistance in rebuilding their lives.