Donors to help embattled government of Afghanistan

Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah delivers a speech during a Conference on Afghanistan in Brussels, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The two-day conference, hosted by the EU, will have the participation of over 70 countries to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Thierry Monasse)

BRUSSELS (AP) — Afghanistan’s leaders and officials from over 70 nations gathered in Brussels Wednesday seeking to drum up billions of dollars for the cash-strapped government as it battles a powerful Taliban insurgency and rampant corruption.

“It’s important today that the international community sends a strong message of support,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters. He said that Afghanistan’s leaders “have been making impressive reforms and development plans to change the lives of people that have been suffering too long.”

But with donor fatigue growing after 15 years of war, EU officials said ahead of the meeting that it was unclear whether the target of $4 billion would be reached. The last donor conference, in Tokyo in 2012, secured $4 billion in annual subsidies for development.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the EU will pledge 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for the next four-year period “and we would expect a similar level of engagement from our partners.”

She denied reports the bloc is making aid conditional on Afghanistan taking back people who have fled to Europe, saying there is “never a link between our development aid and what we do on migration.”

Afghanistan has been mired in conflict for decades. At the height of the 15-year U.S. and NATO intervention, billions of dollars flowed into the country, creating a false economy with double-digit growth. But the drawdown of troops in 2014 led many aid workers and international agencies to depart or scale back their operations, causing the economy to all but collapse.

Officials estimate up to 50 percent unemployment. Deteriorating security deters foreign investment in key fields such as mining and infrastructure, and drives the country’s youth onto the migrant trail to Europe in search of opportunities. Ghani will nevertheless argue that progress has been made since Tokyo regarding corruption and judicial and electoral reform.

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Lynne O’Donnell in Kabul contributed.