Federal Government helps fund salaries for Afghan police officers
"If we want the Afghan police force to provide security for its own country we have to guarantee that the police officers will receive adequate and regular payment. As long as the Afghan government is unable to guarantee these payments from their own resources German and international support is necessary."
Germany has taken on a leading role in building up the Afghan security forces. A well-trained police force is one of the key pillars of the Afghan security sector. Just last week the Federal Government made an offer to the European Union to double the German contingent for the EU police mission EUPOL Afghanistan from 60 to 120 police officers and experts.
The international Law and Order Trust Fund Afghanistan (LOTFA) was created in 2002. Between 2006-2008 its funds amounted to just under 300 million euro. The fund is administered by the United Nations (UNDP). Payments are distributed by the Afghan government. The funds come from international donors. Donations from European countries and the EU Commission totalling roughly 130 million euro make up the largest portion of the fund. Other important donors include the US, Canada and Japan among others.
In its new Afghanistan policy paper, the Federal Government underscores its objective of doing yet more to support civilian reconstruction. In 2008 alone, support for civilian reconstruction has been increased over 70% to 170.7 million euro. Germany has so far contributed over 1.1 billion euro (roughly 1.5 billion US dollars) for civilian reconstruction over the period up to 2010.