Afghanistan; UNDP; Law and Order Trust Fund (LOTFA)

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Finland provides financial support to the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA) established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2002. LOTFA has been the most important funding channel supporting and reforming the police forces in Afghanistan. The current phase VIII is ongoing until the end of 2016. LOTFA consists of two Projects. One Project, the Support to Payroll Management Project, provides exclusively for full MOIA payroll management. The second LOTFA Project is centred on developing national capacity for self-sustained reform and improvement of the MOIA as an institution, and the police services as instruments for citizen safety and maintenance of the rule of law. LOTFA continues to administer the funds for the payment of salaries of more than 150,000 Afghan National Police officers and over 6,000 uniformed personnel employed by the Central Prisons Department, and develops electronic pay roll system. Based on the results of LOTFA's previous phases, 87% of payees are paid through electronic transfer directly to their bank accounts. The remaining 13% live in areas without access to banking services and so are paid in cash through a “trusted agent” system, which is also now subject to much more rigorous oversight under the new project. LOTFA supports MOIA reforms that include focus on capacity building and accountability and development of national institutions, including support to updating laws. LOTFA supports MOIA to improve training infrastructure for police professionalization and provides support to police service delivery and outreach activities to develop public services and Police Women Councils. Support is provided also to the training and retention of female police and the creation of a safe and supportive working environment for male and female officers. Finland’s support to LOTFA is EUR 4,5 million in 2016 and between 2007 and 2015 the financing has been a total of EUR 11,35 million. The overall budget for phase VIII is US$ 883,561,564. Donors are: Australia, Canada, Denmark, the EU, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.