Small Wars Journal

SIGAR: USAID’s Largest Program for Afghan Women Is Falling Short

Fri, 09/14/2018 - 12:06am

SIGAR: USAID’s Largest Program for Afghan Women Is Falling Short by Jessica Donati – Wall Street Journal

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s biggest program for Afghan women has spent almost $90 million over three years and so far has placed just 55 women in Afghan government jobs, a watchdog report said Thursday.

The much-touted Promote program was unveiled at a $216 million price tag three years ago, intended to show U.S. support for Afghan women after the Obama administration had announced it would withdraw all troops by 2016.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, an independent watchdog agency, said in Thursday’s report that USAID is lagging in its goals for the program and risks wasting taxpayer money.

USAID didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment…

Read on.