Government of Sri Lanka Presidential Scholarship Programme for International Students 2017/2018

Application Deadline: 16th April 2018.

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): Sri Lanka

About the Award: Government of Sri Lanka Presidential Scholarships programme for Foreign Students implemented by the Ministry of Higher Education and Highways has been in operation for seven years. That provides scholarships annually to foreign students from identified countries.
It is hoped that this would bring about stronger educational and cultural ties with friendly nations. This scholarship scheme offers international students a chance to enroll themselves in undergraduate programs conducted by some state universities in Sri Lanka. We are sure that the scholarship winners will be exposed to an environment with academic excellence, culture of hospitality in Asian setting and enticing climatic conditions.
Since this is a government to government scholarship program, candidates shall apply for this scholarship with the recommendation of the government nominating agency (i.e. Ministry or the government Institution of his/her country).

Fields of Study: Scholarships are open for courses of study other than Medical, Dental Sciences & Engineering.

Type: Undergraduate

Eligibility: 

• Be a citizen of a country covered by this scholarship. A citizen of another country having Sri Lankan dual citizenship is not eligible to apply.
• Candidates with results at a foreign examination held outside Sri Lanka, deemed equivalent to G.C.E. (Advanced Level) Examination of Sri Lanka are eligible to apply for admission to Universities in Sri Lanka.
  • a) Applicants are advised to attach to their applications the original letter obtained from the Examinations Board concerned, to prove that their educational qualifications are equivalent to the G.C.E.(A/L) Examination of Sri Lanka or their educational qualifications are considered for admission to a university in
    their own country to follow an undergraduate course of study leading to a Bachelor’s Degree.
  • b) Applicants should ensure that all required passes should be obtained in one and the same sitting under a recognized Board of Examinations subject to the rules set out by the Education Authority of the country concerned.
  • c) Applicants should attach to their applications the certified copies of the educational certificate and the statement of results of their qualifying examination. The copy of the educational certificate and the statement of results should be certified by the relevant Examinations Board which conducted the examination concerned.
• Age : Be less than 25 years on 16.04.2018

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award:

• Free of charge tuition and registration.
• Free Visa for studies
• One-off settlement allowance of LKR 10,000/-.
• A monthly living allowance of LKR 30, 000/- during the study period.
  a. It is expected that the scholarship recipient will meet the expenditure for food and accommodation with the monthly allowance of LKR 30,000/- The relevant university/higher educational institute will assist in finding suitable
  accommodation.
• Reimbursement of cost of air fare (economy class) to come to Sri Lanka and return his/her country after successful completion of studies [Payment is made for original bills only].
• Free of charge medical facilities at government hospitals other than dental related diseases.

Duration of Program: 4 years

How to Apply:  Application

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Sri Lanka Government

United Nations Volunteers and UNICEF Youth Advocates Programme 2018 for Young People

Application Deadline: 30th April 2018

Eligible Countries: International

About the Award: In the pursuit of fulfilling its mandate to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, UNICEF recognizes that youth over 18 years old have proven to be key advocates and change makers. UNICEF has historically engaged modest numbers of youth volunteers in their advocacy and programmatic work. The organization is now looking to strengthen this by engaging youth in a systematic and formalized programme to deliver results for children.
Through a one-year UN Youth Volunteer placement in a UNICEF regional or country office, young people have the opportunity to work on youth participation and youth engagement projects that make a difference for every child.

Type: Training

Eligibility:

• Must be aged between 18 and 24
• Must have competed secondary education
• Must have demonstrated commitment to peace and development through academic, extra-curricular and volunteer activities
• Must have working knowledge of English
• Youth with disabilities and youth from minority groups are highly encouraged to apply

Youth, youth with disabilities and from minority groups are highly encouraged to apply by the deadline of end April 2018.

Number of Awards: A total of 38 national and 12 international assignments are available for 2018-2019 in 33 different countries across the UNICEF network.

Value of Award: The volunteer assignment promises to be a transformational experience for the Youth Advocates as they undergo a customized learning plan starting with an induction workshop, followed by e-learning courses, coaching sessions, mentoring and, finally, a career transition workshop at the end of the assignment.

Duration of Program: 1 year

How to Apply: To apply, kindly refer to the international and national UN Volunteer assignments that are part of the 2018-2019 Youth Advocates Programme.

Apply now!

• International Assignments                              
• National Assignments

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: United NaTions Volunteers Program, UNICEF

U.S Diplomatic Mission Nigeria NaijaGems Photography Contest 2018

Application Deadline: 4th May 2018

Eligible Countries: Nigeria

To Be Taken At (Country): Nigeria

About the Award: The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, W. Stuart Symington, initiated this project to raise national pride and awareness of Nigeria’s beauty.
There is much to be admired and celebrated in Nigeria. The US Mission is giving Nigerians an opportunity to tell their positive stories in pictures.
The results will be announced on the Embassy website and on social media and the winners will be invited to the embassy to receive their prizes.

Type: Contest

Eligibility: 

1. Contestants must be an adult, 21 years and older on the date of entry into the contest. Contestants must be residents of Nigeria and may not be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
2. The individual submitting the entry will be considered the contestant and will be the only individual eligible to compete for the prize. Organizations are not eligible to compete for the prize, either as an entity, or through representation by an individual. In order to be eligible for the prize, the contestant must provide complete and accurate information.
3. The following individuals are not eligible to participate in the contest: Employees, interns, directors, and officers of the Contest Sponsors, Flickr/Yahoo, Facebook, Instagram, or the U.S. Government; or any employees, interns, directors, or officers of any agencies, companies or entities involved in the administration, advertising, judging, creation, development, execution, and/or fulfillment of this contest, and the immediate family members (defined as spouse, recognized partner, parent, child, sibling, and spouse or “step” of each) and those living in the same household of each such individual.
4. Once a submission has been accepted for entry into the contest, the contestant’s name (or User ID, if the contestant wishes to remain anonymous) and country may be publicly identified at the sole discretion of the contestant.

Selection Criteria: The US Mission is looking for originality and creativity, compelling photography skills, and a Wow effect – within a picture displaying natural beauty of a meaningful location or object in Nigeria.

Number of Awards: 3

Value of Award: 

• The contest winner will take home a Canon EOS 5D mark iv.
• The second and third place winners will also receive high-quality Canon cameras and top photos from the 36 states and the FCT will win consolation prizes.
• The best photos will be featured in a NaijaGems photo exhibition in Abuja.

How to Apply: 

• Contestants will be asked to produce high-resolution original photographs of spectacular beauty that are peculiar to a region or state; the locations should be a symbol of pride to the people and culture of that state.
• Two identical photos are to be taken; one should include a human subject who verifies the originality of the work and he/she should be tagged in the submission.
• An entry is made by uploading the photos to Flickr with a clear description (250 words max) of the location and why the object or scene is important to that community, state, or the nation as a whole.
• Upload photos to Instagram and tag the U.S. Mission Nigeria (@usinnigeria), tag the human subject in the photo and adopt the contest hashtag, #NaijaGEMs.
• Photo metadata must be visible on Flickr to qualify. Manipulated photos will be disqualified.
• Contestants are to complete an entry/sign up form [http://bit.ly/naijagemsform] after uploading the photos with the following information:
  1. Contestant details
  2. Flickr photo URLs
  3. Instagram ID
  4. Confirm the originality of the photo
  5. Sign a release – allowing the Embassy to post and share the photos

Once a photograph is submitted, it is considered a final submission and may not be modified, edited, or replaced. Individual contestants may submit no more than one photo set.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers:  U.S. Mission Nigeria

DEMO Africa 2018 for Innovative Tech Startups in Africa – Morocco

Application Deadline: 15th June 2018

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: African countries 

To be taken at (country): Morocco

About the Award: DEMO is making its exceptional promotional and networking platform available to innovators at Africa’s finest colleges and universities. Full scholarships will be provided to 30 deserving individuals or groups who have meaningful new technologies ready for debut to the worldwide DEMO audience. DEMO Africa is one of the flagship initiatives of LIONS@frica and aims to connect African startups to the global ecosystem. This where the most innovative companies from African countries get a platform to launch their products and announce to Africa and the world what they have developed.
DEMO Africa finalists will spend 4 days for the overall event. The first 2 days for the Lions@frica bootcamp and the final 2 days for the main event. As a lead up to the main event, finalists will be engaged in a virtual bootcamp for six weeks with a variety of deliverables, mentoring, coaching and feedback.

Eligibility: 
– Fully registered company.
– Talented team with a working and demonstrable product.
– Viable and scalable business model
– Ability to deliver product to market.

Number of Awardees: 30

Duration of Program: October 18 – 19, 2018

Value of Award: The top five startups from DEMO Africa will be sponsored to Silicon Valley for an all expense paid trip to be part of the Lions@frica Innovation Tour where they will receive further exposure to a global innovation ecosystem, and get a chance to interact with leading Silicon valley stakeholders.

How to Apply: Apply here

Visit Program Webpage for details

Award Provider: Demo Africa

Holland Government Scholarships for International Students 2018/2019 – Bachelors & Masters

Application Deadlines:

• 1st February 2018
• 1st May 2018.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: international students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA)

To be taken at (country): Netherlands research universities and universities of applied sciences

Fields of Study: courses offered at the Universities

About Scholarship: The Holland Scholarship is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science as well as several Dutch research universities and universities of applied sciences. This scholarship is meant for international students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) who want to do their bachelor’s or master’s in the Netherlands.

Type: full-time Bachelors, Masters.

Eligibility Criteria - 

• Your nationality is non-EEA.
• You are applying for a full-time bachelor’s or master’s programme at one of the participating Dutch higher education institutions.
• You meet the specific requirements of the institution of your choice.
• You do not have a degree from an education facility in the Netherlands.

Number of Scholarships: not specified

Value of Scholarship: The scholarship amounts to €5,000.

Duration of Scholarship: You will receive this in the first year of your studies.

How to Apply: The deadline for application is either 1 February 2018 or 1 May 2018. Please check your specific deadline on the website of the institution you want to apply to.

Further information about the application procedure, the participating institutions and the specific deadlines is available on the website of the institution of your choice.

Check further instructions below.

1. Choose a course and/or institution with the Studyfinder tool.
2. Check whether the Dutch higher education institution is participating.
   a. Participating research universities
   b. Participating universities of applied sciences
3. Check the selected fields of studies on the website of the Dutch higher education institution.
4. Check whether you meet the application criteria above.
5. You can start applying from 10th Jan 2018 onwards.
6. You need to apply for the Holland Scholarship directly at the institution of your choice and meet their selection criteria.
7. If you have any questions about the procedure, please contact the institution you are applying to directly.
8. After the application deadline, the institution you applied to will contact you to let you know if you have been awarded a scholarship.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Scholarship Provider: Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science as well as several Dutch research universities and universities of applied sciences.

Important Notes: You can find the specific closing dates and the fields of study for this academic year on the website of the institution you want to apply to.

TRT World Fellowship 2018 for Emerging Journalists and Students (Fully-funded Training in Turkey)

Application Deadline: 6th May 2018

To Be Taken At (Country): Istanbul, Turkey

About the Award: As TRT World, we invite you to take part in our journey in the international news landscape and meet our international team. The Fellowship will engage 15 talents, junior journalists and recent graduates, who are interested in the opportunity of producing balanced news with a humanitarian focus. You will join a diverse group of individuals from around the world including journalists, editors, broadcasters, researchers and freelancers.
The direct focus of this Fellowship Program is to reach people who want to get familiar with the perspective of TRT World, keep up with the changes in the media industry and improve their understanding of Turkish culture.

Type: Fellowship, Training

Eligibility:

• Interested in international journalism
• Proficient English language speaker (Level C1 & C2)
• A recent graduate from university

Selection Criteria:

• Commitment to engagement in the related fields
• Critical, creative and strategic thinking
• Submission of an essay based on a topic provided from the Fellowship Program
• Fellows show interest in the Turkish culture and history

Number of Awards: 15

Value of Award: Round air flight tickets and accommodation will be provided.

• Journalism Training: During the fellowship programme, you will work full time in TRT World while taking your experience to the next level through a demanding schedule of training which provides a 360-degree view of the modern media industry with professionals from a variety of backgrounds including journalists, editors, PR professionals, producers,reporters and videographers.
• Master Classes You will be engaged in weekly seminars, workshops and master classes emphasizing on journalism skills, cinematography, editing skills, documentary making, humanitarian programmes, Turkish culture and politics.
• Site Visits: The participants of the fellowship programme will also be provided site visits of institutions and news agencies. By joining trips to key Turkish cultural, political, media organisations and think-tanks, you’ll be able to understand cultural and historical background of Turkey.

Duration of Program: 2 months (25th June – 17th August 2018)

How to Apply: Application for admission to the TRT World Fellowship Program is completely online.
Please send your CV and answer the questions below in one PDF Document:

• Do you have any experience in the media sector (Internship, work Experience etc.)?
• Name fellowship or internship programs you have been involved with so far (if any)
• Write a cover letter (min. 300 Words) about your motivation to join the TRT World Fellowship Program

APPLY NOW

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Türkiye Radyo Televizyon (Turkish Radio and Television).

Helen Lansdowne Resor (HLR) Scholarship for Creative Female Advertising Students 2018

Application Deadline: 14th May 2018

Offered Annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: All

To be taken at (country): Applicant’s country

Type:  Undergraduate

Eligibility: To be eligible,an applicant must:

• Be female
• Be registered as a student at a participating undergraduate and/or portfolio school and be no less than 12 months from completion of their degree at May 14, 2018
• Show creative talent and promise
• Maintain satisfactory academic and creative progress as determined by their school

Number of Scholarships: 5

Value of Scholarship: 

• Each year, the HLR Scholarship seeks to award five female creative students scholarships up to $10,000.
• In addition, each recipient will receive a paid summer internship at a J. Walter Thompson office in her respective region, an offer of a J. Walter Thompson mentor and “first look” placement consideration upon graduation.

How to Apply: 

• Application form
• Personal statement (500 words or less)
• Letter of recommendation from a faculty member
• 3-5 maximum creative samples (less than 7 MB) showcasing your best work
• Ensure that all required creative samples are uploaded or made accessible via a link (Google Drive, Dropbox, portfolio website, etc.) and include this link in your submission

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award  Provider: Helen Lansdowne Resor (HLR) Foundation

Important Notes:

• Scholarships are paid directly to the university/portfolio school you are attending
• Tuition payments will be made until the scholarship balance reaches zero or when the recipient graduates
• Reimbursement payments by J. Walter Thompson will not be made for tuition already paid by the student prior to being awarded the HLR Scholarship

Graduate School of the Berlin University of the Arts Fellowship for International Students 2018/2019

Application Deadline: 2nd May 2018 (24:00 CET)

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): Germany

About the Award: The fellowship programme is aimed at graduates in all artistic and scientific disciplines who understand exchange with other disciplines as being an essential part of their work. The fellowship gives recipients the possibility to work intensively for two years on researching and producing or realising their own project.
In addition, the Graduate School offers an opportunity for teaching and project integration within the framework of interdisciplinary collaborations between arts and sciences at the Berlin University of the Arts, as well as for individual supervision by professors from the areas of Fine Arts, Performing Arts, Music, and Architecture, Media and Design.
The Graduate School sees itself as an academic forum for exchange, which supports fellows on a professional level in developing their work further, both in practice and in conceptual and discursive terms.
We are therefore especially looking for candidates who are interested in participating in a common thought, exchange, and work process within the group and with other actors at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Type: Fellowship (academic)

Eligibility: 

• The Berlin University of the Arts is committed to increasing its share of young female artists and scholars and therefore expressly encourages women to apply.
• Applications are accepted in both German and English.
•  Interested persons are asked to submit an artistic or design project or research project that can be completed within two years.

Number of Awards: At least 4.

Value of Award: The monthly stipend is €1,365 plus a grant for the cost of materials and a child allowance, when relevant.

Duration of Program: Support is provided for two years. Prospective starting date: 1 April 2019.

How to Apply: The application process takes place in three stages.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Berlin Centre for Advanced Studies in Arts and Sciences (BAS)

Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Post-Primary and Undergraduate Scholarships 2018/2019

Application Deadline: 30th April, 2018.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Nigeria

To be taken at (country): Universities in Nigeria

About the Award: The Nigeria LNG Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme started in 1998 as part of Nigeria LNG Limited’s Corporate Social Responsibility to Nigerian Citizens to enhance human capacity development.
The Management of Nigeria LNG Limited wishes to invite interested First Year undergraduates in Nigerian Universities to apply for the 2018/2019 NLNG Scholarship Award. The purpose of Nigeria LNG Scholarship Award Scheme is to promote academic excellence amongst students in institutions in Rivers State and the rest of the country.


Offered Since: 1998
The post-Primary scheme kicked off in 2012

Type: Post-primary, Undergraduate

Selection Criteria: 

• Post-Primary: Prospective pupils are admitted onto the scheme based on excellent performance at the annual National Examinations Council’s (NECO) Common Entrance Examinations.
• Undergraduate: Beneficiaries are selected through a rigorous and transparent selection process organized in collaboration with the Aptitude Test Department of WAEC.

Eligibility

• Undergraduate: Applicants must be first year undergraduate students in a recognized Nigerian university
• Post-Primary: Applicants must be high performing basic six pupils in company’s host communities and the oil-producing states

Number of Scholarship: Several

Value of Scholarship

• Scholarship recipient will receive the payment of a yearly Scholarship allowance as beneficiaries in Institutions in Nigeria.
• The award has undergone several value reviews from N30, 000.00 at inception to N50, 000.00 and then to value of N 100,000.00.

Duration of Study: For the duration of the program

How to Apply

• To apply for the Undergraduate scholarship go here and complete the application form.
• To apply for the Post-Primary scholarship go here and complete the application form.

Only qualified applicants shall be short-listed for the selection tests.
The following candidates need not apply

• Beneficiaries of other scholarship schemes.
• Second (2) to Final year students.
• Part-time students.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for Details

Sponsors: Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited

Important Notes: From inception, about 2,500 beneficiaries have benefited from the scheme. A total of about 500 million naira has been spent so far on the scheme. At present, this scheme is been reviewed and its scope expanded to cater for three levels: post primary, undergraduate and post graduate studies oversea.

Interswitch SPAK 1.0 Scholarship Program for Nigerian Senior Secondary School Students (N7.5Million Scholarship) 2018

Application Deadline: 15th April 2018

Eligible Countries: Nigeria

To Be Taken At (Country): Nigeria

About the Award: InterswitchSPAK is an annual search across high schools (public and private) in Nigeria for only SS 2 (year 11) students between the ages of 14-17 years.It is introduced to chart the ideal career path and drive the student towards full optimization of their potentials and fulfilment of their dreams (either as an inventor or entrepreneur) with a key message of revving up the interest of students; parents, teachers and other key stakeholders towards STEM education and its application in Africa.

Type: Secondary School Scholarship

Eligibility: 

1. This competition is open to students in SSS2 (year 11) between 14 – 17 years; attending full time Secondary Education in both Public and Private Schools in Nigeria.
2. Participation in this competition is FREE.
3. Each School is required to present their BEST six (6) students in Science (SS2 students), irrespective of religion, tribe or state of origin, to enhance their chances of qualifying for the second round of the competition.
4. Mixed-schools are required to have at least two female students-amongst the six(6)  that would represent them.
5. There are many examination centers across Nigeria.

Number of Awards:  3

Value of Award: All students who make it to the TV quiz competition stage would get plaques, certificate of participation and educational grants amongst other things:

InterswitchSPAK winners will win the following (suggested) prizes aside from cash:

1st Prize

• Five (5) years University Scholarship + annual stipend worth ₦7,500,000
•  Laptop

2nd Prize

• Three (3) years University Scholarship worth ₦4,000,000
•  Laptop

3rd Prize

One (1) year University Scholarship worth ₦1,000,000

Duration of Program: The SPAK National exam will hold on Saturday April 21st, 2018 across Nigeria, please check the list of centers here.

How to Apply: There are two main levels of the competition.

FIRST ROUND: WRITTEN QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

• In this stage, all the online registered students’ (i.e. the best SIX (6) from each registered school) will write a National qualifying examination conducted by NECO at designated centers across Nigeria including FCT, Abuja.
• Each school is to prepare their representatives for the qualifying exams in four subjects- Mathematics, Physics; Chemistry & Biology based on the current year 11 WAEC/NECO syllabuses.
• The National Qualifying Exams.
• 100 Objective questions in 75 minutes; 25 each from the 4 Subjects.

SECOND ROUND: TV QUIZ COMPETITION

• The best 81 students (with the highest scores) out of those who wrote the qualifying examination will be invited to participate at this stage of the competition. This will be recorded and transmitted on Television across Nigeria and Africa.
• The overall best three students per State will be recognised.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Interswitch

Important Notes: 

1. Students are advised to check their results via the online platform that will be made available to them from May 21st 2018.
2. We strongly recommend that students sit for the examination at centres nearest to them·
3. Only qualified students will be contacted for the second stage (TV quiz) of the competition.
4. The InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition is to discover Nigeria’s best science student.

Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Postgraduate Scholarship for Nigerian Students 2018/2019

Application Deadline: 1st May, 2018.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Nigeria

To be taken at (country): Scholarships are available in the following 5 UK Universities: University of Aberdeen, University of Cranfield, University of Leeds, University of Strathclyde, and University of Liverpool.

Eligible Field of Study: Courses covered by this scheme include

1. Environmental Studies
2. Engineering
3. Management Sciences
4. Economics
5. Information Technology
6. Geosciences,
7. Law
8. Medicine.

About the Award: This scheme was launched in October 2012 and is being managed by the British Council. The first 10 beneficiaries and second 13 beneficiaries left to the United Kingdom for their studies in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

The scholarship is valued at between $60,000 and $69,000, depending on the course, and is tenable for programmes in top academic institutions in the UK. Courses covered by this scheme include Environmental Studies, Engineering, Management, Accountancy, Economics, Information Technology, Geology, Banking, Law and Medicine.

The first and second sets of beneficiaries have completed their studies and returned to Nigeria. The 2015 set of 15 beneficiaries has commenced their programmes in various UK universities.

Type: Masters

Eligibility Criteria: Prospective beneficiaries must –

• Have a provisional admission from select UK institutions to study any of the following disciplines: Engineering, Geosciences, Environmental Sciences, Management Sciences, Information Technology, Law, Medicine
• Possess a minimum of 2nd Class Upper degree in a relevant field of study
• Have completed the NYSC programme
• Not less than a 8.0 IELTS
• Be no more than 30 years of age
• Be Nigerian nationals resident in Nigeria
• Provide identification documents from their LGAs
• Possess an international passport valid for travel at least one year from September 2018
• Be able to obtain a tier-4 visa upon being successful
• Provide evidence that they are available to travel in September 2018  if selected
• Not be a direct relative of staff of Nigeria LNG Limited

Number of Scholarships: Several

Value of Scholarship: The scholarship is valued at between $60,000 and $69,000, depending on the course.

Duration of Scholarship: Tenable for programmes in top academic institutions in the UK

How to Apply: It is important to go through the Application Requirements and note all necessary documents before applying.

Apply Here
If you are having issues with the online registration form

1. Username must be all CAPS
   2. Password must contain, CAPITAL LETTER, small letter, num3ric, and any of these(-.,/*).

Visit Scholarship Webpage for Details

Scholarship Provider: Nigeria LNG Limited

Important Notes: All requested documents must be attached. Only shortlisted applicants shall be invited for the selection interview. Applicants are therefore advised to be on the lookout for the short list on the NLNG website.

Afghan Security Forces and the Survival of the Afghan State

Rohullah Naderi

One thing is certain. Coalition forces led by the U.S. won’t stay in Afghanistan “forever.” The question is with their withdrawal from Afghanistan, can Afghan Security Forces (ASF) hold the Afghan State together and protect its borders? I am sure this question is haunting Afghan leadership, the Afghan people and the youth of the country who have lived in a “relatively” stable Afghanistan in the post-Taliban era. This question is even more important for the foreign backers of the Afghan government and ASF. After many years of support and training by coalition forces, it is time to look at the preparedness, moral integrity, professionalism and morale of the ASF and evaluate if they are up for the job of protecting the Afghan State and its people.

According to the Pentagon, the war in Afghanistan costs American taxpayers $45 billion per year. This cost has come down from its peak of $100 billion in 2010. From 2010 to 2012, there were approximately 100,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan. More money was needed to financially sustain the troop level. Out of $45 billion that is now spent on the war in Afghanistan, $5 billion of it exclusively goes to ASF. The money is mainly used for their training and salaries. The idea of training ASF to shoulder the challenges of security and fight insurgency along with coalition forces took precedence around 2008. Prior to that, the subject of developing the Afghan army was not on the agenda. According to John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), in the early years of the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001-02, the U.S. and its partners “focused solely on US military operations and did not include the development of an Afghan army, police, or supporting ministerial-level institutions.” Mr. Sopko further states that it was after 2008 that NATO forces put together a functional training and capacity-building program that could help the Afghan army become professional.

Up until the end of 2017, the U.S. has spent $70 billion building and training ASF. In spite of this heavy financial investment, ASF is a mess. Strength-wise, it is nowhere near the goal of reaching 352,000 troops. In fact, SIGAR said in its 2016 report, that “neither the U.S. nor its Afghan allies truly know how many Afghan soldiers and police are available for duty, or, by extension, the true nature of their operation capabilities.” In the same year, the Associated Press reported about the presence of “ghost soldiers” that have seriously undermined the fight against the Taliban insurgency and revealed the prevalence of corruption in the army’s rank and file. Ghost soldiers receive salaries but are physically absent from the battlegrounds. They only exist on paper. Their number apparently runs into the tens of thousands. The problem of ghost soldiers is coupled with a high desertion rate. There are multiple reasons for leaving the force. It can range from inconsistency in payment of salary, poor leadership, lack of on-time reinforcements, poor living conditions, corruption, nepotism, the absence of equipment and military gear and fear of insurgent groups. The issue of desertion is serious. It is usually tackled through recruitment drives by army’s top brass, but this strategy is unsustainable. The factors that lead to desertion should be addressed. In terms of time and resources, it is much more profitable to keep a trained soldier than start from scratch by training a new recruit.

The problems of ASF are not just limited to ghost soldiers and a high desertion rate. Illiteracy is hampering its development and professionalism. In 2009, SIGAR reported that only “13 percent” of ASF recruits were literate. Illiteracy which is a broader problem of the Afghan population, can be a hindrance for ASF as it negatively impacts their training process. Most of the military training manuals are in written forms, hence, one needs literacy to comprehend and utilize them. Lack of literacy will lead to incomplete training, slow training frustrating both trainees and trainers, overutilization of resources and ultimately desertion. To make matters worse, the language barrier that comes with foreign trainers is a further hindrance in the training process. On the operational level, illiteracy is an obvious barrier, too. SIGAR’s 2017 report laments this difficulty. A soldier should be able to read and understand maps, signs, directions and follow instructions to carry out orders for the purpose of being part of the battle force. This is the way a battle is fought and won. Illiteracy affects preparedness for the battlefield. It disturbs all levels of the Afghan defense apparatus and chain of command, creating an endless confusion and incomprehension in conflict situations. The prospect of an illiterate or semi-literate army defending Afghanistan’s borders after the withdrawal of foreign forces seems hopeless. And the use of drugs in the army is rampant too. In a country that cultivates poppy in large quantity, drug use seeps into every institution. The prospect of an army addicted to an opioid creates obvious problems in combat situations.

ASF has long been plagued by endemic corruption. This is one of the challenges that can result in an implosion from within if the issue is not dealt with effectively. Corruption in ASF takes many forms and occurs on different levels. SIGAR in its 2017 report detailed all forms of corruption, which include extortion by Afghan national police – triggering anger from the public, the stealing of salaries and theft, and the sale of supplies such as fuel and weapons. Sometimes the weapons end up in the hands of the Taliban. Undoubtedly, corruption happens in ASF, but it is also incentivized by the significant pouring of money by the West into the Afghan defense department, without setting up a “transparency mechanism” to ensure accountability. Afghanistan was a devastated country gripped into a deep poverty with a voracious hunger for wealth. But the Western donors had the responsibility and mandate to be cautious that their taxpayers’ money is spent productively and toward an end with a clear outcome. Afghans did not have reputed and functional institutions to make use of the money responsibly. They did not have the required human and institutional capacity to manage such large sums of money. Money was just thrown into a bottomless pit “hoping” to build an army. The West should know better than anyone that hope is never a “strategy.”

When it comes to professionalism and fighting spirit of ASF, the story is even starker. The major turnaround that spotlighted the lack of professionalism and morale of ASF was the fall of Kunduz province in 2015. Personally, it was a shocker to me. The first question that flashed through my mind was: where did all the investment and training go? Even though the fall of Kunduz was brief, symbolically, it was significant. The Taliban used it as a propaganda stunt to display their power, sending a message that they have the power to overrun a major city. The fall showcased the flaws in ASF’s strategy and training. The fact-finding mission headed by former intelligence chief, Amruallah Saleh, to investigate the reasons that led to the fall of Kunduz pinpointed “poor leadership, lack of coordination, misused of resources and bad communication.” Nothing drastic was done by the Americans – the financial sponsors of ASF, nor Afghan leadership to address those flaws or the other challenges faced by ASF, though half-measure steps were taken to improve the situation. In a “blame the messenger” approach to deflecting the problem, the report by Saleh itself became controversial among Afghan officials in light of its indictment of ASF.

Every time you switch on any local TV station in Afghanistan, there is endless talk of ASF training by Americans and NATO forces and how every major donor country is pledging more money and resources toward that end. But it is just media hype. The ground realities are quite different, as the fall of Kunduz amply showed.

Fundamentally, it would be unwise to expect a paradigm shift from Americans as state building is not on their agenda. The U.S. is driven in large part by short-termism via the plundering of  whatever remains of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, and a preoccupation with experimenting their latest weapons on our lands. Leaving the Afghan defense apparatus forever dependent on the U.S. better serves the interests of American foreign policy. As partners, arms manufacturers and defense contractors will get more lucrative contracts from the Pentagon, if the war machine persists. Protracted war means continued profits for weapons manufacturers and defense contractors, but more death for Afghans – sport for some American soldiers – and an interminable draining of American taxpayers’ money. It is better not to talk about Afghan leadership and its Western-educated technocrats, who boast of reforms and economic self-sufficiency. In fact, it is their poor leadership that gets Afghan soldiers killed on the frontlines, as the fall of Kunduz demonstrated. The Afghan government led by neoliberal-cum-virulent racist Ashraf Ghani – installed by former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry – is busy indulging in brutal racism and pursuing the politics of exclusion. He is hell-bent to ensure his ethnic group, the Pashtuns, get the major say on policies and get the lion’s share of government resources. Other ethnic groups are left high and dry.

The original target of the Afghan government was to reach the mark of a 352,000-strong force. But in the process, quality was compromised. It is true that Afghanistan is an illiterate country, making it hard to recruit literate soldiers. So, instead of wasting resources and time on training and educating illiterate recruits, the focus should have been paid on relatively literate ones, and on promoting literacy more broadly within Afghan society. These options could have yielded higher returns. After all, having a “small” but well-trained, well-equipped, professional and educated force is better than a large illiterate army that takes a longer time to learn how to operate advanced weaponry and understand modern warfare. In the end, both the West and Afghan leadership missed the mark. And no correction course is taken to right the wrong despite repeated reports and warnings from SIGAR and other independent sources. But the most important point is ASF’s financial dependence on the West. How long can they depend on Americans and NATO forces for money? Nothing has been done to address this vital issue. Billions of dollars flooded into the country and ASF is still far from being financially independent. The biggest question: what kind of scenario are we looking at when Americans and NATO stop footing the bill? This is the question on which the survival of the Afghan State depends.

Chemical Weapons Hypocrisy

Robert Fisk

Oh, the hypocrisy of it. The ignoble aims. The distraction. The outrageous lies and excuses.

I’m not talking about America’s tweet-from-the-hip president and his desire to escape from the cops’ raid on his lawyer’s office – there’s a Russian connection, all right.

And I’m not talking about his latest sleaze. Life with Melania might not be great at the moment. More distracting to sit with the generals and ex-generals and talk tough about Russia and Syria.

I’m not talking about Theresa May, who wants to step out of the Brexit ditch with any distractions of her own: Salisbury attacks, Douma – even Trump. So Trump telephoned Macron, when the poor lady thought she’d won his hand. What is this nonsense?

Macron has now hitched his own wagon to the Saudis against Iranian “expansionism” – and no doubt arms sales to the Kingdom have something to do with it. But how sad that the desire of young French presidents to act like Napoleon (I can think of a few others) means that they devote themselves to joining in a war, rather than pleading against it.

Now we have our spokespersons and ministers raging about the need to prevent the “normalisation” of chemical warfare, to prevent it becoming a part of ordinary warfare, a return to the terrible days of the First World War.

This does not mean any excuses for the Syrian government – though I suspect, having seen Russia’s Syrian involvement with my own eyes, that Putin might have been getting impatient about ending the war and wanted to eradicate those in the last tunnels of Douma rather than wait through more weeks of fighting. Remember the cruelty of Grozny.

But we all know the problems of proof when it comes to chemicals and gas. Like depleted uranium – which we used to use in our munitions – it doesn’t, like a shell fragment or a bomb casing, leave a tell-tale hunk of metal with an address on it. When all this started with the first gas attack in Damascus, the Russians identified it as gas munitions manufactured in the Soviet Union – but sent to Libya, not to Syria.

But it’s a different war that I’m remembering today. It’s the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988, when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran. When the Iranians re-crossed their own border and stormed into Iraq years later, Saddam used gas on thousands of Iranian soldiers – and civilians, for there were nurses and doctors at the war front.

Funny how we forget this now. We don’t talk about it. We have forgotten all about it. Talk about the “normalisation” of chemical warfare – this was it!

But in our desire to concentrate minds on Syria, we’re not mentioning the Iran gassings – Iran being another one of our present-day enemies, of course – and this may be because of our lack of official memory.

More likely it’s because of what happened: the institutionalisation of chemical warfare, the use of chemicals by Saddam who was then an ally of the West and of all the Gulf Sunni states, our frontline Sunni hero. The thousands of Iranian soldiers who were to die were referred to on Iraqi radio after they crossed the frontier. The “Persian insects” had crossed the border, it announced. And that’s how they were treated.

For the precursors for the Iraqi gas came largely from the United States – one from New Jersey –  and US military personnel later visited the battlefront without making any comments about the chemicals which were sold to the Iraqi regime, of course, for “agricultural” purposes. That’s how to deal with insects, is it not?

Yet not a soul today is mentioning this terrible war, which was fought with our total acquiescence. It’s almost an “exclusive” to mention the conflict at all, so religiously have we forgotten it. That was the real “normalisation”, and we allowed it to happen. Religious indeed, for it was the first great battle of the Sunni-Shia war of our time. But it was real.

Of the thousands of Iranians who were asphyxiated, a few survivors were even sent to British hospitals for treatment. I travelled with others on a military train through the desert to Tehran, the railway compartments packed with unsmiling young men who coughed mucus and blood into white bandages as they read miniature Korans.

They had blisters on their skin and, horrifically, more blisters on top of the first blisters. I wrote a series of articles about this obscenity for The Times, which I then worked for. The Foreign Office later told my editors that my articles were “not helpful”.

No such discretion today. No fear of being out to get Saddam then – because in those days, of course, the good guys were using the chemicals. Don’t we remember the Kurds of Halabja who were gassed by Saddam, with gas which the CIA told its officers to claim was used by the Iranians?

For this war crime, Saddam should have been tried. He was indeed a “gas-killing animal”. But he was hanged for a smaller massacre with conventional weapons – because, I have always suspected, we didn’t want him exposing his gas warfare partners in an open court.

So there we are. May holds a “war cabinet”, for heaven’s sakes, as if our losses were mounting on the Somme in 1916, or Dorniers were flying out of occupied France to blitz London in 1940.

What is this childish prime minister doing? Older, wiser Conservatives will have spotted the juvenile quality of this nonsense, and want a debate in Parliament. How could May follow an American president who the world knows is crackers, insane, chronically unstable, but whose childish messages – about missiles that are “nice and new and ‘smart’” – are even taken seriously by many of my colleagues in the US? We should perhaps be even more worried about what happens if he does turn away from the Iran nuclear deal.

This is a very bad moment in Middle East history – and, as usual, it is the Palestinians who will suffer, their own tragedy utterly forgotten amid this madness. So we are going to “war”, are we? And how do we get out of this war once we have started it? Any plans, anyone? What if there’s a gigantic screw-up, which wars do tend to usually produce? What happens then?

Well, I guess Russia comes to the rescue, just as it did for Obama when gas was used for the first time in the Syrian war.

Is India Fast Becoming A Dysfunctional Democracy?

Arshad M Khan

When hate invades the human mind, there is no limit to brutal atrocity.  On April 10, a  Guardian story showed a video in which there is cheering as an Israeli sniper shoots an unarmed Palestinian a considerable distance away.  Shown on TV in Israel, it has been the subject of some introspective debate.  Then there is news from Kashmir to make anyone, but the perpetrators and their supporters, cringe in horror.

Eight-year old Asifa Bano went in the afternoon to the nearby forest, as she usually did, to bring back the family horses from grazing.  She never returned.  Family and friends searched all-night by flashlights but could not find her.  Five days later her body was found.

“She had been tortured,”  recalls her mother.  “Her legs were broken … Her nails had turned black and there were blue and red marks on her arm and fingers.”

Was this the work of a demented sadist?  No, it turns out.  It was a planned operation intended to terrorize her community of Muslim nomads (Gujjars) to leave this predominantly Hindu area about 45 miles east of Jammu City.

According to investigators, Asifa was taken to a temple where she was held for several days.  The eight-year old was repeatedly “raped for days, tortured and then murdered,” states the charge sheet.  She was strangled to death, then hit twice on the head with a stone.

A retired government officer, Sanji Ram aged 60, calmly planned this horror, aided by police officers Anand Dutta, Tilak Raj, Sunder Verma, and someone called Khajuria.  The outrage over the incident has grown since two ministers from the ruling BJP (Mr. Modi’s party) attended a rally in support of the accused.

Terrorizing Muslims in Kashmir is not new; it has been ongoing for decades.  But terrorizing Muslims, Dalits, Christians and indigenous peoples in India itself has now also mushroomed.

Six Christian churches have been burned since 2015, and a concerted attempt to boycott Christian businesses is underway in the northeast.  The killing of Muslims and Dalits by vigilantes on minor pretexts continues as the country’s democracy turns into a ‘mobocracy’.

It is ‘Democracy a la’ Modi’, a phrase that is the title of a long essay by scholars Sumit Ganguly and Krishna Menon in The National Interest (Jan/Feb 2018) — the title was changed to ‘Making India Great Again?’ in the internet version.  Mr. Modi and his party want to turn India’s “kaleidoscope of languages, religions, castes and cultures” into a culturally Hindu state, even a religious return to Hinduism for they believe that “many Hindus were forcibly converted to, or duped into adopting Islam and Christianity.”  Forget the Islamic injunction against forced conversion or the abundant evidence of tireless Christian missionaries including Mother Teresa.

The National Volunteer Force or RSS in their white shirt, khaki shorts uniform conduct martial drills and “serves as the party’s force multiplier and base”.  It demonizes the other creating the environment for vigilante lynchings of minorities — overwhelmingly Muslim note the authors — to continue with impunity.

“Attacks on minority communities have become common, and academics, students and journalists who highlight the harassment and intimidation are subjected to public calumny, and have occasionally been killed.”

Thus noted Hinduism scholar and University of Chicago divinity professor Wendy Doniger’s book, “The Hindus:  An Alternative History,” which presented a ‘new way of understanding’ Hinduism according to the publisher was banned as vulgar following a Hindutva campaign.  Much worse can happen.  Gauri Lankesh, a prominent woman journalist and critic of Hindu nationalist policies was shot dead outside her home in Bangalore last September.  A list of Indian journalists killed is on Wikipedia.  By the way, no reason has been given by The National Interest as to why the original title of the Ganguly/Menon article has been altered on their website.  Of course the published magazine carries the original title.

It was an RSS man — they claimed he was no longer a member — who assassinated Gandhi for his defense of minorities.  Mr. Modi joined the RSS in 1971 rising to become its National General Secretary.

Such is India today.