Donor agencies are considering options to “harmonize” pay scales between locally hired staff and public officials in Afghanistan in an effort to stem “brain drain” away from government posts.
The discussions now underway follow on a 2013 study commissioned by the government of Afghanistan to examine the pay gap between donor-supported staff and government employees and to propose a process to narrow it. While donors maintain the discussions are still in their earliest stages, some development implementers are already worried that mandating lower salaries would threaten their ability to hire qualified personnel, introduce new risks to development contracting and create an “unfortunate precedent” other countries might follow.
But “the current labor market conditions in Afghanistan are distorted by the unusually higher wages offered by the donors to attract and retain skilled personnel to work on their projects and programs,” according to the report, titled “National Technical Assistance Remuneration Policy: Guideline for NTA Payment.”
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.