Located in northwestern Pakistan, the FATA is situated along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The mountainous, rugged terrain of the FATA covers approximately 10,500 square miles, roughly the same size as the state of Maryland. As figure 1 shows, the FATA is comprised of seven political agencies—Bajaur, Khyber, Kurrum, Mohmand, Orakzai, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan—along with six frontier regions—Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat, Lakki Marwat, Peshawar, and Tank. The culture and socioeconomic status of most FATA inhabitants is distinct from the Pakistani majority. Pakistan’s population is estimated at about 176 million, and while current FATA data are unavailable, FATA residents comprised 2 percent of the Pakistani population in the 1998 census. The FATA is the poorest and least developed region of Pakistan, with about 60 percent of households living beneath the poverty line and an annual per capita income of roughly $250—half the national average. The overall literacy rate in FATA is 17 percent, while the national average is 44 percent. Furthermore, there are few opportunities for employment. Most families take part in pastoral or subsistence agricultural activities. Besides limiting educational and economic options, the FATA’s forbidding terrain isolates tribal communities from markets, health services, and outside influences. Militant activity and internal conflict have compounded political and economic challenges, contributing to an unstable security situation in the FATA. With porous borders, difficult terrain, and weak rule of law, the FATA is recognized as a safe haven for international terrorists and militants. Al Qaeda, militant factions of the Taliban, and related extremist groups operate throughout the FATA, parts of the North West Frontier Province, and Balochistan. Internal displacement of households has become an increasingly pressing issue as Pakistani forces mount attacks on terrorist groups and tribal militia clash with extremist militants. As of February 2010, USAID reported that according to government of Pakistan figures, there were over 400,000 displaced households within Pakistan. The FATA is a semi-autonomous region with a code of laws and administrative structure that distinguish it from other Pakistani territories and provinces. The British governed the FATA using the Frontier Crimes Regulations, which was codified in 1901. It established administrative and judicial systems that allowed tribes control over internal affairs. This arrangement continued after the formation of Pakistan, and the FATA is governed distinctly from the rest of Pakistan. The FATA is administered by the governor of the North West Frontier Province as an agent of the president, and political agents serve as intermediaries between the local people of each FATA agency and the government of Pakistan. The FATA Secretariat, which was originally formed by the government of Pakistan in 2002, helps administer Pakistani government programs and provide services to citizens of the FATA. The FATA Secretariat is divided into 11 line departments, including health, education, and agriculture, which work with the political agents to implement development and public works projects in the FATA. The FATA Development Authority, which focuses on the creation of public-private partnerships to bolster economic and social development, was created as a result of a Pakistani task force convened by the President of Pakistan after 9/11. The task force recommended a creative, community-based approach to fighting poverty in the FATA. In an effort to address the basic needs of the people in the FATA, the government of Pakistan issued the FATA Sustainable Development Plan in 2006. This 9-year, $2 billion plan states that people in the FATA, in the absence of sustainable development, were vulnerable to the influence of extremist factions inhabiting parts of the region. Implementation of the plan is being coordinated by the government of Pakistan’s FATA Secretariat with assistance from their FATA Development Authority, USAID, and other international partners. The plan lays out broad goals in 17 different sectors, including education, health, water supply and sanitation, and roads. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf publicly supported increasing development efforts in the FATA and, in 2006, met with President George W. Bush to discuss these efforts. Afterwards, the U.S. government began to plan to increase U.S. aid for development activities in the FATA in an effort to combat terrorist influences. In 2007, the U.S. government publicized a $750 million pledge in support of the FATA Sustainable Development Plan over the 5-year period from 2007 to 2011. To fulfill this pledge, the U.S. government created the FATA Development Program, which aims to “support the Government of Pakistan’s development efforts to integrate FATA into the mainstream of Pakistan.” In support of this pledge, State reports that the U.S. government has allocated $728 million in nonmilitary assistance in Pakistan’s western frontier region, including the FATA. Based on our analysis of data provided by State and USAID, the U.S. has an unliquidated obligation balance of $93 million as of the end of fiscal year 2009 and has disbursed $109 million. (See fig. 2.) USAID and State manage the U.S. program of assistance for FATA. USAID sponsors work to, among other things, improve health, education, and livelihoods in the FATA. State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) sponsors work to build roads and bridges, and develop small water resources in support of border security, law enforcement, and counternarcotics objectives. State’s Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance (F Bureau) tracks the funds toward the pledge. (See table 1 for a description of U.S. departments, agencies, bureaus, and offices involved in FATA-related assistance.) The U.S. development objectives in the FATA are generally in alignment with U.S. national security goals and the government of Pakistan’s development objectives. The U.S. development objectives in the FATA support the U.S. core goal to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its safe havens in Pakistan. U.S. development objectives are also in line with the government of Pakistan’s development objectives, as described in Pakistan’s FATA Sustainable Development Plan, which aims to address the basic needs of the people in the FATA. However the governments of the U.S. and Pakistan have not developed joint strategic implementation plans for each of the seven FATA agencies—geographic locations in the FATA— as called for in the Program Assistance Agreement with Pakistan. (See fig. 1 in the Background section for the location of the seven FATA agencies.) The core national security goal, as established by the Obama administration in March 2009, is to “disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda, its allies and its safe havens in Pakistan, and to prevent their return to Pakistan or Afghanistan.” To achieve this goal, the U.S. strategy recommended (1) increasing and broadening assistance in Pakistan— including job creation, education, and infrastructure—and (2) strengthening the government of Pakistan’s capacity, particularly in the FATA. The U.S. FATA Development Program, which is the primary mechanism for implementing the U.S. pledge, directly addresses both of these recommendations. One of the ways the program addresses the first recommendation is through vocational or on-the-job training. One of the ways the program addresses the second recommendation is through improving the core functions—such as financial management—of the government of Pakistan’s organizations. (See fig. 3.). To disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and its safe heavens in Pakistan, and to prevent their return to Pakistan or Afghanistan. Support for development in Pakistan’s FATA is critical to meeting U.S. objectives in the fight against al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations in Pakistan. Increasing nd rodening assnce in Pkin– inclding, jo cretion, edtion, nd infrastrctre. In addition to the FATA Development Program, various other State and USAID programs are aligned with the core national security goal to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan. The U.S. FATA Development Program was designed to target three development objectives for assistance in the FATA. The United States seeks to 1. improve economic and social conditions in the FATA, 2. extend the legitimacy of the government of Pakistan in the FATA, and 3. support permanent, sustainable change in the FATA. As figure 4 shows, the U.S. FATA Development Program is generally aligned with Pakistan’s FATA Sustainable Development Plan, which has five primary objectives. These are 1. address basic social needs underlying causes of prevailing disparity 2. explore and diversify available opportunities to make a positive contribution toward the economic uplift of the area, 3. monitor and evaluate multisectoral progress to support, assess and 4. improve institutional and financial capacities to allow a scaling-up of development initiatives already being undertaken, and 5. manage and maintain ecological and subsistence-support systems to increase livelihood security for ordinary people. The first U.S. objective—to improve economic and social conditions in the FATA—is aligned with the government of Pakistan’s objectives regarding social needs and economic opportunities. One way the United States is addressing this objective is through assisting in the delivery of essential services, such as primary education and basic health care. The United States also plans to focus on employment generation and skill development, which addresses the government of Pakistan’s objective to explore and diversify available economic opportunities. The second U.S. objective—to extend the legitimacy of the government of Pakistan—is aligned with Pakistan’s objectives to build capacity and assess and strengthen the development efforts.