Toward Progress in Afghanistan – Facilitating Reconstruction?
Earlier this year, the Government of Afghanistan (GOA) passed the Afghanistan Compact, through which Afghanistan seeks to renew its mutual commitments with the international community in order to encourage further support for its state-building and development efforts. The GOA will implement its obligations under the compact through the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS). These two documents, along with Afghanistan’s Millennium Development Goals, will provide a framework for policies, plus guidelines for allocation of resources and programs.
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| Printing shops in downtown Kabul. With no electricity in Kabul, generators are ubiquitous and the only source of power. Investment in the energy sector through development projects is sorely needed to jump-start the economy. [PHOTO: Gabriel Abraham] |
In support of this process, RTI International launched a U.S. Agency for International Development-funded program, Establishment, Operations and Strengthening National Program Support Office (NPSO), in January 2006. The principal objective of the newly created NPSO is to facilitate the successful management of development projects and the execution of the ANDS. RTI, along with several partners, is carrying out this three-year project to assist the GOA in finalizing and implementing the national development strategy.
RTI will work with the NPSO to finalize national development policies for the ANDS and for the Ministries of Education, Finance, and Agriculture, among others. RTI and partners then will assist with the implementation of the strategy and resulting policies by liaising with line ministries and provincial governments. To aid the NPSO in its role of coordinating and collaborating with the donor community, RTI will help create systems to monitor development assistance projects. Previously, in the absence of an official policy and coordinating unit, few projects were initiated despite the US$8.3 billion pledged by international partners. It is hoped that with these changes and the influence of this project, medium-term reconstruction projects will be executed more efficiently and in greater volume, in order to continue rebuilding one of the poorest nations in the world.
“The ANDS and the NPSO provide a holistic approach to national development with a coherent strategy across interdependent activities such as security, governance, rule of law, human rights, and economic and social development. This is a very exciting opportunity as RTI’s first in Afghanistan,” said Gabriel Abraham, Technical Manager for the project.
More information:
Gabriel Abraham, e-mail: gabrah01@rti.org
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