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Priority 2. Strengthen Afghan institutional capacity to deliver core services and promote economic growth, enhancing the confidence of Kandaharis in their government.
A strong system of governance is the foundation for a sustainable recovery in Afghanistan, and further builds confidence among citizens that their institutions can capably meet their needs. The Canadian objective for this priority is that, by the end of 2011, Kandahar’s provincial administration and core ministries of the Afghan government will be better able to provide basic services to key districts of Kandahar province.
The government of Kandahar initiated the preparation of a provincial strategic plan during this quarter, supported through Canada’s funding of the Afghan Sub-national Governance Program. This will serve to secure a more sustainable source of resources from Kabul and donors, and help the province move from stabilization to development.
Afghan girls head to school. Today, close to six
million children are attending school, one third
of them girls. This is a significant improvement
compared with only 700,000 children in school
in 2001, all of whom were boys.
Significant advances in local governance have improved service delivery at the community level. The National Solidarity Program has established the core foundation for local governance across the country through the creation of elected Community Development Councils (CDCs), which identify and prioritize development needs. In addition, the councils have formalized the participation of Afghan women in determining the needs of their communities. Over 22,700 CDCs have been elected to date; nationally, CDCs have completed over 44,600 development projects to date. For example, CDCs established in Kandahar province continued to implement small-scale community projects, including improving access to potable water, paving sidewalks and streets, and carrying out other infrastructure projects that improve the lives of local residents.
Further improvements in local governance at the district and community levels also took place in this quarter. New civil servants were recruited in the key districts of Arghandab, Dand, Panjwayi and Zhari to strengthen service delivery mechanisms in the agriculture, education, governance, health and justice sectors. Training and mentorship will be provided to these civil servants, who will contribute to improving service delivery on a sustainable basis.
Canada’s education projects in Afghanistan are designed to improve the capacity of the Afghan Ministry of Education to deliver services to the population. Canada’s contribution to the Government of Afghanistan’s Education Quality Improvement Project (EQUIP) works to strengthen the entire education sector. EQUIP notably supports the development of School Management Committees, which are local governance bodies that support education initiatives in the community. To date, more than 9,000 School Management Committees have been established across Afghanistan, giving communities a stronger voice and holding government accountable for the quality of services provided.
In this quarter under Canada’s education signature project to build, expand or repair 50 schools in Kandahar province, an additional 13 schools were completed, bringing the total to 39. Work continued on the remaining schools in Canada’s ongoing effort to improve access to education in Kandahar by supporting the development of safe learning spaces.
To date, Canada has provided microfinancing
services to 3,800 clients who live in Kandahar
province and use these loans to start new
businesses, buy equipment to expand their
businesses, or hire staff to increase productivity.
All of these options help improve the economic
circumstances of Kandaharis.
The work underway to rehabilitate the Dahla Dam and its irrigation system is central to the rejuvenation of the region’s agricultural economy. In this quarter, four water user associations were formed with traditional water management authorities (mirabs); the goal is to ensure greater coordination of the use of irrigation water across the network of secondary canals.
Favourable conditions allowed completion of significant rehabilitation work on the irrigation canal system; this included the replacement of nine hydraulic gates, the removal of 200,000 cubic metres of silt from priority canal areas, and ongoing surveys of the main and secondary canals.
Efforts to provide Kandahar’s farmers with the resources necessary to re‑establish the area as the breadbasket of Afghanistan continued to achieve results. In this quarter, Kandahar province saw its first saffron crop in decades; this was a direct outcome of the Arghandab Irrigation Rehabilitation Project’s work to distribute 11,000 saffron bulbs and provide training to 110 farmers in the previous quarter. The project is also helping to develop other valuable crops, such as honey and mint. This past quarter, Arghandab district produced the best pomegranate crop in memory, a key step along its road to economic recovery.
