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USAID/OTI Afghanistan Field Report January 2004
Program Description
USAID/OTI's program goal is to increase citizen awareness and confidence in the process of recovery, rehabilitation and democratic political development in post-conflict Afghanistan. Towards accomplishing this goal, OTI’s three objectives are to:
- Increase communication and interaction between citizens and government;
- Increase citizen awareness of the peace process, government policies and plans, and positive
political developments; and
- Increase citizen participation in democratic processes.
Working with central and provincial governments, national and international NGOs, informal community groups, and media outlets, OTI identifies and supports critical initiatives that facilitate implementation of the Bonn Agreement. OTI’s rapid support for activities in Afghanistan’s transition period also helps to establish credibility and space for longer-term development assistance. The Agreement was designed to the move the country further along the continuum from war to peace. Projects are funded in 31 provinces of the country; a total of 473 have been implemented to date. Projects are designed to contribute to the achievement of OTI’s objectives by:
- Reestablishing relationships and routines that give communities cohesiveness;
- Strengthening economic recovery by improving essential commercial and public infrastructure;
- Contributing to sustainable stability and recovery by helping the Afghan government to function outside Kabul and respond to community priorities;
- Improving communications infrastructure;
- Strengthening independent media; and
- Creating and/or strengthening linkages among the national, provincial, and district governments
OTI’s main implementing partners are the International Organization for Migration—Afghanistan Transition Initiative (IOM-ATI) and Internews. USAID/OTI's budget for FY2002 was approximately $27 million. In FY2003 the budget was approximately $19 million, and in FY2004 the budget is estimated to be $25 million. Funding for the program includes TI (Transition Initiative Funds), IDA (International Disaster Assistance Funds), DA (Development Assistance Funds), and ESF (State Department Economic Support Funds). USAID/OTI expects to phase out its program following elections in June 2004.
Country Situation
Escalation in Violence: Western media have reported a recent escalation in violence in Kabul, with western troops with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as a main target. British and Canadian soldiers have been killed along with Afghan civilians. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attacks. Another seven American soldiers were killed when an arms cache exploded. In another incident, ten Afghans were reportedly killed as a result of a recent ISAF air strike that was targeting Taliban leaders 250 miles southwest of Kabul. According to the Associated Press, American military leaders and Afghan officials are working to improve security ahead of planned summer elections, an important milestone in the two-year effort to stabilize the country. More than 80 people have been killed in violence since the ratification of Afghanistan’s new constitution January 4, 2004.
Tripartite Commission Renews Commitment to Security Plan: A tripartite commission comprised of military and diplomatic representatives from the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan successfully concluded the sixth in a series of meetings held to discuss security measures along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Commission renewed its commitment to battling terrorism, strengthening cooperation and sharing intelligence, and improving ties between defense and military establishments.
Film about Life under the Taliban Wins Awards: “Osama” is the name the film’s main female character takes when she is forced to pretend she is a boy in order to provide an income for her fatherless household. The film takes place when the Taliban still ruled Afghanistan, and women and girls were not allowed to work or leave their homes without a male relative. The film has attracted international attention and won several awards, including the Golden Globe for best foreign picture.
USAID/OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
Much of the month of January was devoted to working with local and international media organizations to prepare new plans for a second year of funding. OTI support will expand the number and reach of private, independent media outlets, strengthen existing capacity and develop new capacity to produce and distrib-ute quality programming, with an emphasis on programming that promotes participation in upcoming na-tional elections scheduled for June 2004. The OTI grants database, the primary tool for tracking grants and expenditures, was updated during the month to reflect all projects approved and completed since March 2002. OTI staff from the Afghanistan program participated in a conference on programming in conflict settings in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The conference was organized by USAID’s Asia and Near Bureau. OTI staff shared experiences and lessons learned from the Afghanistan program at the conference. Prior to participating in the conference OTI staff conducted a lessons learned exercise with the Joint Task Force 180 on Civilian-Military affairs to share ideas on how to strengthen collaboration between USAID and the Department of Defense.
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| Female university students, school teachers, and government workers participate in a political awareness workshop in Kapisa province. The women are writing down priorities for discussion. This was one of 20 political awareness workshops held in district capitals targeting educated women, discussing the constitution, voter registration, and elections. A further 120 discussion circles are being held in rural villages for illiterate women in Kapisa and Wardak provinces. Photo by IOM-ATI Staff. |
Overview: IOM Afghanistan Transition Initiative (IOM-ATI) Activities
One grant valued at $54,000 was approved in January, which supported media coverage of the Constitutional Loya Jirga by print journalists from around the country. This brings the total number of IOM cleared grants to 366. One grant was closed during the month, bringing the total number of completed projects to 109, for a completion rate of 30 percent. The month of January, a slow season for construction activities, focused on monitoring on-going projects, development of new projects ideas, particularly media projects, and streamlining project development approaches to increase interaction between government and communities to address common priorities. The south and east of the country (where IOM-ATI’s Gardez and Kandahar offices are located) continue to be volatile and high-risk, which impacts IOM-ATI’s capacity to implement projects. IOM-ATI continues to support the development of national NGO’s and private national consultants to be involved in monitoring, evaluation, and community outreach with training based on operating methodologies for work in insecure environments.
IOM-ATI Support for Gender Mainstreaming and Promotion of Women's Participation in Political Processes: To date, 1,337 women and girls in two provinces in central Afghanistan have participated in 10 workshops and 53 discussion groups to learn about and discuss the recently approved constitution, up-coming elections, and women’s rights. They also learned how they can participate in political and social processes. A local nongovernmental organization is using materials developed by the United Nation’s electoral unit and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) to promote women’s participation in political processes. The messages are simple and clearly explain the voter registration process. Registration of women is a key concern in Afghanistan where women rarely leave the vicinity of their homes. Since September 2003, six female candidates from two provinces have received legal and practical advice from a female judge working with the local nongovernmental organization. Five out of the six candidates participated in the Constitutional Loya Jirga. Officials of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs observed the workshops and praised the efforts that resulted in a large number of women talking freely about their problems and about the importance of female participation in political processes. Radio Killid, an OTI-supported private radio station, broadcast several interviews with participants and Ministry representatives speaking on the participation of women in the political process and the development of Afghanistan.
Overview: Internews Media Development Activities
(1) Establishing Private, Independent Media: Radio Suli Paygham in the south-east of Afghanistan, where security continues to be a serious concern, went on air January 23. The station broadcasts to 140,000 listeners. The owner and manager of the station is a veteran journalist who previously worked as the manger of Khost State Radio and was the Chief Editor of Mazal Publication. Naw Bahar Radio Station in north-central Afghanistan began signal testing in January with nine hours of programming. The station will be officially launched in February.
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| A Radio Killid DJ works in Kabul. Photo by Internews staff.
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The station will reach 150,000 listeners who previously didn’t have access to a local broadcaster. Qara-Bagh Radio Station in Kabul Province began signal testing in January, mostly with music and programs distributed via the Tanin Network, a distribution network supported by OTI. The station will be officially launched in February. This station was set up in collaboration with the Qara-Bagh people’s council, a community group which holds the media license.
2) Developing Journalistic Capacity: In the last week of December, OTI supported a competition to find journalistic talent for national radio programming. At examinations held in five urban centers (Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Mazar and Herat), 314 people took a multiple choice quiz designed to test their knowledge of Afghan and world current affairs, Afghan and Western popular culture, computers, and media. Fifty participants were selected, weighted in favor of women and people from the provinces, to start a three-week basic computer and journalism training at a new facility in Kabul. The first group of 25 has completed the training and 12 out of the 25 have been selected to work as interns, with a view to hiring the best as full-time journalists. The second group is continuing its three-week basic training course.
B. Grant Activity Summary – USAID/OTI Afghanistan
USAID/OTI in Afghanistan through January 2004
| Civil Society Organization Support |
12 |
$960,356 |
| Community Impact Activities |
293 |
$12,214,495 |
| Conflict Management |
5 |
$157,813 |
| Election Processes |
5 |
$3,222,839 |
| Justice/Human Rights |
8 |
$889,300 |
| Media |
55 |
$5,631,699 |
| Transparency/Good Governance |
109 |
$6,665,188 |
| Mine Action |
1 |
$9,811 |
| TOTAL |
487 |
$29,741,690 |
C. Indicators of Success
Media Coverage of the Constitutional Loya Jirga: For the duration of the Loya Jirga (national assem-bly) Internews hosted a training program together with IMPACS, a Canadian NGO, and the OTI-funded Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). IWPR brought over 50 journalists, mostly from the provinces, and six international trainers into Kabul to report daily on proceedings. The Internews news pro-gram, Ba Khabar went from a weekly to a daily cycle during the same period. Radio journalists supported by OTI also coordinated with IWPR to produce a daily wire on the national assembly. Following comple-tion of the national assembly, Internews produced a recording of the text of the new constitution in Dari and Pashto languages and sent it to every radio station in the country via the Tanin distribution network.
Ministry of Women’s Affairs Assumes Ownership of Provincial Women’s Centers: The national process of creating and approving the Afghan National Development Budget continued in January with budget hearings held to allocate funds for various ministries. The Provincial Women’s Center program, currently funded through IOM-ATI, is included in the Afghan National Development Budget. During the meeting held to determine the budget for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the Deputy Minster highlighted the importance of the construction of the Provincial Women’s Centers as a means to reach out to women around the country with policies and programs. She reported that staff and maintenance costs for these Centers are included in the Ministry’s operating budget. Funds will be used to sustain operations of 14 Provincial Women’s Centers being constructed with IOM-ATI support. A ceremony to lay the founda-tion for a Center in Farah Province is scheduled to be held in February, while construction of a center in far-western Afghanistan is scheduled to begin.
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
During the month of February 2004, USAID/OTI will:
- Host the visit of OTI Director David Taylor, who will visit Afghanistan to review program progress, meet with USG, Government of Afghanistan and implementing partner representatives.
- Inaugurate three new private, independent radio stations.
- Conduct a workshop for IOM-ATI staff from all field offices to review accomplishments, best practices and lessons learned and to plan for implementation of the next phase of projects.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington: Elizabeth Callender, USAID/OTI/ANE Program Manager, Tel: 202-712-4078, ecallender@usaid.gov
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