USAID/OTI Afghanistan Field Report
April 2003
Program Description
USAID/OTI's program goal is to support the process of recovery, rehabilitation and political development in post-conflict Afghanistan. Working with a number of local and international partners, USAID/OTI's program is building citizen confidence in the progress of political development, empowering citizens to address basic community needs, and building an alliance between legitimate government structures and citizens. In addition, USAID/OTI supports efforts to strengthen independent media. USAID/OTI's budget for FY2002 was approximately $27 million. USAID/OTI's budget for FY2003 is currently estimated at $15 million.
USAID/OTI's projects also strengthen economic recovery by improving essential commercial and public infrastructure, reestablishing the relationships and routines that give communities cohesiveness, contributing to sustainable stability and recovery by establishing links between the community and governmental authorities, and building connections between the provinces and Kabul.
USAID/OTI's overall program strategy is to help the Afghan government to function outside Kabul by planning and implementing projects guided by community priorities, and by creating and/or strengthening linkages among the national, provincial, and district governments. USAID/OTI is also improving the communication infrastructure and implementing a comprehensive media strategy.
USAID/OTI's main implementing partners in Afghanistan are the International Organization for Migration - Afghanistan Transition Initiative (IOM-ATI), Ronco (a U.S. contractor), and Internews. USAID/OTI funds projects in 26 provinces of the country.
Country Situation
There has been an increase in attacks in Afghanistan in recent months, much of it blamed on remnants of the Taliban regime. Many attacks have been directed against Afghan government forces and American troops, but there have also been a series of attacks on aid workers. Continued restrictions on movement in the southern provinces caused by last month's murder of an ICRC employee and three attempts to detonate fuel tankers continued to impede the work of OTI's partners in Gardez and Kandahar. USAID/OTI's partner, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), along with the broader U.N. community, is investigating how to continue working in insecure areas, such as relying more on Afghan staff, local NGOs, contractors, and the thinly stretched field capacity of the Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan (TISA).
USAID/OTI's partner, IOM/Afghanistan Transition Initiative (IOM/ATI), continues close coordination with government partners. The Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development is working with IOM/ATI both in the provinces and in Kabul to ensure project selection reflects national priorities. The Ministry of Education is working on approval procedures for school construction and reconstruction projects. While this is a promising initiative, and although community contributions and provincial-level authorizations and agreements having been secured, the bureaucracy and centralization of the Ministry's approval procedures has now stalled all school projects throughout the country. While it is well into the construction season, the situation does not seem anywhere near resolution. Therefore, priority has been given to other OTI - IOM/ATI projects.
Several Afghan national meetings were held in Kabul in April:
- A seminar for the nation's governors was held at the Ministry of the Interior. Points that were stressed by the Minister were (a) the need for better coordination between the central government and the provinces, and (b) the need for all governors to send their tax revenue to the central government.
- A seminar for high-ranking military officials was convened by the Minister of Defense to discuss the need for a strong national army and police force.
Kabul Region
The approval procedure for school construction within the Ministry of Education (MoE) remains unclear. A letter from IOM's Chief of Mission to the Minister asking for permission to build two schools, which were approved at the end of 2002, remains unanswered. In the meantime, the MoE is working on a cooperation mechanism with donor agencies to develop procedures for defining school construction and reconstruction standards and to compile a list of school priorities. IOM/ATI engineers in Kabul participated in a task force, which consisted of MoE and donor agency representatives, to draft new standards for school construction.
Northern Region
There has been heavy fighting between militia groups in the city of Maimana, the capital of Faryab province. Much of the unrest occurred in front of IOM's office, causing the United Nations to evacuate international staff on April 10. The Maimana Municipality and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development buildings, which OTI's IOM-ATI program repaired last year, have been damaged. Some U.N. international staff returned in late April but the security situation remains extremely tenuous.
In April, the general security situation in Bamyan was good. However, in 2002, some farmers resumed poppy cultivation in Saighan District. The selling price was high, and in 2003, production is expected to increase significantly. During an IOM/ATI field visit in April, it appeared that every farmer had set apart a portion of his field for poppy cultivation. This is expected to cause serious security problems during the harvest.
Southeast Region
In April, security incidents continued in the southeast. However, the travel ban for international and national staff in all southeastern areas was lifted on April 21, with the provision that travel for international staff would be granted on a case-by-case basis.
The IOM/ATI office in Gardez held a number of meetings with local authorities, during which the increased presence and activities of extremist groups in the southeast was discussed. The activities of these groups seem to be confined to propaganda activities, while they seek to increase their strength and solidify their network. Their activities seem to be facilitated by the absence of government authority and reconstruction activities in more remote areas. In addition, the rift among key political and military parties continues to grow. Governor Delili still lacks strong support and has not been able to visit most provincial districts since he took office last year.
The security situation is Kandahar remains tenuous. New procedures have been developed for traveling outside the city. National staff must be accompanied by armed escorts and travel in two-car convoys. Due to continued unrest, IOM/ATI national and international staff are making very few field trips. No trips are made that require an overnight stay outside of Kandahar city.
The security report from other areas in the region is as follows. Travel is prohibited in Zabul Province, which is covered programmatically by IOM/ATI's Kandahar office. Helmand province, also covered by the IOM/ATI Kandahar office, remains unstable, with travel prohibitions in the northern half. Uruzgan province remains off-limits for travel by international and national NGO and IO staff after the execution of an expatriate ICRC staff member.
OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
USAID/OTI Supports the Constitutional Education Process - USAID/OTI signed a $350,000 grant with the Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSF), a consortium of local NGOs helping to educate the Afghan public on the constitutional process. ACSF will provide a training-of-trainers for local leaders throughout the country who will then carry what they learn back to their districts. The education process is designed to serve as a complement to the U.N.-led consultative process, which is currently in the planning stages. Several other governments have expressed interest in supporting the efforts of ACSF.
Another component of USAID/OTI's constitutional education support is the development of short radio dramas that will highlight key issues. The radio spots are being developed by a consultant from Media Support Solutions (MSS), who produced similarly formatted programs for OTI during the Emergency Loya Jirga in June 2002. During a series of interviews carried out in Kabul, the consultant found that Afghans are hopeful about the development of a new constitution, seeing it as a step toward improved security. They are enthusiastic about the consultation process, and are confident that their opinions will be heard. The consultant plans to extend his informal survey to surrounding provinces in early May.
Not surprisingly, the constitutional process is already becoming controversial. In late April, the Attorney General, with the backing of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, announced that the only law in Afghanistan will be Sharia law (strict Islamic religious law).
Continued Progress on the Media Front - USAID/OTI's media NGO partner, Internews, is in the process of establishing 14 independent radio stations throughout the country. The key to developing a successful radio station is to create a strong governing board that will be able to stand up to potential challenges to the station's autonomy. Internews is currently working with six Afghan groups in Jalalabad, Takhar, Paktia, Logar, Ghazni, and Kabul provinces. The station in Jalalabad, which will become a commercial enterprise, is scheduled to be operational in June. Radio Arman, Kabul's first independent FM radio station, is on the air. The station plans to be fully operational with day-long programming in May.
Responding to a request from the Afghan Information Collection and Dissemination Unit, which USAID/OTI is supporting, the BBC local language service has started a radio series on the government's national priority programs. The radio spots are being broadcast as ten-minute features on the BBC's morning program. The Unit is also designing a local-language (Dari and Pashtu) newspaper on reconstruction and other important issues. The same paper will include documents related to reconstruction -- such as the national development budget, analysis of aid flows, consultative group details, and speeches by President Karzai and his ministers.
On a related note, John Sifton, researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, stated in an article published in April that "Attacks and threats against Afghan journalists have increased sharply in recent weeks.... Afghan security personnel have created a pervasive climate of fear in which journalists are afraid to openly publish articles that criticize leaders." He added, "Powerful people in Kabul are using their cronies in security forces to try to silence the critics."
First Round of Mullah Training a Success - USAID/OTI has been working for some months with the Afghan NGO, the Sanayee Development Foundation (SDF). SDF has been focusing on conflict resolution and peace building activities for the past six years. In April, USAID/OTI funded SDF to carry out a week-long training with 25 Kabul-based mullahs (religious leaders). The training was the result of extensive negotiations with the Afghan Ministry of Religious Affairs, and a test-run for including provincial mullahs throughout the country in future SDF training activities. One participant remarked: "I have decided after this training to change my behavior and attitude toward life, including my family and community environment. From now on, I will motivate people for peace and brotherhood. I will establish an association that will deal with these issues of conflict resolution. I will make sure that I transfer this knowledge to my children so that they will not make the same mistakes that I have made."
Provincial Women's Centers - USAID/OTI received funding from the State Department to provide training programs for women and construction of up to 14 provincial women's centers throughout Afghanistan. OTI's implementing partner is IOM/ATI. In April, IOM staff, together with representatives of the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA), visited the provinces of Logar, Wardak, and Paktia to identify sites for constructing women's resource centers.
In some areas where MoWA and IOM/ATI have identified possible sites for building centers, provincial governors have requested large payments in exchange for providing government land. MoWA has no budget for land purchase or lease, and USAID has advised MoWA that the U.S. government will not pay for land. Fortunately, at the first site identified for construction in Ghazni province, the government agreed to provide free land for MoWA's use.
Civil-Military Coordination - The third Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) opened in April in the northeast province of Kunduz. USAID will be assigning the Mission's fourth field program officer to the Kunduz PRT. The next PRT will be established in Mazar-I-Sharif by the British in late June. Kandahar or Jalalabad are the likely next sites for the PRTs following Mazar, possibly in late summer or early fall.
The Coalition Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force (CJCMOTF) has begun its transition to new command leadership. Such changes are always disruptive to USAID staff travel because of USAID/OTI's reliance on CJCMOTF for lodging, security, and transportation in the field. In July, CJCMOTF is planning to phase out and move to a PRT Command in Bagram, which will complicate travel plans for the USAID/OTI Field Program Officer even more than they are already.
USAID/OTI and the USAID Mission have had a close partnership with CJCMOTF. With the placing of USAID field program officers with the PRTs, this will necessarily mean an expanded role for the Mission in interfacing with CJCMOTF and a diminished role for the USAID/OTI Field Program Manager.
B. Program Impact Reports
Bakhtar News Stories Now Being Published by the Local Press - Bakhtar News is the Afghan government's national news agency. Their stories are intended for state television and radio distribution, but have little resonance with the public, given poor reporting standards. Since November 2002, USAID/OTI has been funding a training program for Bakhtar journalists, carried out by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). The objective of the project is to raise journalistic standards to make Baktar's news stories more objective and newsworthy. Following are quotes from local newspaper editors that demonstrate the impact of the project:
"Some difference has come in the stories of Bakhtar. They are not using their old system. This is the reason we are publishing their stories in our newspaper. During the last two months, the stories of Bakhtar have become better and therefore we have paid more attention to their stories."
--Ajruddin Iqbal, Chief Editor of the Hewad Daily
"With the arrival of the new government, officials have paid much attention to Bakhtar and they want to make it according to the accepted standards. Now, Bakhtar has been able to recover from some problems and abide by international journalism standards. Now, they are not publishing 'this person visited this person.' Now they are not writing that 'both sides discussed matters of mutual interest.' Now, Bakhtar is not publishing stories of the officials' appraisal. I have been noticing Bakhtar for the last three months that it is getting better and better and this is the reason that I am publishing a lot of stories of Bakhtar. Three months ago, we were publishing few stories of Bakhtar, but now we are publishing more."
--Ahmad Zia Syamak Herawi, Chief Editor of the Anees Daily
In May, IWPR plans to bring all provincial Bakhtar reporters to Kabul for a workshop, during which Afghan Deputy Minister of Information Mubarez will motivate the journalists around his vision for the agency. This will be followed by a series of training sessions in the provinces.
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| Afghan women and children meet with a doctor in the Women's Wing of the Mir Wais Hospital in Kandahar. (Photo by Deborah Alexander)
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The Women and Children of Kandahar City Have Their Hospital Back - The Women's Wing of the Mir Wais Hospital, which was badly damaged during fighting between U.S. Coalition Forces and Al Qaeda, has been rebuilt with an OTI grant of $20,000. Rehabilitation of the Women's Wing was a top priority for the new Afghan government and the women's community.
The newly-renovated Mir Wais Hospital Women's Wing reopened one year after the fighting ended. It is currently the only formal healthcare facility in Kandahar that serves women and children. The wing cares for over 80 patients per day, vaccinates about 100 children daily, conducts weekly "well-baby" clinics, provides food for malnourished children, and conducts education classes for mothers. The walls are now covered with children's paintings.
During a recent visit by the OTI Field Program Manger, one of the five doctors at Mir Wis estimated that the hospital wing saves the lives of 50 children a week: "These mothers cannot go anyplace else. The only way I could take care of my patients during Taliban times was to sneak to the house if someone in the family would come find me to tell me of the sickness. Now women know where they can come and we will take care of them and their babies. I am sure we have saved at least 2,000 women and even more children since we reopened the wing."
New School in Herat Changes Attitudes Toward Studying
USAID/OTI funded the reconstruction of Saifuddin High School in Qabal Daraz, Herat province. Construction of the school was completed in February 2003 and handed over to education authorities for use by the students of Qabul Daraz and surrounding villages starting this school year. The school has 16 classrooms for the 250 girls and 450 boys who study in the school in two shifts.
Basir Ahmad, a seventh-grade student at the recently reconstructed school, undertook his first six years of study in an old, shattered house that served as the primary school for 700 boys and girls. He says he will never forget the hot tents and the ruined rooms, and is thankful for the new school. Khalil Ahmad, a sixth grade student said, "During the Taliban time, I was not very interested in school, because we did not have a proper school, teaching schedule or materials. But now I really like it [even though] it takes almost 40 minutes to walk to school every morning."
Urban Roadside Drainage Canals Empower the Government in Dehrawud - Western Uruzgan province had been suffering from deteriorating community infrastructure during years of fighting and negligent Taliban rule. Irrigations canals had silted up; sporadic electricity became even more sporadic; and maintenance of check-dams, river-side retaining walls, and other community-level infrastructure decayed. With instability in the region, coupled with a barely functioning government, came an explosion of illegal construction in urban areas.
The demise of the Taliban brought a sense of optimism that resulted in private-sector investment demonstrated by the construction of new shops and the renovation of old ones. Some district and provincial governments began looking for ways to reconcile the desire to encourage new investment with the need to increase their influence in general and to enforce zoning rules in particular. They looked to USAID/OTI's IOM/ATI program for help.
Networks of drainage canals used to criss-cross the streets of most urban centers, such as Dehrawud, a town located in western Uruzgan. Residents of the town dug drainage canals in the early 1990s, but they were neither maintained nor lined with concrete. Water runoff lay stagnant in the blocked canals or spilled over onto the streets. In a meeting with community, district, and provincial-level representatives, IOM/ATI agreed to provide an adequate roadside drainage system after the different parties agreed upon substantial contributions, a maintenance plan, and a respect for the rule of law and authority of the government to enforce it.
The project was a success. The drainage canals, once installed, considerably reduced the amount of stagnant water in an area known for malaria outbreaks. It also reaffirmed the authority of the district and provincial governments. Because illegal constructions had to be removed, zoning regulations had to be enforced, and property issues had to be resolved. This was a very time-consuming aspect of the project and was the responsibility of the government. They dealt with this issue by holding meetings with community members to discuss the division of responsibilities and the enforcement of zoning regulations. The community, which was involved in project identification, design, and implementation, endorsed the process and the standardized three-meter sidewalks currently being constructed between the shop fronts and the canals. District government officials are approving new constructions and ensuring compliance. IOM/ATI plans to duplicate this success story in future projects in Tirin Kot, Uruzgan and Qalat, Zabul.
Property issues are a huge impediment to urban road construction in Afghanistan. Urban road-side drainage canals, combined with the IOM/ATI process, eliminated this arduous, time-consuming impediment to future development, so other organizations working in urban development do not have to contend with the same problem. This has encouraged other agencies to think about compaction and gravelling roads in areas where these canals were constructed and property issues have been resolved.
Ministry of Women's Affairs Women's Resource Center Fully Operational - Last summer, USAID/OTI funded and helped to design a resource center at the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Kabul to enable Afghan women and the Ministry to have improved access to information, communication tools, and training facilities. Following a monitoring visit, OTI found that the center is being well-used. The library is used not only for research and supplemental reading, but on occasion is the site for the Women and the Constitution Working Group meetings.
The center's computer and internet room has eight computers and is staffed by an information technology specialist funded by USAID. The specialist provides ongoing computer training to MoWA staff.
The audio-visual training room is used by various organizations. Currently, UNIFEM and UNDP are running training programs on gender, management, and training-of-trainers programs.
C. Grants Activity Summary for USAID/OTI Programming in Afghanistan for the month of April 2003.
| Community Infrastructure |
12 |
$809,908 |
| Good Governance / Transparency |
5 |
$417,719 |
| Media |
2 |
$18,282 |
| Total |
19 |
$1,245,909 |
USAID/OTI signed the following small grants during the current reporting period, April 2003:
| Community of Tirin Kot, Uruzugan Province |
Drainage canals for the city of Tirin Kot |
10,000 residents of Tirin Kot in that roads will remain passable during the rainy season. 80 days of unskilled labor for 140 men. 80 days of skilled labor for 22 men. |
| Community of Laki Village, Helmand Province |
A girls' school and a boys' school to serve the Laki Re-gion |
400 students who will attend these schools. This number will increase once schools are open. 30 unskilled and 10 skilled laborers will be employed for 12 weeks. |
| Community of Tirin Kot, Uruzugan Province |
Girls' school |
400 female students who will have the opportunity to attend school. 80 days of unskilled labor for 53 men and 80 days of skilled labor for 20 men. |
| Community of Qalat, Zabol Province |
Drainage canals for Qalat |
25,000 people in and around Qalat. 95 unskilled laborers and 12 skilled laborers for 80 days. |
| Community of Qalat, Zabul Province |
Girls' school in Qalat |
400 female students - which is expected to increase once the school is finished. 80 unskilled laborers for 53 man days. 80 skilled laborers for 20 man days. |
| Citizens of Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province |
Transformers and electrical equipment for Lashkar Gah water system |
30,000 residents of Lashkar Gah who will have sufficient potable water. 5 skilled laborers for a period of 2 months. |
| Communities of Mirsanzee and Khananu Villages, Kandahar Province |
Check dam on the Tamak River |
Approximately 600 residents of the two villages. Erosion into the Tamak River will be decreased. |
| Communities of Gardez and Khost Cities, Paktiya and Khost Provinces |
Construction of Lake Tika Bridge retaining wall and culvert |
4,000 families of Khost and 3,500 families of Gardez. 95 unskilled laborers for a total of 7,500 man days. 95 skilled laborers for 8,000 man days. |
| Community of Qalat, Zabul Province |
Concreting of main road in Qalat |
8,000 residents of Qalat as well as the hundreds of drivers who use this main road through town, off the Kandahar-Kabul road. |
| USAID Gender Specialist |
Support for gender specialist |
USAID and the Afghan government will benefit from her programmatic advice. |
| Women's Governance and Social Services Association, Herat Province |
Governance and local capacity building |
200 women in Herat, 200 in Baghdis, and 150 in Ghor will benefit from participating in the legal and political forums. |
| Rural Development Department in Maimana, Faryab Province |
Construction of culverts for the city center of Maimana |
180,000 residents of Maimana will benefit from this water drainage system. 18 skilled and 40 unskilled laborers for a total of 90 days. |
| Communities of Ghazni Province |
Construction of Provincial Women's Center |
The estimated 950,000 women of Ghazni. 25 employees of MoWA. Skilled laborers for 1,626 man-days. Unskilled laborers for 2,462 man days. |
| Residents of Kabul |
Renovation of New City Park |
The residents of Kabul City who will have a pleasant recreation area, per their request. |
| Policy Unit of the Office of the President |
Provision of equipment for President Karzai's policy unity |
Potentially the entire government will benefit from this project which serve as an advisory group for President Karzai. |
| Afghan Women's Network. |
Production of radio program "Women Connecting" |
16 women trained in photography. 40 Afghan women trained in strategic planning. 15 Afghan women participating in the production. Indirectly, Afghan women living in the rural areas who listen to the 14 state radio stations. |
| Community of Ishmael Sanglakh Village, Takhar Province |
Reconstruction of Gori Qazaq Canal |
2,800 people benefiting from the irrigation of 200 hectares of land. 60 hectares of land protected from flooding. 13 unskilled and 3 skilled laborers working for a period of two months. |
| Afghan Civil Society Forum |
Support for Public Education in the constitutional process |
Approximately 1 million people in 302 districts which will be covered by the outreach process which will include 1,204 people serving as community educators. |
| Sanyaee Development Foundation |
Conflict resolution and peace training for mullahs in Kabul |
25 mullahs, including 10 in official leadership positions. |
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
During the month of May 2003, USAID/OTI will:
- Continue working with the Afghan Justice Commission and the Supreme Court to develop and operationalize a plan for computerizing Afghanistan's property documents. The finished product will be one that can be replicated nationwide.
- Officially open Kabul's FM Radio Arman, the Herat University Radio Station, and Jalalabad's first independent radio station.
- Begin the constitutional education process, working through the Afghan Civil Society Forum.
- Continue the process of encouraging the development of independent radio stations throughout the country, while continuing to support state radio stations.
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