USAID/OTI Afghanistan Field Report
August 2002
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, 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, OTI supports efforts to increase news and information about the implementation of the Loya Jirga process and to strengthen independent media. OTI's estimated budget for FY2002 is $21,100,000.
Country Situation
The political and security situations in Kabul, and throughout Afghanistan, remain tense. There were a number of explosions in the capital, and greater criminal activity is making it more difficult for non-governmental organizations to operate.
USAID/OFDA staff reported that on August 28, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees expressed concern regarding the treatment of ethnic Pashtuns in the north, many of who have been forced to flee their homes due to ethnic persecution. The High Commissioner raised the issue on his recent visit with leaders in the north and with ITGA President Hamid Karzai. On August 20, UNAMA issued a statement indicating it would provide assistance upon request to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in its investigation of the alleged mass grave site near Shebergan in the northern province of Balkh. UNAMA, in cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, first sent a team to the site to conduct a preliminary forensic investigation in early May 2002. Subsequently, on August 23, ITGA President Hamid Karzai dispatched an investigative team to the site. On August 26, more than 2,000 Coalition and Afghan military forces completed Operation Mountain Sweep, a one-week campaign to search for al-Qaeda and Taliban elements in southeastern Paktia Province.
OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
OTI's goal is to promote political stability and economic recovery in communities at risk, including communities with large returnee populations and demobilized soldiers, communities that are geographically or ethnically isolated, and communities with poor links to national, provincial, and local authorities or international development support. Projects will strengthen economic recovery by providing essential goods and services that individuals and the market are unlikely to provide on their own (through improving essential commercial and public infrastructure, reestablishing the relationships and routines that give communities cohesiveness, and contributing to sustainable stability and recovery by establishing links between the community and governmental authorities).
OTI's overall program strategy is to build government capacities by planning and implementing projects which are guided by community priorities, creating and/or strengthening linkages between the national, provincial, and district government, improving the communication infrastructure, and implementing a wide-ranging media strategy. OTI finalized its post Loya Jirga strategy in collaboration with implementing partners IOM and RONCO and in tandem with USAID's strategic objectives, which include infrastructure, food security, economic governance, democracy and governance, education and health.
Highlights of OTI's work in Afghanistan during the month of August include:
- Ongoing project development with the Afghanistan ministries in Kabul.
- Site visits by OTI field staff to Badakshan, Herat and Bamyan, and coordination with IOM-ATI and U.S. Army Civil Affairs representatives.
- Disseminating information to the general public about new projects that are supporting the new government in Kabul.
- Close-out of one of OTI's programs with IOM, the Afghanistan Emergency Information Program (AEIP). This project was an earlier cooperative agreement between OTI and IOM.
- OTI grantee IOM-ATI staff made site visits to Parwan, the Shamali Plain, Bot Khak, and Wardak province to evaluate additional project proposals. Project sites visited included dams, irrigation systems, schools, roads, bridges, and clinics. Several very productive community meetings were held.
- OTI participation in a Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reintegration mission with the United Nations.
- OTI participation in a media legislation conference in Kabul.
Herat Province
Herat continues to be one of the most stable regions in Afghanistan in large part due to Governor Ismael Khan's autocratic rule. In Herat City there are uniformed police officers, working traffic lights, paved roads, tree-lined streets, and twenty-six functioning government departments - more than in any other province. Nevertheless, security incidents continue. Three of Khan's policemen were reportedly shot and killed in Ghoryan district. There are also reports of increased truck convoys in Ghor Province in Chagcharan district, which may be connected to an increase in the drug trade. Further, Governor Ismail Khan and UN authorities continue to argue over government requirements for female national staff working in international organizations. Khan has instructed women working for international organizations to complete a personnel form for government records, and the UN has instructed their staff not to do so, pending an appeal to Kabul authorities. At the same time, Khan is also supporting the development of a new women's association.
Iran is constructing a large highway from Herat City westward to the Islam-Qala/Iranian border, worth approximately $52 million. Power lines are also going up beside the highway. Finally, there are signs that Khan is liberalizing public parks by allowing men and women to co-mingle in the late afternoons and evenings in his new "Victory Park."
The Deputy Director of the Department of Education, Haji Mohammed Fahim, in Herat praised both the OTI (through IOM-ATI) and CHLC programs. He appreciated the way in which OTI/IOM-ATI and CHLC representatives consult with his staff, share reconstruction plans before beginning work, and work hand in hand with the Education Department. OTI Field staff also report that there appears to be good communication between Kabul and Herat Education departments.
OTI's partner organization, IOM-ATI, has begun contracting for work to rehabilitate the Herat-Qala Naw Road.
OTI grantee, Internews, has provided equipment and training to Radio Herat, for its twice daily broadcasts. The governor, Ismael Khan, pays the salaries of those working at the station. However, radio station staff have self-censored some program content based on what they believe may or may not please Khan. The TV and radio stations in Herat are beginning to pursue advertisements for revenue generation. Also in Herat, the Bahktar news agency publishes a daily newspaper, which happens to be the same news that is seen and heard on Herat Radio and TV. There remains little objective information.
Khandahar
Japanese Ambassador Nishimura visited Khandahar to meet with the UN specialized agencies and other international organizations to discuss agriculture and roads -- Japan's funding priorities in the region. He expressed a desire to cooperate with other donors, similar to the way in which the government of Japan is coordinating with OTI's IOM-ATI program and the Japanese-funded UNDP REAP program.
At the request of the government, IOM-ATI staff have visited the five districts in the perimeter of Khandahar city where their most urgent priority is water. IOM-ATI field staff report that the water table is 2-3 meters below last year, and are developing water, hydro-power, and road projects in Zabul, Nimroz, Hilmand, Uruzgan, and Khandahar provinces.
Bamyan
The political and security situation remains tense in Bamyan. IOM-ATI staff report that renewed conflict may take place in Kahmard District between rival factions. Independent commanders in the Penjao, Waras, and Sharistan Districts may be unifying to confront Hesb-e-Wahdat. Further, security in the Kahmard area continues to make site visits to the Ru-Ye Sang village schools impossible, but OTI-IOM implementing partner, the People in Need Foundation, has reported adequate progress on both the girls and boys schools they are working on.
OTI funded work on the Saighan District Dam (through IOM-ATI) was delayed by a conflict between two communities, one of which will have impaired road access as a result of the project. The Governor met with the communities and authorized work on the dam. IOM-ATI staff will investigate possible projects with the negatively-effected community.
Finally, IOM-ATI staff in Bamyan are working to formalize relationships with the Departments of Rural Reconstruction and Development and Planning and the Governors of Bamyan and Ya-kawlang Provinces. Several ideas for improved coordination, including signed protocols, a task-force, and regular written reporting are under consideration.
Balkh Province
Any newly planned, USAID-supported, non-humanitarian work in Balkh province continues to be on hold until the perpetrators of the rape of the American woman several months ago are brought to justice. Also in Mazar-e-Sharif, on August 19, fighting took place between Jamiat and Junbish around Qod-e-Barq, 13 km from Mazar and lasted nearly three hours.
Some OTI-funded work through the IOM-ATI program that began before USAID activities were suspended are being completed. For example, the Intermediate Medical Institute is complete and a ribbon cutting ceremony was held on September 1. Other projects are ongoing but IOM-ATI field staff reported that several monitoring trips were canceled for security reasons.
OTI grant highlights in Kabul
OTI staff organized a signing ceremony with the embassy and USAID mission director for four OTI-funded grants with the Ministry of Telecommunications. In the first grant, OTI will provide the Ministry with codan technology to provide communication facilities to 7 provinces in the country that presently are only able to communicate through the Ministry of Defense radio network, and only on an emergency basis. This grant will enable all national and provincial level ministries to communicate with each other directly for the first time in years. The communication centers, to be based at the local Ministry of Communication headquarters and managed by ministry staff, will be available to the general public on a cost-recovery basis, providing the ministry with funding for any recurrent costs.
A second grant will enable the Ministry to reconnect a number of land line telephone services in Kabul and Khandahar.
The third grant will provide the Ministry with an efficient, effective and transparent accounting and billing system to avoid corruption and to ensure a functioning income stream and a regular monitoring system. This will be carried out by setting up a computerized billing system that will replace the current manual system that is ineffective and rife with possibilities for corruption. The project will provide computer equipment, a billing system, and training for those who will be responsible for operating the system.
The fourth grant will provide material input for the kindergarten of the Ministry of Communication. This will provide female employees of the ministry, particularly widows and disadvantaged women, with a place to safely leave their children during working hours.
OTI also organized a closing Ceremony for a Ministry of Rural Development Workshop which was attended by provincial delegates from most provinces in Afghanistan. The overall objective of the workshop, which was facilitated by the World Bank, was to develop a strategy document for consideration by donor governments. This is the first time in 23 years that all provincial delegates of the Ministry of Rural Development have met together with the minister and had the opportunity to speak of their different realities and to exchange ideas. USAID/OTI's contribution was to pay for travel and lodging for workshop participants.
Also in August, OTI organized a signing ceremony for two grants with the Ministry of Higher Education. The first grant will provide material and labor costs to construct a guest house for the Ministry. The guest house will be used by consultants and other visitors coming into Kabul from the provinces. The second grant provides material inputs for the Ministry's kindergarten to enable women employees, particularly widows and disadvantaged women, to return to work.
B. Grants Activity Summary for OTI Programming in Afghanistan for August 2002
| Good Governance |
10 |
$449,817 |
| Community Infrastructure |
6 |
$181,953 |
| Media |
2 |
$125,940 |
| Civil Society Org. Support |
1 |
$47,532 |
| Total |
19 |
$805,242 |
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
During the month of September, OTI will:
- Deploy the OTI Afghanistan Coordinator to work with OTI and the USAID mission on programming for 2 months.
- Hire a local program manager for media programming.
- Begin implementation of the media strategy.
- Look at expanding the program eastward now that CHLC has Khost and Gardez.
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