USAID/OTI Afghanistan Field Report
October 2004
Program Description
USAID/OTI is increasing citizen awareness of and confidence in the process of recovery, rehabilitation, and democratic political development in post-conflict Afghanistan. This is being accomplished by:
- Increasing the Afghan government’s responsiveness to citizens’ needs;
- Increasing citizen awareness of and participation in democratic processes; and,
- Increasing the capacity of the Afghan media.
OTI’s rapid support for activities in Afghanistan’s transition period helps establish credibility and space for longer-term development assistance. 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, which was designed to move the country further along the continuum from war to peace.
The OTI/Afghanistan program started in October 2001 and is scheduled to end in June 2005. Its funds come from various sources, including Transition Initiative Funds (TI), International Disaster Assistance Funds (IDA), Development Assistance Funds (DA), and State Department Economic Support Funds (ESF). Projects are funded in 31 provinces of the country. OTI’s current implementing partners are the International Organization for Migration-Afghanistan Transition Initiative (IOM-ATI) and Internews. IOM-ATI offices are located in Kabul, Bamyan, Gardez, Herat, Kandahar, Kunduz, Maimana, and Mazar-e Sharif. Previous USAID/OTI partners included the Voice of America (VOA), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and Ronco.
Country Situation
First–ever Presidential Election Occurs with Little Violence or Disruption:
After a month-long campaign season and many months of voter registration – and in spite of widely anticipated violence, disruptions, and unseasonably inclement weather – eight million Afghans turned out to vote in the first-ever presidential election October 9. U.S. military officials, international election observers and organizers, and Afghan citizens anticipated that al-Qaida and Taliban militants would disrupt the elections in terrorist attacks directed at candidates, voters, and election officials. In stark contrast to these predictions, the overwhelming turn-out, which kept some voters waiting in line for several hours, and the very small number of violent incidents resulted in an election described as “a resounding success.”
As ballots were collected and returned to counting centers to be tallied, several candidates protested the election. Their protests were over discrepancies and procedural inconsistencies, including the efficacy of the indelible ink used to mark voters’ thumbnails after casting their vote. The Joint Electoral Management Board (JEMB) formed a committee that investigated the candidates’ allegations and resolved them without dispute by late October. Hamid Karzai was officially declared President-Elect on November 3, 2004, after winning 55 percent of the vote.
Terrorist Violence Prompts More Restrictive Security Protocols:
Following two suicide bombings and the abduction of three United Nations international election staff members in Kabul, international organizations, NGO’s, the U.N., and diplomatic missions have revised their security protocols. The more restrictive protocols will increase personnel security, but are also adversely affecting donor program operations and implementation.
USAID/OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
GENERAL
Public Confidence in Democratic Governance Growing:
Initial post-election feedback indicates that OTI’s investments in media and enhancing the credibility of local and national government have contributed to public confidence and participation in the democratic process. In the run-up to the election, OTI approved projects valued at more than $2 million for related media, civic education, and reconstruction activities based on community and local government interaction and collaboration. Comprehensive studies and evaluations are underway to more rigorously assess, for example, how media influenced citizens’ participation in the election. Achieving this important Bonn Agreement milestone symbolizes Afghanistan’s continued transitional progress towards democratic governance.
Partners Take Precautions During Election Period:
OTI implementing partner, IOM – like most U.N. agencies and international organizations operating in Afghanistan – took special precautions to ensure the safety of personnel and property during the election period. Most offices relied on only essential staff, while many staff members of international organizations departed for neighboring countries to wait-out the election. Most project implementation was suspended nationwide during the few days before and after the election.
Closer Collaboration with Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Insecure Areas:
OTI has been actively pursuing closer working relationships with newly assigned USAID and State Department PRT representatives working in the South and Southeastern parts of the country. After joint discussion of the challenges and lessons learned from providing assistance in insecure areas, the PRT representatives have been developing new project proposals for communities in difficult-to-reach places, where reconstruction resources and confidence in local government are lacking. As OTI begins its transition from program implementation to close-out, these insecure areas will be a priority for activities in the next eight months.
Mid-Term Program Assessment Underway:
An OTI/Washington technical support team member has been in-country since mid-October conducting a month-long mid-term assessment of the program’s small grants activities. A key goal of the assessment is to highlight means by which systems for project implementation, monitoring, and evaluation can be strengthened to increase program impact.
Programs in the Northeast Monitored:
OTI’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer traveled to the Northeast Provinces, Kunduz and Takhar, to monitor IOM-ATI activities being implemented there. The draft trip report recommends specific steps to improve program monitoring and evaluation at the field level.
SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM
Employment and Expanded Economic Opportunity Provided in Road and Bridge Building Activities:
The road that links the three capital cities of Kunduz, Takhar, and Badakhshan Provinces plays an essential role for the economic well-being of the provinces’ estimated 1.5 million people. The 75 kilometer road section between the Kunduz and Takhar provincial capitals is in fairly good condition and it takes an hour or so for a vehicle to travel between them. However, in the case of the 130 kilometer portion of road between the Takhar and Badakhshan capitals, a minimum of eight hours is needed for vehicular travel under normal conditions and as much as two days during winter. With funding from OTI and in-kind contributions from beneficiary communities, one of the most critical sections of this road, located in the Kalafgan district of Takhar Province, has been improved significantly. Two bridges, whose concrete foundations had been destroyed, were reconstructed and two fords were constructed at river crossings where vehicles routinely got stuck. These activities have strengthened the connection among the provincial capitals and paved the way for more vigorous travel and trade.
MEDIA AND CIVIC EDUCATION
Thirty-one Radio Stations Established: Since 2002, OTI has supported the establishment of 31 independent FM radio stations operating in two independent satellite networks. To date, the OTI-funded Internews network has 21 stations and five repeaters. There are plans for another 10 stations to be established by Spring, 2005. Arman FM operates one USAID-supported station in Kabul and has three repeaters in Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, and Kandahar. Arman FM’s popular broadcasts will expand to three new cities by January, 2005. During the reporting period, the 31st independent radio station started broadcasting in Malistan, western Ghazni Province. The new station is broadcasting Internews national programming three hours a day.
Expanding Women’s Access to Election Information:
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| After giving her thumbprint for documentation, a girl is given a radio at a UNHCR camp in Gardez. |
In preparation for the presidential election, USAID distributed 40,000 radios to rural women throughout Afghanistan to improve their access to information about it and other important political processes. The radios were produced with Dari and Pashto labeling on the buttons and included Dari and Pashto operating instructions. Staff in seven IOM-ATI field offices, assisted by 17 Afghan NGOs, coordinated distribution of the radios in over 100 communities in 25 provinces.
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| Bamyan women display just-provided radios. |
Recipients of the distribution effort include: women participants of civic education classes in Bamyan Province; women with voter registration cards in Balkh and Sar-e-Pul Provinces; women in Gardez city receiving radios with UNHCR assistance; women in Kabul Province receiving radios through the Afghan Women Lawyers and Professional Association; and, girls’ schools in Ghazni getting radios from the NGO, Afghan for Afghans. In some cases, women were given two radios, one for themselves and one for their husbands.
OTI Media Program Election Day Highlights
Program Provides Continuous Coverage of Election Day Events: Internews’ national program, Salaam Watandar, broadcast live reports every hour for 14 continuous hours on Election Day. These reports included updates from 10 regional correspondents, including one in Peshawar, Pakistan. The Salaam Watandar newsroom received a call from the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson congratulating them on their “impressive” coverage. There are reports that the broadcasts were routed to amplifiers and loudspeakers in the bazaars of Herat and Logar for those without radios. Listeners requested that the feature program covering the candidates’ final presentations be made available to the public on cassette and CD.
Journalism Students Contribute to Election Coverage: Students in the OTI-funded National Journalism Training Program reached new heights in their coverage of Election Day events. The student radio station at the University of Herat produced 12 hours of live coverage, while students in Mazar-e Sharif enrolled in a three-month-old radio journalism program at Balkh University produced eight hours of coverage. Students from these schools and the University of Kabul also worked at other USAID-funded media operations, including local Internews stations, Pajhwok Afghan News, and Arman FM.
Killid Radio Captures Lead Stories Election Day: Killid Radio in Kabul, the OTI-funded flagship station of the Internews network, broadcast live reports every 15 minutes from 16 different locations throughout country. At 7:45 a.m., less than an hour after the polls opened, a Killid Radio reporter broke the story of problems with the indelible ink designed to prevent voter fraud. The station used the power of the medium and accurate, objective reporting to provide perspective on the issue and calm public concerns. Other reports included accounts and interviews with: people waiting to vote in the snow in Bamiyan; the first voter in remote Sharistan Daikundi – a 20-year-old young woman; and an 80-year-old woman who was carried to the voting station by her son. Interspersed with these reports were live studio interviews with professors, authors, analysts and editors from a variety of Afghanistan’s leading print media, and even an astrologer.
First Afghan News Agency Successfully Introduces Pool Coverage: Institute for War and Peace Reporting trainers and Pajhwok Afghan News coordinated pool coverage of the presidential election in Kabul and the other seven regional vote-counting centers. About 50 print and radio journalists from numerous publications and stations worked through the Afghan trainers to go out to polling stations and vote-counting centers throughout the country, then wrote stories together. The joint effort produced complete nationwide coverage for Pajhwok and gave the journalists the experience of working together in pool coverage.
Independent Television Station Goes on Air: On the eve of the presidential election, an OTI-funded private, independent television station went on the air. The programming was limited at the outset – two to three hours daily – but has quickly expanded to five hours, including 45 minutes of news and one hour of social affairs content. The station is producing local news, using a cooperative agreement with Reuters TV for international news coverage, and broadcasting a half hour music program along with some foreign-produced sports content. As capacity develops and more content is acquired and produced, the station will expand its daily broadcast.
B. Grant Activity Summary
OTI/Afghanistan summary of cleared and completed activities in October and since program start-up:
| Civil Society Organization Support |
0 |
0 |
19 |
$1,313,182 |
| Community Impact Activities |
0 |
0 |
376 |
$16,085,149 |
| Conflict Management |
0 |
0 |
5 |
$158,256 |
| Election Processes |
0 |
0 |
9 |
$3,361,294 |
| Justice/Human Rights |
0 |
0 |
12 |
$909,575 |
| Media |
0 |
0 |
105 |
$15,773,331 |
| Transparency/Good Governance |
0 |
0 |
121 |
$8,396,602 |
| TOTAL |
0 |
0 |
647 |
$45,997,389 |
C. Indicators of Success
Afghanistan’s First Presidential Election a Success: OTI contributed to the success of Afghanistan’s first-ever presidential election, particularly through its media investments. This achievement is a testament to the determination of Afghan citizens, as well as the appropriateness of the assistance and support provided by USAID and the international community.
D. Program Appraisal
OTI Contributes to Development of USAID/Afghanistan’s Strategy: The USAID Mission is in the midst of the strategic planning process. OTI staff have participated in numerous strategy sessions, offering sector- specific information to the Democracy and Governance and Agriculture (Alternative Livelihoods) teams and sharing lessons learned from their program experience in insecure and transitional environments. This participation is part of OTI’s close-out plan and reflects the well-developed partnership with the Mission.
Preliminary Media Evaluation Results Provide Valuable Insights: Preliminary results of the a media sector evaluation and survey point to some unexpected trends. While the analysis is not yet complete, the data indicate significantly higher radio listenership in the morning than the evening and a highly sophisticated cross-referencing of information from multiple radio stations. Several stakeholders, including the Democracy and Governance team, currently shaping the Mission’s next media development strategy are intrigued by these initial findings and are very interested in the full evaluation results.
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
During November 2004, USAID/OTI will:
- complete a mid-term assessment of its small grants program;
- provide continued support and input to the development of the Mission’s strategy;
- continue development of the interagency task force to respond to transitional events;
- support expansion of journalism training at universities in southern and eastern Afghanistan; and,
- continue to focus on program monitoring and evaluation, while planning for close-out in June 2005.
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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