National Solidarity Program Contributing to Governance and Development in Rural Afghanistan

National Solidarity Program Community Development Two Principal Village-Level Interventions: Create Gender-Balanced Community Development Councils (CDCs) through Secret Ballot Elections Fund Sub-Projects Selected by CDCs and Villagers and Managed by CDCs (Average Grant: $33,000; Max.: $60,000)

National Solidarity Program (NSP) Executed by Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) Implemented by 31 Facilitating Partners (local and int’l NGOs) Funded by WB/IDA, ARTF, JSDF, Bilateral Phases-I: 2003-7; -II: 2007-11; -III: 2010-2015 Block Grants: 1st round 2003-2015 and 2nd round 2010-2015 Coverage: 2003 – 2015: 37,700 communities 1st round and 12,000 2nd round

Total budget $2.5b, $2.19b received and $ 1.94b disbursed Financial Situation Total budget $2.5b, $2.19b received and $ 1.94b disbursed Budget Execution Rates FY 1392 = 92.6% FY 1393 = 78.0%

NSP Coverage: 1st Block Grant

NSP Coverage: 2nd Block Grant

Key Achievements Over 32,745 CDCs established and of these 31,430 received $1.3b as block grants to implement 80,342 infrastructure projects 57,833 projects have been completed;

Continued… Key Program Outputs; 1412 Schools 66 Clinics and 37 Hospitals 4.2 million jaribs (i.e. 842,638 hectares) land irrigated 104,275 KW of power 32,777 KMs of secondary & tertiary roads 93,899 waterpoints water supply network (3,685 projects)

Key Achievements Over 40 million labor days created; 900,000 community and CDC members trained; $192.6m contributed by communities; Over 460,000 CDC members represent their constituents in 32,475 communities Over 177,000 (38%) CDC members are women

Key Achievements Nation-wide public service delivery mechanism State Building and Legitimacy – reach to citizens through creation of public goods and investment in people (capacity building of 900,000 members) Good Governance – democratic processes (TARI) Gender – women participation in the public sphere

Challenges National Census Systematic Linkages Women’s participation limited in certain regions O&M of projects Increasing Insecurity

NSPs Implementation in Insecure Areas

Moving Forward

New Policy Framework Policy for Improving Governance and Development in Districts and Villages Endorsed by the Cabinet on 30 December 2013

Moving Forward 1/2 Operationalization of the New Policy Design NSP Phase 4 Improve Systematic linkages with other actors Provision of reduced Block Grants, but more frequent Basis for Block Grant Block Grant for Women Participation

Moving Forward 2/2 Improve O&M of projects Do more with less Widen role of CDC and community members Community consultants Involve government civil servants Nationwide Rollout Revise NSP High Risk Implementation Strategy Streamline and simplify NSP processes and procedures

Governance – a new mandate for CDCs Address local coordination problems (e.g. CPRs) Institutionalize participatory decision-making Broaden the local leadership base Work to solve own problems

Participatory Community Empowerment (PCE) Approach Heterogeneity of communities (socio-economic differentiation (gender, age, income, access to resources, ethnicity) Skills / talents/ local resources / networks Work with ordinary people – emerging leaders CDC members

PCE Process Applies visual methods to engage people in discussions, analysis, planning and action Builds horizontal and vertical solidarity Emphasizes equity by focusing on vulnerable and marginalized groups (poor households, minority groups, women)