1. National Solidarity Program
Contributing to
Governance and Development in Rural Afghanistan

2. 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)

3. 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: ; -II: ; -III:
Block Grants: 1st round and 2nd round
Coverage: 2003 – 2015: 37,700 communities 1st round and 12,000 2nd round

4. 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%

5. NSP Coverage: 1st Block Grant

6. NSP Coverage: 2nd Block Grant

7. 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;

8. 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)

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. NSPs Implementation in Insecure Areas

13. Moving Forward

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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)