To address state building, local governance and warlordism; and to urgently provide basic infrastructure to local communities, the Government of Afghanistan promoted a massive effort to outreach rural communities through NSP. The NSP aims to empower Afghans to build solidarity, reduce poverty through establishing and strengthening a national network of self-governing community institutions. The flexible and responsive design of the NSP has allowed it to be a main conduit of central government's poverty reduction and reconstruction policies, enabling local people to actively participate in local governance and development through the formation of CDCs. As a result, rural people of Afghanistan are able to build on a shared vision, and values, and democratically-decided priorities to create a healthy and sustainable nation. <?xml:namespace>
NSP fosters public trust in governance, enhances unity, equity and justice with communities democratically electing their own councils to engage in important local decisions and deciding how to distribute resources to address their development priorities.
The concept of the NSP is based on the provision of block grants directly provided by the government to communities for rural infrastructure projects. Each community elects their representatives to form the CDC, the main decision-making body at the local level. In order to avoid a situation where candidates get threatened or run for the competition out of fear of local power holders, the elections follow a “no-candidate” rule. They would be valid only if at least 60% of the community members participate in elections, thus requiring the participation of women. The CDC is the main interlocutor of the government and other development actors. It designates members who are responsible for financial management, including opening of a bank account in the name of the community. In addition, the CDC can establish specific sub-committees responsible for procurement, implementation and maintenance, and monitoring and evaluation.
The NSP consists of four core elements:
· Facilitation at the community level to assist communities to further strengthen inclusive CDCs through secret ballot and democratic (re)elections; reach consensus on priorities and corresponding subproject activities; develop eligible subproject proposals that comply with NSP appraisal criteria; and implement approved subprojects;
· Building capacity of CDCs and community members (both men and women) in participation, consensus-building, accounting, procurement and contract management, operations and maintenance, and monitoring;
· Providing direct block grant transfers to fund approved subprojects; and
· Linking CDCs to government agencies, NGOs, and donors to improve access to services and resources.
Target Groups: The primary beneficiaries are the villagers (both men and women), including the poor and the vulnerable groups, who through a participatory planning process, select sub-projects that addresses their needs for local reconstruction and development. Empowerment of rural population is achieved through participatory planning, local reconstruction and development leading to improved livelihoods and access to services benefiting both men and women.
Based on the principles of inclusion and equity, NSP ensures inclusion of women and vulnerable groups (such as ethnic/tribal minority groups, elderly, IDPs, returnees, refugees) to ensure that these groups are included in decision-making processes and that their concerns are fully addressed.
A total of 956 communities of twelve districts in seven provinces, as given in Table below, will benefit from empowerment through participating in CDC activities and access to improved infrastructure and services.
Summary of Target Communities by Province
Province
District
District S. No.
No. of Communities
Farah
Anar Dara
1
44
Herat
Guzara
2
225
Zinda Jan
3
72
Kandahar
Arghandab
4
64
Daman
5
62
Kapisa
Hisa-i-Awali Kohistan
6
93
Mahmudi Raqi
7
91
Nangrahar
Kama
8
74
Panjshir
Rukha
9
26
Parwan
Charikar
10
79
Jabulsaraj
11
73
Kohi Safi
12
53
7
Total
12
956
