The overall objective (OO) is to improve stability and stimulate
local economic development in target cities through enhancing municipal
governance and strengthening the social contract between citizens and the
state.
The Specific Objective (SO) is to increase sustainable municipal
revenues and strengthen urban management for inclusive service delivery and
local economic development.
The three expected Results (R) are:
R1: Strengthened
municipal capacities and systems for urban planning, land management and municipal
revenue/finance;
R2: Improved
municipal service delivery and strengthened 'social contract' between citizens and municipal
authorities;
R3: Improved
enabling environment for municipal governance, local economic development and service delivery.
Overall impact hypothesis:
·
Land is a fundamental resource in
Afghanistan's cities, yet insecurity of tenure, and uncertainties in access to
and control over it are key drivers of conflict, fragility, and socio-economic
exclusion. Increasing de-facto tenure security produces considerable
socio-economic benefits including improving state-society relations and
stimulating household and city economic development.
·
Medium-term Strategic Municipal Action Planning
(SMAP) is essential for managing urban growth, effective land utilisation and
management, environmental protection, service delivery planning, and
stimulating local economic development, especially in a context of limited
financial resources and socio-political fragility;
·
As donor funds reduce in the coming decade,
greater emphasis will be placed on raising local revenues. Safayi taxation
and business licenses are two cost-effective and sustainable revenue sources
for municipalities. Safayi also supports improved urban land management.
Significant gains can be made in reducing
inefficiencies and stumbling blocks by improving the enabling environment (e.g safayi
regulations);
·
However, citizens will only pay Safayi
tax if they trust that their tax is used accountably and transparently for
inclusive service delivery from which they directly benefit;
·
A virtuous cycle of improved state-society relations
can be fostered where citizens pay tax and municipalities deliver services
accordingly. This can be achieved by simultaneously building the human and
institutional capacity of municipalities (duty bearers) and expanding
opportunities for the meaningful participation of citizens in municipal
decision-making (rights holders);
·
However, the 'virtuous cycle' can also become
predatory and counter-productive to the overall goal, therefore effective and
sufficient systems and safeguards need to be put in place to ensure
transparency and accountability of revenue collection and use;
·
Appropriate national policies and guidelines
(e.g. on land, municipal finance, revenue management and urban planning and
design) buttress improved governance structures for Municipalities. Such
policies and guidelines support improved efficiency and effectiveness within
the operations of municipal and national institutions;
·
Improving state-society relations in cities
significantly contributes to national state building and peace-building
efforts. As nearly 50% of the Afghan population will live in cities by 2060, improvements
in municipal governance and the economy can achieve a significant impact for
millions of Afghans in the long term.
See: UN-Habitat (2015)
Managing Land, Mobilising Revenue, for an overview of the importance of
increasing tenure security along the lines of UN-Habitat's Continuum of Land
Rights.
