Kabul, 22 August 2005 - Today, more
than 400 local representatives from around Afghanistan meet in Kabul to
exchange development ideas and experiences from around the country. They
are all involved in development projects through the National Solidarity
Programme, NSP, a flagship programme created by the Afghan Government with
the support of the World Bank.
During the four day conference, the
men and women elected to represent their districts will meet with President
Hamid Karzai and members of cabinet to address and discuss development
issues, and the future NSP programme. Six women and ten men from DACAAR's
NSP areas are among the participants in the first national conference set
up by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in cooperation
with DACAAR and other facilitating partners.
DACAAR, working in close cooperation with Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, has been involved in NSP since early 2003, shortly after the programme was launched leading up to the elections by introducing local democratic elections. Since then, DACAAR has facilitated the establishment of almost 500 community development councils in the western Herat and Badghis provinces, and Laghman, Paktia, and Ghazni provinces in east Afghanistan.
The role of DACAAR and other facilitating partners in NSP is to ensure that representatives for community development councils, both men and women, are democratically elected, and later to provide technical advice and support when communities are selecting and implementing development projects in their area.
NSP introducing the concept of locally elected councils managing grants and development projects has proved to be a success. The programme has strengthened local economy and created new employment opportunities, and involved both men and women in decision making. During the NSP commitment that last for two years in each area tangible development results have been achieved as improved drinking water, bridges, flood protection, electricity and other needs decided for and often carried out locally.
'DACAAR is very proud to be a facilitating partner for the NSP programme, and we see it as a significant contribution to the overall development of Afghanistan. The fact that people of different ethnic groups, both men and women, are being consulted and managing development projects on their own is a major achievement', says Lyn Wan, NSP Manager in DACAAR.
Contacts:
Lyn Wan, NSP Manager
Kabul, Afghanistan
Tel.: (93) (0) 70 29 50 61
Email: lyn.wan@dacaar.org
Alexandra Strand Holm, Public Information
Officer
Kabul, Afghanistan
Tel.: (93) (0) 79 337 753
Email: a.strand.holm@dacaar.org