Report - United States Department of Defense

UNCLASSIFIED
SECTION 3 – GOVERNANCE
GIRoA’s ability to provide stable, effective, and responsive governance is slowly improving, but
faces considerable challenges, including corruption at various levels, ineffective program
monitoring, sub-national budget shortfalls, an inability to generate revenue sufficient to cover the
cost of government operations, and limited public financial management capacity. Weak
cooperation between the national and sub-national levels of governance hampers significant
long-term sustainability and undermines public confidence. Limited human capacity, together
with a lack of appropriate formal training and education within the civil service and Afghan
populace, continue to impede the development of stable and sustainable government across the
country.
The concentration of power in Kabul and the lack of coordination between the different
governmental bodies and the sub-national elements continue to limit effectiveness and
legitimacy. National institutions are developing but still lack the necessary checks and balances.
At the sub-national level, official government services are largely restricted to provincial and
district centers, despite efforts to improve capacity and project governance services to rural
areas. GIRoA’s inability to provide services currently managed by the international community
threatens the management, oversight, delivery, and operation and maintenance of these services
during and after transition.
During this reporting period, GIRoA continued to work towards meeting the commitments set at
the Tokyo Conference in July 2012, including drafting the concept paper for implementing the
Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework (TMAF), finalizing the Aid Management Policy
(AMP), and continuing to move the remaining six National Priority Programs (NPPs) through
the approval process. 28 The NPPs outline Afghan strategic security, governance, and
development reforms, as well as service delivery priorities. Four of the six remaining NPPs were
endorsed by the UN-Afghan Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) on February 12,
2013; one from the Governance Cluster and three from the Socio-Economic Development
Cluster. The AMP, which aims to improve the delivery and impact of the international delivery
assistance, was also endorsed at the February 2013 JCMB. The remaining two NPPs within the
Governance Cluster, “Transparency and Accountability” and “Law and Justice for All,” are
anticipated to be ready for endorsement at the JCMB tentatively scheduled for June 2013.
However, Afghan compliance with many of the provisions of the TMAF is yet to be determined.
Fighting corruption, reforming civil governance and enforcing law is imperative for the Afghan
government. During the reporting period, the three branches of the government worked on
Presidential Decree 45 (PD 45), issued in July 2012. This 164-point decree includes 38 anticorruption
related articles. In the eight months since PD45 was released, GIRoA has issued
general press releases with percentages of completion of tasks, but has not issued any detailed
information. Most tasks only require tabling of a report to Cabinet for completion, not achieving
a specific result. Direct inquiries with the ministries/entities indicate that most seem to be
28 The four newly endorsed NPPs, as of February 2013, were “Efficient and Effective Governance,” “Water and Natural Resources,”
“Comprehensive Agriculture Production,” and “National Energy Supply.” 20 of 22 NPPs have now been endorsed.
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