Report - United States Department of Defense

UNCLASSIFIED
budget rose from 39 percent in 2010 to about 52 percent in 2012. Under the TMAF, GIRoA is
expected to improve its budget execution rate to 75 percent by 2017. Considering the 50/80
declaration from the Tokyo Conference (50 percent of donor funding to be “on-budget” and 80
percent of donor funding aligned with approved National Priority Programs), the noted budget
execution goal for the Afghan government could prove challenging.
Constrained public financial management capacity remains one of the difficult challenges that
hinder public-sector program implementation and public service delivery. Specifically, GIRoA
cites capacity constraints at the national and sub-national levels; weak planning and budget
formulation; donor earmarking of funds and funding delays; and communication challenges
across ministries, donors, and sub-national entities as key challenges.
3.4: RULE OF LAW
The United States and coalition partners conduct a broad range of programs that promote the rule
of law (RoL) in Afghanistan. DoD’s RoL efforts include field support to civilian RoL teams;
training for judges, prosecutors, defense counsels, and corrections officials; providing necessary
infrastructure for courts and prisons; and training MoI police forces in aspects of law
enforcement, from investigations to community policing. However, RoL continues to be one of
GIRoA’s weakest areas, where progress remains difficult to see.
USAID’s RoL program has three main components: building the capacity of the formal justice
and traditional dispute-resolution systems; promoting governmental and civil society anticorruption
measures, and promoting human rights. The RoL portfolio has both national and subnational
impact, and promotes RoL institutionally and at the grassroots level.
The Department of State (DOS) funds projects focused on six lines of effort: formal justice
sector capacity building; corrections reform; major crimes; legal education; civil society and
access to justice; and gender justice. Other agencies, such as the Department of Justice,
Treasury, and Commerce, provide subject matter experts to advise and train key members of
Afghanistan’s justice system.
The RoL mission is shared among several military and civilian RoL actors, including USAID
and the entities within the DOS focused on rule of law. Military actors include the U.S. Forces-
Afghanistan’s Rule of Law Field Force – Afghanistan (ROLFF-A), as well as the NATO
companion military force, the NATO Rule of Law Field Support Mission Afghanistan
(NROLFSM-A); International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition partners, ISAF
Regional Commands, and NTM-A. Civilian actors include the USG; coalition civilians working
in the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs); the United Nations Assistance Mission
Afghanistan (UNAMA), including the United Nations’ agencies in Afghanistan; the World
Bank; donor countries; NGOs; GIRoA; Afghan civil society; and other justice officials.
Although NATO policy authorizes UNAMA to take the lead on civilian governance and RoL
issues, its capacity to lead and execute programs is limited.
The Rule of Law Field Force—Afghanistan (ROLFF-A) was established to unite USFOR-A and
U.S. Embassy efforts, ensuring a more unified approach to civilian-military RoL efforts.
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