Local Governance in Afghanistan: A View from the Ground

Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit
2011
1. Introduction
Contemporary Afghanistan is a complex environment characterised by powerful and competing
agendas. The post-2001 political environment presents new possibilities, but brings with it new forms
of complexity as the country engages with a new government, a new constitution and unparalleled
resource flows. In recent years, efforts at state-building and development have been complicated
by the emergence of a rejuvenated insurgency and large areas of the country have become less, not
more, stable. As numbers of civilian and military deaths increase with each passing year, Afghanistan’s
externally-supported government is failing to achieve widespread public acceptance. A decade on
from the fall of the Taliban, the country remains one of the poorest in the world (ranking 155th on
the United Nation’s Human Development Index 1 ) and will be dependent on international aid for years
to come.
Despite the increasing level of conflict, major positive changes have happened over the past ten
years. A great deal of road construction has taken place across the country and a paved ring road is
nearing completion. Airports have been improved. A rudimentary but effective health system has been
created from scratch. Every year, more boys and girls are attending schools and more teachers, both
male and female, are graduating from training institutes. Even the more remote parts of the country
now have access to communications in the form of radio, television and mobile phones. Electrical
distribution to the cities has been improving. GDP is expanding rapidly, albeit from a low base.
However, the key issue of sustainability continues to hover over much of the development taking
place in post-2001 Afghanistan. The country is dependent on large inflows of development aid and,
setting aside opium, on an economy that is largely devoted to serving the substantial foreign military
and civilian presence in the country. 2 In particular, there has been heavy investment in building a
strong, centralised system of government focused in Kabul-based institutions. The critical question is
whether this approach will ultimately be able to produce a sustainable, effective governance system
that can respond to the wishes of its people.
Since it was founded in 2002, the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has maintained
a keen research interest in the development of governance in Afghanistan. Produced in conjunction
with the World Bank, 2004’s Guide to Government in Afghanistan primarily focused on the structures
and procedures of central government, 3 but also provided an assessment and recommendations for
the local government structures of the time. 4 In the following year, Sarah Lister explored the roles,
powers and resourcing of local government, 5 and went on to assess progress in Public Administration
Reform (PAR). 6 Her findings still bear relevance, as does a further paper she wrote with Hamish
Nixon highlighting the need for clarity in provincial planning and the nature of provincial governance
structures. 7 This was followed by a six-province study in 2007 that addressed issues including foreign
1 More detail at http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/AFG.html (accessed 9 June 2011).
2 The United States’ annual expenditure on service contracts to maintain its presence in Afghanistan is said to be in the
region of US$14 billion per annum, a sum equivalent to that of Afghanistan’s GDP. This was confirmed through personal
communication with US sources.
3 Anne Evans, Nick Manning, Yasin Osmani, Anne Tully and Andrew Wilder, A Guide to Government in Afghanistan (Washington,
DC: The World Bank and the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2004).
4 Anne Evans, Nick Manning, Yasin Osmani, Anne Tully and Andrew Wilder, “Subnational Administration in Afghanistan:
Assessment and Recommendation for Action” (Kabul: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2004); Anne Evans and Yasin
Osmani, “Assessing Progress: Update Report on Subnational Administration in Afghanistan” (Kabul: Afghanistan Research and
Evaluation Unit, 2005).
5 Sarah Lister, “Caught in Confusion: Local Governance in Afghanistan” (Kabul: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2005).
6 Sarah Lister, “Moving Forward Assessing Public Administration Reform in Afghanistan” (Kabul: Afghanistan Research and
Evaluation Unit, 2006).
7 Sarah Lister and Hamish Nixon, “Provincial Structures in Afghanistan: From Confusion to Vision” (Kabul: Afghanistan
Research and Evaluation Unit, 2006)
Local Governance in Afghanistan: A View from the Ground
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