SIGAR

GOVERNANCE
independent news and public affairs information, and (5) increased CSO
organizational capacity. 463
This quarter, ACEP sponsored a two-day conference that brought
together over 400 civil-society, media, and government representatives
from all 34 Afghan provinces. According to USAID, the conference was an
opportunity to discuss current engagement among CSOs, media organizations,
and government agencies, and foster improved future coordination
and cooperation. ACEP also sponsored 34 emerging Afghan civil-society
leaders for a 10-day study tour to Sri Lanka to expose the participants to
youth activities carried out by other organizations and governments. ACEP
sponsored a three-day training for ACEP-supported CSOs that focused on
results-based monitoring, management, and development of logical frameworks
to assist with reporting outcomes. 464
ACEP recently released a baseline study on the enabling environment for
CSOs in Afghanistan. The study focused on the legal framework, the sociocultural
environment, governance, and financial viability that influence CSO
development and activities. Using interviews and case studies, the data
were used to generate factor-specific scores between -1 (wholly unsupportive
of CSO activity) and 1 (wholly supportive). Overall, the baseline study
found an overall enabling environment score of 0.33 (somewhat supportive).
Corruption, insufficient CSO and government capacity and technical
expertise, poor CSO interactions with government, rule of law challenges,
access to funding, and the tying of donor-driven priorities to funding were
cited as the main obstacles to CSO activities. On the positive side, CSOs
report they increasingly coordinate with each other (in line with donor priorities)
and are able to attract more volunteer support. 465
The scores for the four main factors were: legal framework (0.31) with
ease of CSO registration the highest sub-factor and the extent to which
taxes are fair, efficient, and transparent the lowest sub-factor; socialcultural
environment (0.65) with the extent to which CSOs successfully
influence government the highest sub-factor and the extent to which CSOs
are seen as independent and professional the lowest sub-factor; governance
(0.17) with the extent to which CSOs collaborate with each other and the
government the highest sub-factor and the extent to which the environment
supports CSO involvement in service provision and the extent to which
corruption does not affect the work of CSOs the lowest sub-factors; and
financial viability (0.2) with the extent to which CSOs are financially independent
the highest sub-factor and the extent to which CSOs are able to
access funding the lowest sub-factor. 466
There were some discrepancies between quantitative survey results
and qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews and focus group
discussions. For example, while CSO respondents gave community support
a high score in the survey, CSO members spoke of the hostility they
experienced from more conservative elements in society that regarded civil
REPORT TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS I JANUARY 30, 2017
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