SIGAR

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
to review, align, and suggest revisions to strengthen the country’s depositinsurance
program as it relates to mobile-money banking. Also this quarter,
FAIDA and Roshan Telecommunication Company helped the Ministry of
Labor, Social Affairs, Martyred, and Disabled launch mobile-money payments
of 4,500 employee salaries. 744
Assistance in Building Afghanistan by Developing Enterprises
USAID’s $105 million, Assistance in Building Afghanistan by Developing
Enterprises (ABADE) program aims to help small-to-medium enterprises
(SMEs) add jobs, increase investment, and improve sales of domestic products
and services through public-private alliances (PPAs). ABADE has two
components: implementing approved PPAs and identifying, selecting, and
supporting the alliances with technical assistance and business advisory
services; and working with the government to improve the environment
for business. 745
In FY 2016, ABADE reported 49 PPAs were formed worth $85.5 million,
more than 85% of which was invested by private-sector partners. Of the 116
PPAs whose deliverables were completed, ABADE contributed $10.2 million
of USAID funds (including $4.5 million worth of equipment transferred
to alliance partners), while more than $77.5 million was invested by the
SMEs—more than a 7-to-1 ratio. Also during this time, ABADE provided
technical assistance and nine training programs. Five aimed to improved
women’s skills in the information and communication technology, and
health sectors. The others focused on food safety, marble cutting and polishing,
and new construction materials and technologies. Cumulatively in
FY 2016, ABADE trained 174 people and 105 SMEs. 746
EDUCATION
After suffering decades of upheaval in the 1980s and 1990s, Afghanistan’s
public education system has since 2002 become one of Afghanistan’s success
stories, according to the World Bank. The number of boys and girls
enrolled in school has increased dramatically, as have the numbers of teachers
and schools. However, the education sector faces many challenges.
The World Bank reported that only about half of all registered schools
in Afghanistan have proper buildings, and only 55% of teachers meet the
minimum requirements with the rest receiving in-service training. While
the sector is growing steadily, the quality of education and administration
remains weak. 747
In a December 18, 2016, interview, Minister of Education Assadullah
Hanif Balkhi said that after adjusting numbers for more than three million
permanently absent registered students from school records, only six million
students were actually attending classes in Afghanistan. Former Deputy
Minister of Education Sediq Patman added that the numbers touted by the
REPORT TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS I JANUARY 30, 2017
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