A to Z Guide to Afghanistan Assistance 2012 - the Afghanistan ...

The A to Z Guide to Afghanistan Assistance
healthcare facilities, and 2) to promote a redistribution of health services by providing equitable
access based on population density.
The BPHS entails basic services at low cost and addresses the main causes of morbidity
and mortality. It has a strong focus on conditions that affect women and children. In line with
Afghanistan’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, p. 55), the BPHS aims to provide health
services to all Afghans, especially those who are poor and live in remote and rural areas.
In agreement with its major donors—primarily the World Bank, USAID, and the European
Commission—the MoPH has contracted NGOs to deliver the BPHS in 31 out of 34 provinces and
has contracted its own Provincial Health Offices to deliver the BPHS in three provinces.
The defined package is offered by six levels of facility: 1) health posts, 2) health sub-centres, 3)
mobile health teams, 4) basic health centres, 5) comprehensive health centres, and 6) district
hospitals. The BPHS also provides standards for staffing and infrastructure reconstruction and
rehabilitation for these facilities. The BPHS was revised in 2010; major changes included the
introduction of primary eye care, private psychosocial counseling and physiotherapy at BPHS
health facilities.
According to the 2007/8 National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, approximately 57 percent of
the Afghan population lives within one-hour walking distance of the nearest public health facility.
Berlin Meeting and Declarations
On 31 March–1 April 2004, Afghanistan’s major donors and development partners attended
a meeting in Berlin at which the Afghan government presented a major fundraising document,
entitled Securing Afghanistan’s Future (SAF). The document concluded that the funds required
to rebuild Afghanistan to a stage where it is a self-sufficient and stable state were approximately
$27.4 billion over the following seven years—substantially more than the $15 billion over ten years
requested at the January 2002 Tokyo Ministerial Meeting (p. 73). At the Berlin meeting, donors
pledged $8.2 billion for the following three years and met the government’s immediate need of
$4.2 billion for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
In addition to discussing the SAF document, the Berlin Meeting gave the Afghan government
an opportunity to give a progress report on the implementation of the Bonn Agreement (p. 27)
and to present its current plan. “The Way Ahead: The Work Plan of the Afghan Government” set
out an ambitious agenda for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (see ANBP, p. 17);
election-related activities; and initiatives for public administration, fiscal management, economic
and social development, gender, counter-narcotics, rule of law, and human rights.
The participants at the meeting signed the Berlin Declaration, in which the international community
committed to continue supporting the Afghan government in its mission to implement the Bonn
Agreement, improve the security situation, and move forward with its development agenda. A
further agreement, the Berlin Declaration on Counter Narcotics, was signed by Afghanistan,
China, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. In this declaration, Afghanistan
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