UNDP-ASGP

Afghanistan Subnational Governance Programme (ASGP) phase-II was launched in January 2010 as a multi-donor assisted project at central and provincial levels. It was designed to support the Government of Afghanistan (GoIRA) to achieve the targets and goals set out in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS), particularly its Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights Pillars. The key objectives of ASGP was to strengthen state and government institutions through capacity development and support to Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) and subnational entities. The second phase of ASGP lasted from January 2010 to December 2014 and was extended through September 2015. According to the final narrative report of the programme the foremost achievement of ASGP II is strengthened capacity of key service providing institutions at the national and subnational levels. ASGP II scaled up the governance capacities of IDLG, Provincial Governors Offices, District Governors Offices, 34 Provincial Councils and 21 municipalities to discharge their functions. It also empowered governors at the provincial and district level and strengthened public administration reform. Notably, the project established donor and stakeholder coordination on subnational governance programming, which helped clarify overall Sub-National Governance programme delivery and strategy. This helped to avoid overlap amongst donor projects; empowered government through improved service delivery; and enhanced connections between local government entities. ASGP II included 5 output areas. Below follows an extract of many, but not all, of the results of the programme from final narrative report (Dox ref. 019933/17). The account of results focusses to a large extent of outputs and activities and there is less of robust information on outcomes and impact. An external evaluation commissioned by Sida questioned to what extent ASGP has contributed to more substantial impact (see further Section 1.4 below). OUTPUT 1: National systems, procedures, and legal frameworks to implement, coordinate, and monitor subnational governance policy are in place ASGP supported the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) through national and international Technical Assistance throughout the project, largely focused on the policy framework and on organizational development. ASGP supported IDLG to develop and implement regulations and policies on areas such as sustainable and effective revenue management system, improved public outreach and communication and civil society engagement. Specific examples of these policies include the Municipal City Service Charges Regulations, Business License Regulation, Revenue Enhancement Guideline, Capacity Development Strategy, Communications Strategy, Public Participation Strategy, and Citizen Awareness and Engagement Guidelines. The regulations and nine operational toolkits for senior provincial and district governance leaders and key directorates developed and has helped to improve the relationship of Provincial and District Governors, Provincial Councils, and Mayors, with IDLG and its Administration and Finance and Human Resources Directorates, and their functions. These nine toolkits include “Tool Kit for Provincial Governor’s Office”; “Tool Kit for Sectorial Development Directorate”; “Tool Kit for the office of Human Resources”; “Tool Kit for the Finance and Admin Directorates, both at national and subnational levels”; “Tool Kit on working norms for the office of Chief of Staff”; “Tool Kit for the Municipalities”; “Tool Kit for the District Governors” and “Tool Kit for the Provincial Councils”. ASGP also supported IDLG’s Local Governance Overview, for new senior officials, which outlines IDLG’s organizational structure and mandate, and the role of these officials and IDLG in coordinating their activities with stakeholders and provincial line departments. IDLG’s policy directorate continued to develop Provincial Strategic Plans (PSPs), with ASGP’s technical and financial support. The PSP involves two phases: profiling, and then planning. The profiling establishes baselines and identifies the position of the province and districts in relation to Government development targets, such as those identified in the NPP and the ANDS, and Government Ministerial policies. The planning phase takes around four months, and involves extensive work in the province and districts, including workshops, field visits, survey and further data collection. During the project period of ASGP, IDLG Policy Directorate has been supported in developing Provincial Strategic Plans (PSP); as a result, 16 PSPs have been developed, finalized and printed for 16 provinces. ASGP has supported IDLG to develop a comprehensive Capacity Development Plan (CDP) for IDLG main office and general directorates; as a result, CDP for IDLG main office has been developed, finalized, endorsed and published. In addition, the CDP for General Directorate for Municipality Affairs (GDMA) has also been developed and approved by IDLG and the CDP for General Directorate of Coordination for Local Council Affairs (GDCLCA) has been developed. With technical support of ASGP and direct coordination of Provincial Governor Offices (PGOs) and district Tashkeel staff, capacity development assessment of 12 provinces (include all districts of selected provinces) has been done and, 7 PGOs have developed their long-term Capacity Development Plans and have got its ownership for the implementation. These CDPs have been developed based on finding and the needs of PGOs and DGOs, as well as outlined the level of existing capacities and desire capacity for the measurement all three levels, individual, organizational and enabling environment or institutional levels. During the ASGP II, 97 coaching sessions were conducted to enable the IDLG Tashkeel staff perform effectively and in a more customer-oriented manner. The ASGP led Coaching & Mentoring sessions targeted Tashkeel staff in Directorates of CIDD, Policy, Gender and HR. Overall, capacity of 1372 staff (male and female) were enhanced to perform better and act in a more customer-oriented manner. IDLG capacity was enhanced both at organisational and individual levels. Individual level capacity assessments took place each quarter, which helped demonstrate enhanced capacity on capacity assessment methodology; gender mainstreaming, office management, communication and computer skills, and report writing and advanced language skills as well as enhance their knowledge on SNG policy, and annual work planning as a result of coaching. ASGP supported IDLG in development and implementation of training action plans at national and subnational level. 519 IDLG Employees have been trained; 256 Afghan civil servants, including 221 District Governors, developed technical skills in their respective subject areas, such as governance for District Governors and financial management for finance directorate personnel. In addition, 246 IDLG employees have been trained in financial management and procurement along with HRM. By September 2015, out of 31 ICT employees, 17 provincial ICT specialists undertook the training. ASGP supported IDLG to finalize and implement a Gender Action Plan, to realize the objectives and activities of the Gender Mainstreaming Plan. ASGP also supported IDLG to develop and implement the Anti-Harassment Policy Guideline, first time in Afghanistan, which identifies various forms of harassment and outlines investigative and disciplinary procedures. By end of project, 22 female Tashkeel personnel from IDLG’s service units and technical directorates received coaching and mentoring. About 48 Tashkeel and other technical personnel at IDLG received training on Gender Mainstreaming and Policy and Public Service Delivery. ASGP also supported IDLG’s Gender Unit to conduct a week-long campaign on the Prevention of Violence against women at the workplace each year. These initiatives resulted in an increase in the professional capacities of female personnel, and greater organizational awareness of gender sensitive policy and service delivery in local governance, and a more inclusive and secure environment for female employees. OUTPUT 2: Provincial Governors Offices and District Governors Offices have capacity to lead and develop, plan and programme, and implement strategies for improving governance, development and security in accordance with ANDS Throughout the project, ASGP continued to support capacity development and governance for Provincial and District Governors’ Offices (PGOs and DGOs) and Provincial Councils (PCs) across Afghanistan, contributing toward shared UNDP-IDLG democratic governance outcomes, including effective and accountable institutions, able to deliver services that foster human development. The Offices of Provincial and District Governor, under the SNGP, lead and coordinate governance, development and security in that province or district, with the Provincial Governor serving as executive head of the Provincial Administration. At the beginning of 2010, ASGP supported IDLG in recruitment and placement of NTAs in 21 provinces. Overall ASGP project has supported PGOs, Municipalities and PCs across the country in hiring 218 NTA staff to support each IDLG entities at the subnational levels focusing on PGO and DGO organizational reform, including Tashkeel retention and development, administrative reform, public outreach, provincial and strategic planning, and public financial management for providing good governance support to improve better service delivery at the provincial level. The end of ASGP filled 2601 Tashkeel staff positions filled in the PGOs, 95 % of some 2736 positions. For DGOs, some 1844 of some 2120 Tashkeel staff positions were filled, or 78%. Female Tashkeel staff numbered some 74 (or 3 % of all employed Tashkeel staff) in the PGOs and some 35 (or 2 % of female Tashkeel staff out of all employed Tashkeel staff) in DGOs. The PGO Tashkeel female employment rates are below the 10% target for PGOs and off target for the 5% target for DGOs. ASGP also supported promotional activities to advocate for female recruitment by focused coaching for female applying for the Tashkeel through the CSC exams, and internship programmes at the PGO and line departments. By September 2015, with technical support of ASGP and NTAs, 29 PGO HR plans include a Gender Mainstreaming Session, and close to the target of 30. Results across the PGO and DGO includes; provincial and districts administrative assembly meetings have become increasingly productive; PGOs & DGOs forum now occur on a regular monthly; Improved leadership and capacity development support to Tashkeel staff and the quality of reporting from DGO- PGO and from PGO to IDLG has also improved; DGOs’ outreach and public hearing have continued; PGO Archive Systems and Data Management improved. ASGP supported 14 PGOs to establish and operationalize Citizen Service Centers (CSCs) which has streamlined citizen access to the PGO and relevant line departments to receive the citizen’s petitions, grievances and needs requests. The CSC is an ASGP-IDLG-PGO initiative that streamlines citizens’ access to the PGO and relevant Line Departments to receive citizens’ petitions, grievances and needs requests, and allows citizens to contribute to PGO decision-making and supports to establish effective and accountable governance. Provincial and Districts public hearing have had an impact on eliminating the gaps between citizens and local government, enable and encouraged people to participate in local planning and implementation, as well as decision making. During the reporting period, ASGP supported district public hearings in Balkh, Samangan, Saripul, Faryab and Jawzjan province and set up mechanism to interact with the public citizen and line departments on their progress, challenges and joint way forward. ASGP support to PDP and PSP helps identify and address Afghanistan’s provincial development priorities, assess gaps in capacity, technical support and resource mobilization and rally Ministries and development partners to collaborate on specific activities that advance shared development outcomes which are aligned with the National Priorities of the Afghan Government. Among Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, all provinces currently have Provincial Development Plans (PDPs), and 16 Provinces have Provincial Strategic Plans (PSPs). By end of ASGP, 29 PDPs utilized a gender mainstreaming session in the development or implementation of the provincial plans. Tashkeel staff of 24 provinces received public finance management training focused on financial and procurement management, budgeting and accounting, and implementation of various budgets (development and operational). The training was organized jointly with Ministry of Finance as pre-requisite to roll out provincial budgeting policy in the respective provinces. OUTPUT 3: IDLG and Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC) have the capacity to coordinate Public Administration Reform (PAR) implementation, and the IARCSC sub-national offices have the capacity to deliver public administration reforms to all sub-national government institutions ASGP has supported provinces to achieve PAR targets and to streamline administrative procedures. During 2010, ASGP supported IARCSC by providing technical and support staff for the IARCSC central office and the regional CSC offices. The positions included Capacity Building Coordinator, M&E Specialist, Database Officer, Provincial Liaison officers, Trainers and Provincial Capacity Building Officers. Furthermore, ASGP supported the CSC regional offices in its institutional capacity development. OUTPUT 4: Provincial and District Councils have the improved capacity to represent citizen interests and monitor sub-national governance ASGP phase II has supported the strengthening the capacity of IDLG’s GDCLCA, and 34 Provincial Councils (elected represents) to enhance transparency and accountability and improve service delivery at the sub-national level. ASGP supported provincial council law amendment through different roundtable and workshops in line with SNG policy for effective role and responsibility of the provincial council in the area of governance and development. As result, PCs members have the right to conduct the oversight based on the law of all the local institution’s activities. Provincial council oversight mechanism has been developed and approved by IDLG with joint efforts made by ASGP, GDCLCA and other stakeholders, oversight role of the provincial council with specific method and mechanism has been enlightened at execution level of the provincial on service and budgeting at subnational level. OUTPUT 5: Municipalities have improved institutional and organizational framework and capacity to collect increasing revenue and deliver basic public services The municipal component’s capacity development work focused on increasing municipalities’ revenue streams and improving basic public services. ASGP support included technical and capacity development specialists embedded in 21 provincial municipalities, and in the Government partner the General Directorate of Municipal Affairs (GDMA), and support to other provincial and district municipal activities. ASGP’s support to GDMA capacity development and governance, across the Kabul institution GDMA, municipal organizations, and individuals within municipalities, resulted in more effective, accountable, and service oriented municipalities, and promoted financial and municipal decentralisation in accordance with the National Priority Programme for Local Governance. Over the last five years, customer satisfaction survey of General Directorate of Municipal Affairs (GDMA) was conducted three times that reflects increase in citizens’ satisfaction of GDMA service delivery. ASGP supported 19 municipalities replace ad hoc performance with plan-based service delivery as Solid Waste Management (SWM) medium term plans for five municipalities, revenue enhancement Strategies and Performance plans prepared for 21 provincial municipalities and 30 district municipalities. ASGP supported development and ongoing implementation of capacity development plans for GDMA (twice) and 21 municipalities, among them, 15 municipalities have gender priorities integrated into their CDP. ASGP supported 21 municipalities to improve service delivery. The ASGP interventions contributed in improvement of administrative service delivery, solid waste management and implementation of some physical projects in partnership with municipality and citizens. ASGP support covering 21 municipalities facilitated restructuring of municipalities, business process re-engineering, and introduction of streamlined service delivery and set up of customer service centres. Customer Service Centre established as” One Stop Shop” for municipal citizen services such as business and property registration and other municipal services in two municipalities and provided technical support for operationalizing in seven municipalities. It resulted in enhanced efficiency in service delivery to municipal clients and increased citizen satisfaction of the municipal service. The most importance package of ASGP in service delivery covered implementation of 35 small service delivery project in partnership with municipalities and citizen where cost sharing mechanisms led to concreted or graveled roads, clean drinking water waters, construction culverts, city toilets etc. in 15 cities benefiting about 182910 local citizens (82680 were female out of them). This approach has brought people much closer to municipalities. ASGPII supported the development and implementation Revenue Enhancement Action Plans (REAP) in 21 provincial and over 30 district municipalities while ASGP also supported initial work for 10 additional district municipal REAPs. With ASGP support, the municipalities replaced ad hoc revenue management practices in municipalities to a plan-based revenue management system. REAP improved municipal capacity to plan for existing revenue potential, manage arrears think of potential sources; meanwhile the measures in REAP encompassed citizen awareness, anti-corruption, stakeholder coordination, service delivery improvement and disciplinary measures for better and worst performers and taxpayers. As municipalities regularly reflected revenue increase during the last 5 years.