Local Governance
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Independent Directorate of Local Governance
(IDLG)
IDLG Monthly E-newsletter
Building Trust & Reaching out to People
In This Issue
Regional Conference
Held…
Bank of Information
Developed for…
Achieving Stability
through Civil Military
Practice
Promoting Gender
Equality
Register! To Elect your
President
Towards Safer
Highways
Snapshots
Municipal…
Volume 3
Issue 8
—August 2013—
Regional Conference Held...
On 21st August Regional Command West (RCWest) facilitated a conference where regional representatives of international community, regional
and provincial commanders of ISAF, provincial
governors of western provinces and representatives of provincial and national government ministries participated.
The conference was called to focus on the upcoming provincial reconstruction team (PRT) closures
in RC-West’s area of responsibility. The conference allowed the provincial governors of the region a platform to address their PRT closure issues
directly with the government representatives at
provincial and national levels as well as present
their concerns to key international stake holders (i.e.
ISAF and International Community representatives).
Since PRTs were not only involved in security operations, but also had tremendous contribution towards development and service delivery on the
local level; therefore, the provincial governor of
Herat, Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, stated in his opening remarks that the conference was not only
meant to address PRT closure issues but also refer
to governance and development related issues.
Addressing governance efforts, the provincial governor of Herat thanked IDLG for its tireless support
to provinces in areas of governance and develop-
ment.
“IDLG is focused on governance, development,
reform and capacity building” the Director General
of Human Resources, Azizullah Qazikhail stated
while addressing the participants. Reflecting on
the achievement of Human resources, he added
that since its establishment IDLG has achieved a
great deal in this area. For instance, 80% of Tashkil
positions have been recruited through a transparent and merit based completion process. Previously political appointments, the district governor and
provincial deputy governor positions are now open
to competition. Anyone fulfilling the eligibility criteria can apply for these two important positions.
In addition, Mr. Qazikhail mentioned that all district governors and provincial deputy governors
are sent abroad for short term capacity development trainings and exposure visits. Representing
the leadership of IDLG, Mr. Qazikhail promised
that IDLG will make sure that voices of local governance entities are heard on the national level
and issues that need immediate actions are followed.
Four provinces in west (Badghis, Ghor, Farah and
Herat) shared their concerns with regard to security, governance and development. They were mainly concerned about the decreasing number of se-
GDCLCA…
Information and
Communication
Technology...
The Governor of Herat and Ghor jotting down while ISAF representatives are listening.
This newsletter is intended to communicate various issues concerning local governance, accomplishments and challenges of IDLG and other
stakeholders to our governmental and non-governmental stakeholders. This monthly publication is open to contributions of organizations
working for strengthening local governance.
Independent Directorate of Local Governance
curity forces in their respective provinces. They also seemed
worried about the gap that is going to be caused by international community retreat. These four provinces urged the government and international community to focus on building
transport, irrigation, electricity and agriculture infrastructures
so that an enabling environment could be created for the public to invest in their respective areas and contribute to the
Volume 3
Issue 8
economic development of the region and county at large.
At the end of the conference, the Governor of Herat, Sayed
Fazlullah Wahidi appreciated the generous support of International Joint Command and Regional Command West for their
generous support and facilitation. He extended his appreciation to IDLG for its support and commitment to conference at
the center. Finally, he thanked all the participants for their
fruitful discussion and bringing the problems forward.
Bank of Information Developed for…
Based on a needs assessment the National Democracy Institute (NDI) developed a database for the
General Directorate of Coordination for Local
Council Affairs (GDCLCA). This database functions
as a bank of information which will be used only by
the employees of GDCLCA. This bank of information has the capacity to host 100 members at a
time.
The employees of this directorate can store and
access official letters, reports, information relating
to provincial councils and biographies of each provincial council member. This database will help the
GDCLCA in acceleration of various efforts it under- Saed Ahmad Khamosh checking through the database while IDLG
takes to support provincial councils. IDLG believes and NDI colleagues are watching
that creation of this bank of information is another
step towards improving of e-governance initiatives in Afghanistan.
Achieving Stability through Civil-Military Practice
In this practice civilian and non-civilian government agencies
come together and address the problems that hamper security, development and rule of law. This practice is believed to
very effective in addressing problems that prevails on the subnational levels. Because decisions are made and followed by
respective government agencies since they are considered
priorities.
On 20th August the provincial governor’s office of Kapisa hosted the first civil-military coordination meeting of eastern region in its conference hall. The Minister of Defense, General
Bismellah Muhammadi, the Ex-minister of Interior, Lieutenant
General, Ghulam Mujtaba Patang, the Director General of
IDLG, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, the Deputy for Provinces of National
Department of Security, Abdul Qayoom Katawazai, the Provincial Governor of Kapisa, General Mehrabudin Safai, the Chairman of Provincial Council, Hussian Sunjny, representative of
Independent Election Commission, the commander of 201
Selab Corps, and governors, security chiefs and commanders
of eastern zone participated in this meeting. It aimed at assessing the progress in areas of security, good governance and
economic development, and discussing the way forward to
further improve the aforementioned areas. Also, they dis-
cussed the creation and maintenance of an encouraging and
secure environment for the upcoming presidential and provincial council elections.
The seven provincial governors of eastern zone including Kapisa briefly talked about their achievements, problems and
challenges pertaining security, governance and development
in their respective provinces. Afterwards, the Director General
of IDLG promised that the issue will be strictly followed in the
center.
In addition to that General Bismellah Mohammadi, Lieutenant
General Ghulam Mujtaba Patang, Abdul Khaliq Farahi and Abdul Qayoom Katawazai stated in press conference that poverty
and unemployment threaten our people and nation more than
Taliban and terrorism do.
Furthermore, the Minister of Defense mentioned that armed
opposition tried extremely hard to make the situation more
volatile and close the important highways. However, due to
tireless efforts of military and police the insurgents were unsuccessful in their efforts. He further stated that ANSF are
highly trained and qualified. Now most of the security operation are undertaken by Afghan police and military without the
tactical support of international forces. “The Afghan led opera-
Building Trust & Reaching out to People
Independent Directorate of Local Governance
Volume 3
Issue 8
tions have yielded better results” he mentioned. General Mohammadi added that
one can conclude that security will be
better in and beyond 2014, because on
one hand the ANFS will be better
equipped; on the other, general public
will be closely cooperating with them.
“The enemies of Afghanistan and some of
the regional intelligence is trying to create
a mistrust between the public and the
government; however, we assure the people of Afghanistan that the Afghan National Army and Police has the ability to defend their country men against insurCivil and military government agencies discussing civ-mil coordination issues.
gent”, General Mohammadi emphasized.
Promoting Gender Equality
Following its Anti-harassment Policy Guidelines launched on
13th March this year, IDLG has further demonstrated its commitment towards facilitating the enhanced participation of
women in subnational governance by calling a National Conference for Female Provincial Council Members. This conference was hosted by the General Directorate for Coordination
of Local Council Affairs (GDCLCA) of IDLG from 2 nd to 3rd September and with financial assistance from USAID through National Democracy Institute. The Minister of Women’s Affairs,
Husen Banu Ghazanfar, the Director of Independent Human
Rights Commission, Dr. Sima Samar, the Director General of
IDLG, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, the Governor of Bamyan, Habiba
Surabi, the IDLG Deputy Minister for Administration and Finance, Abdul Matin Bek, the Director of GDCLCA, Saeed Ahmad Khamosh and women provincial council members from
all over Afghanistan participated in this important event.
The main objectives of the conference were to discuss the
problems female provincial council members face and challenges they have while working on health, education, governance, development, legislative and social issues on the subnational level. Moreover, the participants proposed some recommendations for ensuring the participation of female in all
spheres of state affairs.
“IDLG is working hard to create not only a safe and encouraging work environment but also contribute towards making the
social, political and cultural circumstances favorable for women to participate, function and make important decisions for
the future of their country. For this to happen, IDLG will support the Ministry of Women Affairs, civil society organizations
and other relevant
authorities”
the
Director General of
IDLG stated.
The Governor of Bamyan, Habiba Surabi
a participant of the conference returned
to Afghanistan on 4th August after she
received Ramon Magsaysay Award.
Ms. Surabi is known as the fifty fifth
successful woman in Asia.
Female provincial council members from all over Afghanistan participated in
this conference.
Ramon Magsaysay Award is often regarded as the Asia’s version of Nobel
Prize.
Building Trust & Reaching out to People
Independent Directorate of Local Governance
Volume 3
Issue 8
Register! To Elect Your President
This popular campaign aims at encouraging eligible civilians to
register and get their voting IDs so that they could participate
in the upcoming presidential and provincial council elections.
This campaign officially started in Khost province when the
provincial governor of Khost, Abdul Jabar Naeemi called a
meeting to launch this campaign. Representatives of Independent Election Commission and civil society, members of
provincial council, tribal elders, employees of Khost subnational administration, women, youth, teachers and students participated in this event.
The governor of Khost stated that with the support of people,
the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) has managed to
maintain security at the center and districts of Khost. Now
people have confidence in the government because it has
achieved considerably in areas of governance, development,
security and service delivery. He further added that the
achievements of the government have created an encouraging
environment for the public to register for the upcoming presidential and provincial council elections. Mr. Naeemi announced that civilians can register at any district of Khost;
since 175 voter registration centers have been opened all over
Khost. To increase the public awareness on the local level, the
Governor of Khost pledged the support of religious scholars,
tribal elder, civil society, Imams of Mosques, teachers and other well-known people.
“The general public should consider the upcoming election as
a positive competition, and must participate to elect a presi-
dent who can work for the betterment of the nation in its real
sense” the chairman of Khost provincial council, Abdul Kareem
Khaksar stated while addressing the participants.
Appreciating the efforts of Khost provincial governor’s office,
the chairman of Independent Election Commission, Abdul Rahman Muhib said that dedication of one month for increasing
the awareness of people to register and get voting IDs is a
great initiative. He added that voting ID distribution centers
will be open and any Afghan who is 18 or going to be 18 years
old at the time of election can get their voting ID cards and
participate in the election.
Finally, on behalf of religious scholars, Mawlawi Abdul Qudus
asked civilians to participate in upcoming elections and stated
that voting is our Islamic duty. He emphasized on this fact and
added that people must fulfill their Islamic duty. According to
him the participation of Afghan civilians in presidential and
provincial
council elec- Such campaigns will start soon
tions is a very
in other province as we apimportant
step towards proach the upcoming election.
strengthening
the democracy and contributing towards the development of
country by electing the right person.
After the event hundreds of people went to register and get
voting ID cards to participate in the upcoming elections.
The Governor of Khost, Abdul Jabar Naeemi addressing the participants to register and get their voting IDs
Building Trust & Reaching out to People
Independent Directorate of Local Governance
Volume 3
Issue 8
Towards Safer Highways
A meeting was held on 19th August in Wardak PGO where the provincial governors of Kandahar, Ghazni and Logar participated. The
meeting aimed at discussing and finding out the problems that has
sustained insecurity on Kabul-Kandahar Highway. Certain decisions
were made to solve the problems of insecurity on the mentioned
highway.
To follow up on the meeting of 19th August, on 26th August the Senior Security Ex-deputy Minister of Ministry of Interior, General Abdul Rahman Rahaman along with a delegation visited the Governor
of Wardak, Abdul Majid Khogyani. Mr. Khogyani welcomed the delegation led by General Rahaman and thanked them for taking action
and starting this important endeavor.
The delegation officially started its activities. Among other things
The Governor of Wardak and Senior Security ExGeneral Rahman took some disciplinary action against some securideputy Minister of Ministry of Interior discussing follow
ty personnel while others were admired for their tireless efforts in
up activities of Kabul-Kandahar highway security.
terms of maintaining security.
Snapshots
Municipal Law: The law has been discussed in two meetings of the cabinet. Certain comments have been made which will be
integrated before it is considered for the next cabinet meeting.
Municipal Regulations: Six regulations are developed for municipalities which were also discussed during the cabinet meeting.
Municipal Advisory Boards: Following Charikar, Herat and Mazar-e Sharif, municipal advisory boards have also been established in Jalalabad and Kandahar as an interim measure to the elected municipal council.
Working Committees: Within Jalalabad municipal advisory board, working committees have been established for governance,
service delivery, revenue and complaints.
Provincial Councils Law: The law is with Parliament. GDCLCA has met with Lower and Upper houses of the Parliament to discuss the inclusion of accountability and monitoring functions of provincial councils in the law.
District Coordination Council (DDC): DDC policy and terms of reference are still awaiting cabinet agenda. In the mean time
GDCLCA has drafted an implementation framework for roll out of DCC.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT): Standard ICT Network System project has been implemented in Nimroz,
Ghor and Daikundi provincial governors’ office. This project will enhance communication between IDLG and provincial governors’ offices .
Our Vision: IDLG’s vision is to make a difference in the lives of Afghan citizens by
providing them good governance.
Independent Directorate of Local
Governance (IDLG )
Address: Charahe-e Aryana, Beside Italian
Embassy, Kabul
Email: newsletter@idlg.gov.af
Telephone #: 0202104703
Our Mission: IDLG’s mission is consolidating peace and stability, achieving development and equitable economic growth and achieving improvements in
service delivery through just, democratic processes and institutions of good
governance at subnational level
Our Mandate: Improving subnational governance in order to achieve stability, security and development. Providing good governance at subnational
level. Establishing and strengthening government institutions at subnational
level. Ensuring public participation in decision making
Building Trust & Reaching out to People