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Strengthening institutions for good governance
USAID’s Democracy and Governance program supports the establishment of a broadly accepted national government that promotes national unity and effectively serves the needs of the Afghan people. USAID helps develop the capacity of key institutions including the Independent Electoral Commission, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, and target ministries and institutions of the executive branch such as the Independent Directorate for Local Governance, and the Civil Service Commission. USAID also provides training to Afghan civil society organizations to advocate for society-led reforms.
12 February 2012 | Samangan, Afghanistan
USAID/IPACS II/Counterpart Villagers, district and provincial officials, religious leaders, and members of civil society meet to discuss community needs and methods for community development...
25 January 2012 | Khost, Afghanistan
USAID/RLS-F “Without the knowledge we received about the law at the town hall meetings, I would not know how to solve the problems of...
30 January 2012 | Charikar, Afghanistan
Municipalities in Afghanistan depend on locally generated resources to finance their operational and USAID/RAMP UP During a survey of commercial establishments...
24 December 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID works in close partnership with Kabul’s mayor and municipal staff to enhance the capacities of Kabul Municipality’s administration and management functions.
8 January 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
Since the campaign began, payment of the targeted tax has increased and citizen response to the campaign has been extremely positive.
22 December 2011 | Uruzgan, Afghanistan
In late October, USAID delivered fifty new community garbage containers to the Municipality of Tirin Kot, the USAID/RAMP UP SOUTH A...
2 April 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID/RLS-F Moot Court Event participants. USAID’s RLS–F Program assists the human and institutional capacity of the justice sector, increases the public’s access...
15 March 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID/I-PACS II Advisory committee workshop participants brainstorming roles and responsibilities. On February 9, in Kabul, the USAID-funded Rule of Law Stabilization...
30 January 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID’s ROL-S Formal Judicial Training/Court Administration Component trained 30 judges from Herat (15), Badghis (4), Farah (2), Ghor (7) and Nimroz (2) provinces in Herat...
31 October 2010 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID’s Afghanistan Parliamentary Assistance Project (APAP) is enhancing the capacity of the parliament’s public relations employees to provide high-quality coverage of National Assembly events. A...
15 October 2010 | Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan
Twenty-five judges from Balkh, Faryab, Jawzjan, Samangan, and Sari Pul provinces recently attended a judicial training program held in collaboration with the Afghanistan Supreme Court...
15 October 2010 | Kabul, Afghanistan
Around the world, civil society organizations (CSOs) are in a unique position to advocate on behalf of people whose voices would otherwise go unheard. They...
29 January 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID/RAMP UP East Engineer Leeda Raufi, one of the graduates thanks USAID for providing the training. Twenty-two women engineers and engineering students...
USAID/AMDEP The Nai Executive Director, Abdul Mujeeb Khalvatgar speaks at the Nai Media Institute Opening. In its continuous support of a vibrant...
23 January 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
Frank Petrella/USAID The Director of Information Technology Department at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Mohammad Aimal Marjan speaks at the opening ceremony...
21 January 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
Jeremy Maurer/ USAID USAID Deputy Mission Director Jed Barton and Director of Institute of Diplomacy Hazrat Wahriz inaugurate a newly constructed training facility today...
17 January 2012 | Paktika
U.S. Department of State Ambassador Richard G. Olson and Paktika Governor Mohibullah Samim at a ceremony today. In a ceremony, Ambassador Richard...
11 January 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
S.K. Vemmer/Department of State U.S. Ambassador Hans Klemm, Coordinating Director of Rule of Law and Law Enforcement and Ken Yamashita, Mission Director, USAID, pose...
7 January 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
Students from Herat, Balkh, Al Biruni, and Nangarhar Universities started competing in the USAID-funded Afghan National Rounds of the Jessup International Moot Court Competition in...
13 December 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID/Jean Garland A group of children who participated in the awareness-raising celebration focusing on civic education, rule of law, and justice. In...
12 December 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
Following a two-day meeting in Kabul organized by the Salam Watandar Radio Network, Afghan women broadcasters who manage women-focused radio stations across the country agreed...
30 November 2011 | Kapisa, Afghankistan
USAID/DPK U.S. Ambassador Hans Klemm joins university officials to cut a ribbon at the new USAID-funded moot courtroom at Al Biruni University. ...
BACKGROUND
In the years since the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan has drafted a new constitution and organized presidential, parliamentary, and provincial council elections. The Afghan government is focused on building its capacity to provide basic services to citizens; establishing a more-effective, accountable, and transparent administration at all levels; and implementing measurable improvements in fighting corruption, upholding justice, and increasing the rule of law.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
USAID’s Office of Democracy and Governance projects support participatory processes that involve citizens in national and sub-national governance. Projects promote more-accountable, transparent governance, encouraging national unity and serving the needs of the Afghan people. USAID helps develop the capacity of key institutions, including the Independent Electoral Commission, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, and target ministries and institutions of the executive branch such as the Independent Directorate for Local Governance, and the Civil Service Commission. USAID also provides training to Afghan civil-society organizations to advocate for society-led reforms.
RULE OF LAW AND ANTI-CORRUPTION
USAID’s rule of law project has three main components: building the capacity of the judiciary and the faculties of law and sharia; strengthening the judiciary’s public legal outreach program; and supporting traditional dispute-resolution mechanisms that foster links between the formal and informal justice systems. Corruption issues are addressed specifically through a range of projects to include strengthening the capacity of, and sustaining activities in the High Office of Oversight, by providing ethics training to various actors including civil servants and the judiciary, and by promoting the enforcement of anti-corruption laws and regulations.
A centerpiece of the new project is its support to traditional dispute mechanisms: building community elders’ knowledge of Afghan law, sharia and human rights norms; encouraging alternatives to social practices that are harmful to women and children; and strengthening the connections between state actors and the informal systems. In addition, the program continues to support the Supreme Court by providing professional training to judges and strengthening the capacity of the courts in managing and budgeting.
GOVERNANCE
The overarching U.S. Government objective is to promote a more-capable, accountable, and effective government in Afghanistan that serves the Afghan people and eventually can function with limited international support. The emphasis is on immediately actionable reforms that will deliver recognizable and useful change in the short-term, while also conducting capacity-building and training that builds a base for indigenous, sustained progress in the longer term.
The governance focus spans several areas, including capacity-building assistance and resources to national, provincial, district, and municipal government entities; mechanisms to reform and train the civil service; establishment of operational budgets at the provincial level; technical support to the Afghan Parliament; support to develop community councils at the district level; and assisting elected officials and civil-society groups to inform the citizenry, respond to their priorities, and direct service delivery.
ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL COMPETITION
Transparent, competitive, and credible elections at national, provincial and district levels are a critical component of a democratic system. USAID provides technical support to electoral institutions such as the Independent Election Commission and the Electoral Complaints Commission. It also supports international observation missions, civic and voter education programs, candidate agent training, political parties strengthening, and electoral reform programs through civil society partners, as well as promoting a legitimate, sustainable voter registry system over the long term. Other ongoing efforts include support for issue-based coalition-building, and work on a sub-national level with governors, members of provincial councils, religious leaders, and community organizations on strategic-planning, civic-education, and advocacy.
CIVIL-SOCIETY AND INDEPENDENT MEDIA
USAID promotes the development of a strong and active civil-society sector to help Afghan citizens more effectively participate in the political process, solve community problems, and advocate for good governance. Programs seek to improve the laws that regulate non-governmental organizations, increase civil-society accountability, develop capacity and networks for democratic processes, and increase citizen mobilization and policy engagement.
USAID supports media sector development in Afghanistan to promote the free exchange of information and ideas vital to the democratic process. USAID is building the capacity of broadcast media through technical support, equipment upgrades, hands-on training in balanced and accurate reporting, the development of Afghan media policy/regulatory framework to improve media standards, growth and sustainability, and empower local and individual voices.
Assistance for activities that promote gender equality and the development of women’s civic and political leadership is a priority component of multiple civil-society, governance, rule of law, and political processes programs.
Fact Sheet Democracy and Governance Sector Jun 2011
Fact Sheet Democracy and Governance Sector June 2011 Pashto
Fact Sheet Democracy and Governance Sector June 2011 Dari
Democracy and Governance by Province Dec 2010
Support to Sub-National Governance Institutions
Afghan Electoral Reform Project
Afghanistan Civil Service Support (ACSS)
Afghanistan Local Governance Assistance Project (ALGAP)
Afghanistan Media Development and Empowerment Project (AMDEP)
Afghanistan Municipal Strengthening Program (AMSP)
Afghanistan Parliamentary Assistance Program (APAP)
Afghanistan Rule of Law Project (ARoLP)
Afghanistan Social Outreach Program (ASOP)
Assistance to Afghanistan’s Anti-Corruption Authority (4A)
Building Independent Media in Afghanistan
Capacity Development Program (CDP)
Center of Government (CoG) Project
CityLinks Project
Election Observation Mission – 2010 Wolisi Jirga
Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow (ELECT)
Foreign Affairs Institutional Reform (FAIR)
Governance Annual Program Statement (GAPS)
Initiative to Promote Afghan Civil Society (I-PACS II)
Kabul City Initiative (KCI)
Media Development in Afghanistan
National Media Assessment
On-budget Support for Independent Administrative and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC)
Performance Based Governors Fund (PBGF)
Regional Afghan Municipalities Program for Urban Populations (RAMP UP)
Rule of Law Stabilization Program – Formal Component
Rule of Law Stabilization Program – Informal Component
Strategic Support to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Support for Increased Electoral Participation in Afghanistan
Support to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)
Support to the Elections Process (STEP)
Supporting the International Observation Mission
Survey of the Afghan People
Urban Revitalization Project
Voter Registration and Election Implementation Program
Voter Registration Project (VRP)
Photo: USAID/RLS-Formal
The championship team from Kabul University Law Faculty, along with judges and USAID officials at the National Final Round of the 2011 Phillip C. Jessup Moot Court International Law Competition, held in Kabul Afghanistan.
Photo: WASSA Organization
WASSA is leading development in the western region of Afghanistan and is working to build internal capacity and core sustainability.
Orphanage in Afghanistan attended a twoday workshop that included legal rights training and a field trip to the Kabul Appellate Court.
Photo: USAID/APAP
“My plan is to establish an organization called Law and Democracy, which will be dedicated to legislative affairs. It will conduct research and work toward the strengthening of rule of law in Afghanistan.” — Alyas Hameed Munib
Nine judges and 11 staff members of the Anti-Corruption Tribunal attend a USAID provided computer training program and learn how to apply their knowledge to fight corruption in Afghanistan.
Photo: USAID/RLS-I
Afghan parliamentary journalists participate in radio documentary training.
Photo: USAID/RLS-F
Judges refresh their knowledge at a USAID judicial training session.
CSO representatives practice advocating for their cause during a simulation exercise.
The women’s elders’ network meeting included presentations and discussions in Behsud and Surkh Rod districts.
Before the Asadabad Primary Court, defense attorney Mohammad Taheer argues that his client should receive a lesser sentence.
Sixty-five women – primarily from the villages of Arghandab – discussed women’s roles in resolving village conflicts in Kandahar.
Afghan youth took part in a USAID and Afghanistan National Assembly sponsored Youth Parliamentary session in June. Nearly 90 youth, almost half of them young women, participated in the event.
More than 80 elders came together for their first Elders Network Meeting that included participants from the Behsud and Sukh Rod districts in Nangarhar Province.
Photo: USAID/Afghanistan
Mrs. Laila of Kandahar Province signs the papers legally freeing her from marriage after her husband’s death eight years before.
Journalists who attended the Kandahar trainings work for independent local media, nationally networked TV and radio stations, and international media organizations.
Photo: IRD
Peace building training in Ghazni Province.
The Government has approved the National Action Plan for Women and the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Female Afghan officials in Baghlan learn about the media and its uses.
Photo: USAID/AMSP
Merchants and customers walk along the newly paved road in the Tirin Kot Bazaar.
Arghandab residents listen to the first radio broadcast.
Photo: Robert Sauers/USAID
Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne delivers opening remarks to the audience gathered for the Civil Society Conference 2010 in Kabul.
Photo: IPACS/KHDO
Schoolgirls in Kandahar celebrate their achievements in English and computer courses offered by the Kandahar Health and Development Organization.
Photo: USAID/CEPPS
An editor with the program (left) completes an interview as part of the “Weekly Interview” segment of the website.
Photo: Internews
The successful growth of open media in Afghanistan provides jobs for both men and women.
Photo: USAID/Internews
A group of journalists from Ghor province attend a workshop at Nai’s Kabul training center, with assistance from the Ghor PRT.
Photo: USAID/ASOP
District community council members in Logar present their programs.
The producers and reporters for Salam Watandar’s new Pashto-language service.
Participants continued to debate issues and elect council members during lunch.
Five breakout sessions were used by residents to elect community council members.
Representatives from Kushi district make their concerns known to the Afghan Government.
Photo: USAID/MISPA
Minister of Women’s Affairs Hosn Bano Ghazanfar holds a press conference to mark Elimination of Violence Against Women Day.
Photo: The Asia Foundation
Afghanistan in 2009: A Survey of the Afghan People
Hilmand MPs discuss issues of the day with constituents via radio.
Photo: USAID/ARoLP
Using an Access to Justice Campaign poster, a USAID worker explains women’s right to inheritance to a woman entering a health clinic in Baghlan.
Photo: USAID/CDP
The Afghan delegation meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (center) and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer (far left).
Photo: Government Media and Information Center
Minister of Energy and Water Mohammad Ismail Khan briefs the media at the Government Media and Information Center.
Photo: Dan Wilkinson
Ambassador Wayne speaks with IARCSC students.
The Afghan delegation at the Civil Service College in Singapore.
Photo: USAID/IPACS
Ulema discuss democracy and elections during a radio roundtable.
Photo: USAID/Katya Sienkiewicz
Bamyan’s civil servants receive their certificates.
U.S. Ambassador Eikenberry congratulates an ATVI graduate.
USAID Representative Tanya Urquieta hands a certificate to a KCC graduate.
Afghan MPs met with Northern Ireland Assembly First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Photo: USAID/I-PACS
Mohammad Azam Tariq participates in a radio roundtable with other Ulema.
RTA Farah’s new transmission tower.
RTA Farah’s new FM radio studio.
Photo: USAID/Julie Fossler
Elections workers prepare a woman to vote in Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
In Kabul, men cast their votes in Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
Posters outside of a polling station in Kabul explain the voting process. Afghanistan's presidential and provincial council elections took place on August 20, 2009.
Elections monitors observe the voting process at a Kabul polling station during Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
An elections worker inks a voter's finger during the 2009 presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan.
The Hotak family came out to vote in Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
An elections worker checks a voter's ID card during Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
A man dips his finger in ink at a polling station in Kabul. Presidential and provincial council elections took place on August 20, 2009.
Men and women in Kabul wait to vote in Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
An elections worker explains the voting procedure to a woman about to cast her vote in Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
An elections worker watches over the ballot boxes during Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
An Afghan woman casts her vote during the 2009 presidential and provincial council elections.
A student learns to place rebar at the USAID-funded Kunar Construction Center (KCC), a vocational training institute that offers courses in construction disciplines such as masonry and carpentry.
The Fourth Round of Government Accountability to the Nation was held from March 28-April 13, 2009.
Photo: USAID/Amy Koler
A girl votes during USAID’s mock election.
Authors, editors, and linguists celebrate the launch of the Dari and Pashto Legal Glossary.
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke presents the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award to Prof. Haqmal.
A moot court classroom at Kabul University.
Chancellor of Kabul University Hamidullah Amin and Justice of the Supreme Court Bahaudin Baha cut the ceremonial ribbon dedicating a new moot court classroom.
Photo: USAID/STEP
Voter registration forms are prepared for scanning into the voter database.
Women read a poster that explains 'Access to justice is the right of every man and woman' at the entrance of a health clinic in Baghlan Province.
An IT professional receives a training certificate from Judge Samiullah, advisor to the Supreme Court.
The 4,000-term Glossary of Dari and Pashto Legal Terminology.
Community Cultural Center volunteers distribute information about access to justice, legal rights, and women's rights in Parwan province.
Kunar Construction Center Graduates.
Kunar Governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi congratulates Construction Center graduates and notes that they will strengthen the region’s economy.
Judges gather in Kabul for legal training.
Women in Nangarhar Province read a poster explaining that "access to justice is the right of every man and women." As part of a campaign to raise awareness about women's rights, this message was promoted through broadcast media and on posters, backpacks, comic books, and other items.
Elementary school students in Nangarhar received backpacks emblazoned with women’s rights messages as part of USAID's Women's Access to Justice Campaign.
Graduates of the Kunar Construction Center receive training in carpentry, masonry, electrical work, and painting. All of these skills are in great demand throughout Afghanistan.
Students in Nangarhar Province receive books explaining that "access to justice is the right of every man and woman."
1,500 citizens attended the outreach Shura in Musa Qala, Helmand Province.
Bamyan Governor Surabi congratulates a graduate.
Community leaders, teachers, civil society representatives, university students, and religious leaders discuss women’s rights under Islam.
For many women, the Women Legal Professionals Leadership Workshop provided their first opportunity to meet and network with other women in similar positions.
Minister of Women’s Affairs Hoson Banu Ghazanfar thanked USAID for organizing the workshop and said such trainings are integral to the advancement of women in Afghanistan.
180 women judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, academics, and Ministry of Justice staff attending the first national Women Legal Professionals Leadership Workshop, December 15-17, 2008.
Over 180 female legal professionals from eleven provinces attended the workshop.
USAID trained staff on using the modern broadcast equipment.
A crowd gathers to view the opening of a district communications center in Baghlan province.
تصاویر بیشتر بنابر درخواست قابل دسترس می باشند
Students learned new mapping and information management skills.
Supreme Court Justice Abdul Rasheed Rashid, who heads the court’s public security division, said the FIT program was “extremely helpful” and thanked the U.S. Department of Treasury and USAID.
Twenty judges participated in the two-week Criminal Justice Program in Kabul.
Women voting in Afghanistan's 2004 elections.
The Dutch PRT coordinated the delivery of 12,000 ARoLP legal awareness comic books to elementary schools throughout Uruzgan province.
نقش یاسین پسرجوان و کاکای او کاکا روف در کتاب های تصویری بخش حاکمیت قانون افزایش آگاهی حقوقی را در بین جوانان افغان تقویه می نمایند.
تیم بازسازی ولایتی کشور آلمان در ولایت ارزگان به تعداد 12000 جلد کتاب های تصویری را جهت توزیع برای اطفال مکتب در سراسر ولایت تسلیم نمودند.
The characters in the rule of law comic book sets—young Yassin and his uncle, Kaka Raouf—help raise legal awareness among young Afghans.
The Dutch provincial reconstruction team in Uruzgan delivered 12,000 rule of law comic book sets for distribution to schoolchildren throughout the province.
Study tables at the new INLTC library.
Female judicial candidates attend classes at the Stage in Kabul. The number of women attending the stage has increased nearly 60 percent over last year.
Women voting in Mazar-i-Sharif.
Photo: USAID/Afghanistan.
Community radio stations provide news and information to rural populations.
Photo: USAID
Jalalabad City Business Directory
Journalist covering the opening of the Balkh Dairy Plant in Mazar-e-Sharif, September 2007.
Religious leaders sign letters confirming that financial services are legitimate and Sharia compliant.
Photo: USAID/Bearing Point
Border facility in December 2005
Border Facility in December, 2007
Photo: USAID/LTERA/Emerging Markets Group
A customer with a copy of his digitized title deed.
Photo: USAID/ASMED
Afghan judges and lawyers receive a month of USAID-provided training on commercial law.
Peace Message Radio provides volunteer internship opportunities to high school and university students wanting to gain experience in journalism.
Develop capacity to improve administrative procedures, hire civil service professionals, and improve service delivery
Train judges and strengthen the Supreme Court to manage its caseload more transparently and efficiently
Support the National Assembly for more effective oversight of the budget and legislative processes
Improve municipalities' basic service delivery for trash collection, road maintenance, and water distribution
Train civil-society and providing grants to local non-governmental organizations
Fund community radio stations and training journalists
(Data as of June 2011)
Last updated22 Feb 2012
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