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Home » Focus Areas » Promotion of participatory urban planning, management and governance » Activities » Emergency Infrastructure Reconstruction Project Municipal Public Works Programme
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Years of conflict and neglect have left a large part of Afghanistan's physical infrastructure destroyed or damaged. The extent of damage is most visible in urban areas of the country where basic services have ceased to function. |
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Partner: Government: Government of Afghanistan
Local Authorities: Municipalities of Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif
International Organizations: World Bank, UN-HABITAT |
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Cost: $ 3,300,000 |
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 Background
Years of conflict and neglect have left a large part of Afghanistan's physical infrastructure destroyed or damaged. The extent of damage is most visible in urban areas of the country where basic services have ceased to function. Local administration bodies face severe challenges in meeting the growing demand for services arising from the influx of returnees to the urban centres. The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MUDH), on behalf of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan, requested UN-HABITAT to implement the IDA-funded Emergency Infrastructure Reconstruction Project (H007-AF) through the Municipal Public Works Programme. The basic premise of the programme is that the growing humanitarian needs of the urban population should be addressed by creating job opportunities while making every effort to contribute to the revival of a functioning local government. The project developed manuals and established processes for the municipalities to undertake a wide range of public works with the participation of communities. This programme undertook community participatory infrastructure repairs and construction as a means of improving quality of life, and in the process strengthened the capacity of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and the five target municipal authorities to identify, supervise, monitor, and/or manage priority public works projects in consultation with communities. The implementation strategy is guided by three broad considerations: government leadership and capacity strengthening; participatory planning; and integration of project activities with city-level planning and programming. The objective was to create 10,000 person-months of short-term employment and implement 150 sub-projects.
Activities
A Project Steering Committee and a joint project implementation team, both located within the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, and a Programme Office in each Municipality were established as a way of enhancing government leadership and ownership of the Programme within local authorities. Community consultation processes were established, taking advantage of UN-HABITAT's long-standing experience in the country. Project implementation manuals and training materials and manuals were prepared and on-the-job training of municipal staff on project development and monitoring was given. A series of community consultations were organized as part of needs identification and sub-project design (including determining of standards vis-a-vis cost, engineering details so that special needs of physically impaired people can be addressed, etc.).
Results
As a result of the programme, Ministry and municipal staff are now better equipped to manage the implementation of small-scale public works programmes at the city level. The trust and working relationship between Ministry field offices, municipalities and communities has been enhanced. There has been visible improvement in the quality of life of residents of the target municipalities. The programme generated 13,000 person-months of employment through 104 sub-projects in the 5 municipalities over the project period of 18 months. Communities are now better able to identify priorities, mobilize their own resources and negotiate with municipalities and the Ministry. The success of this programme is reflected in the fact that the Ministry is adopting a similar approach in its national urban upgrading programme. |
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