Strengthening the sub-national systems of governance and service delivery

is vital for achieving development and security in Afghanistan, says a World Bank report released today.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21414488~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html?cid=EXTSARAlert1
According to the report - Service Delivery and Governance at the Sub-National Level in Afghanistan - the key constraints to strengthening sub-national systems in the country are the absence of a clear policy framework regarding its desired institutional structure, and a strategy to implement it.

Highly centralized ministries are responsible for delivery of most key services in the country. The report says the ministries tend to be over-centralized, with their offices in Kabul retaining functions which could be performed much more efficiently at the lower levels of government.

“Afghanistan has done tremendously well in rolling out numerous local investment and service-delivery programs,” said Alastair J. Mckechnie, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan. “However, co-ordination is difficult and sustained service delivery has been hard to achieve. This report stresses the importance of reorganizing the sub-national structure to ensure that functions are divided between the ministries’ Central offices and the Provincial Departments in order to improve their efficiency.”

In a number of cases this is likely to involve the deconcentration of various powers and functions of the Line Ministries from Central to Provincial level. In fact, in some cases this is already underway. The Ministry of Education, for example, is currently in the process of deconcentrating teacher recruitment to the provincial level.
“While the report suggests that it is imperative that greater and more disciplined effort be placed on reorganizing the sub-national system, it is important to note that this can be done within the current structure of government by placing a greater focus on sub-national needs,” said Mckechnie.

This current sub-national system co-exists with the Provincial Governor structure which allows the Governors to intervene in the affairs of the Ministries through a number of channels. For instance, the Provincial Governors hold extensive powers over the appointments of civil servants to Departmental positions in their provinces and also have approval powers for all expenditures of all the Provincial Departments funded from the core budget.

It is vital, the report says, to strengthen and consolidate the role of the office of the Provincial Governor in the areas of coordination and planning. At the same time, the report argues that their role should be limited with respect to the exercise of functional, budget, and operational authority in the delivery of main services as this interferes with effective operation of the line ministries at the provincial level. In addition, the report calls for strengthening the oversight role of the elected Provincial Councils to ensure checks and balances over service delivery agencies.
The report also says the weakness of the sub-national system is aggravating the country’s security problems. “It has allowed militia commanders and criminal elements to assert themselves, undermining local governance and service delivery,” said Roland White World Bank Senior Institutional Development Specialist and author of the report. “Establishing a robust and institutionalized system of government that can be expanded and deepened within the provinces is absolutely pivotal to achieving progress in respect to security, governance and development.”
The report points out that security-driven projects, which focus mainly on the rapid creation of physical assets using non-government systems, have sometimes conflicted with government institutions and processes. And, where successful programs have generated institutional capacity at the sub-national level, questions over their future are lingering. The report says there is great uncertainty of what will happen to the thousands of Community Development Councils (CDCs) established under the National Solidarity Program (NSP) when their current funding runs out.
“The CDCs face an uncertain future as they depend on NSP for their funding,” said Mariam Sherman, World Bank Country Manager for Afghanistan. “It is critical that the future of these local community-level governance and service delivery organizations are considered so that they can be given sufficient resources to play their ascribed roles.”
The report argues the current system is inequitable. For example, the budget allotment figure for health for the province of Panjsher is nearly twenty times that of Sar-e-Pul. Similarly, the budget allotment for education is six times greater for Paktika than for Daikundi. The report argues that the successful Provincial Budgeting pilot should be expanded to begin to address these and other budgetary issues at the sub-national level.

Key Findings & Recommendations:

- Highly centralized ministries are responsible for delivery of most key services in the country
- Ministries tend to be over-centralized, with their offices in Kabul retaining functions which could be performed much more ef! ficiently at the lower levels of government
- Report calls deconcentration of various powers and functions of the Line Ministries from Central to Provincial level
- Security-driven projects, which focus mainly on the rapid creation of physical assets using non-government systems, sometimes conflict with government institutions and processes
- The current system is inequitable; budget allotments in key sectors such as health and education differ from province to province.

For Dari and Pashto versions, go to bottom of following page:

http://www.worldbank.org.af/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/AFGHANISTANEXTN/0,,contentMDK:21413954~menuPK:305990~pagePK:2865066~piPK:2865079~theSitePK:305985,00.html?cid=EXTSARAlert2