This report evaluates the outcomes of World Bank Group support to Afghanistan from 2002-11. Despite extremely difficult security conditions, which deteriorated markedly after 2006, the World Bank ...Group has commendably established and sustained a large program of support to the country. The key messages of the evaluation are:While World Bank Group strategy has been highly relevant to Afghanistans situation,beginning in 2006 the strategies could have gone further in adapting ongoingprograms to evolving opportunities and needs, and in programming activities sufficientto achieve the objectives of the pillars in those strategies.Overall, Bank Group assistance has achieved substantial progress toward most ofits major objectives, although risks to development outcomes remain high. Impressive results have been achieved in public financial management, public health,telecommunications, and community development; substantial outputs have alsobeen achieved in primary education, rural roads, irrigation, and microfinanceallstarted during the initial phase. Bank assistance has been critical in developingthe mining sector as a potential engine of growth. However, progress has beenlimited in civil service reform, agriculture, urban development, and private sectordevelopment.The Bank Groups direct financial assistance has been augmented effectively byanalytic and advisory activities and donor coordination through the AfghanistanReconstruction Trust Fund. Knowledge services have been an important part ofBank Group support and have demonstrated the value of strategic analytical work,even in areas where the Bank Group may opt out of direct project financing.With the expected reduction of the international presence in 2014, sustainabilityof development gains remains a major risk because of capacity constraints andinadequate human resources planning on the
civilian side.To enhance program effectiveness, the evaluation recommends that the Bank Group help the government develop a comprehensive, long-term human resources strategy for the civilian sectors; focus on strategic analytical work in sectors that are high priorities for the government; assist in the development of local government institutions and, in the interim, support the development of a viable system for servicedelivery at subnational levels; assist in transforming the National Solidarity Program into a more sustainable financial and institutional model to consolidate its gains; help strengthen the regulatory environment for private sector investment; and scale up IFC and MIGA support to the private sector.Chapter AbstractsChapter 1This chapter examines the country context, including continuing conflict and insecurity, poverty, and the role of development partners and non-state actors (civil society and humanitarian organizations) in Afghanistan. It examines coming transitions in security arrangements, including political and economic transitions. It outlines the evaluation methods used, as well as limitations. Chapter 2This chapter deals with the World Bank Group strategy and program, the Bank Groups operational program, portfolio performance, analytic and advisory activities review, the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund, and the new Interim Strategy Note, as well as previous Transitional Support Strategies and ISNs.Chapter 3This chapter examines the building of state capacity and state accountability to its citizens, specifically issues such as results and shortcomings in public financial management, public sector governance, and health and education. The World Bank Group contribution is highlighted. Risks to development outcomes are discussed. Chapter 4This chapter examines the issue of promoting growth in the rural economy and
improving rural livelihoods, including sectors such as rural roads, agriculture and water. The National Solidarity Program and the Bank Groups contribution to it are discussed. Risks to development outcomes arenoted.Chapter 5This chapter concerns support for the formal private sector, examining the overall investment climate and financial sector. It looks at possibilities for growth in the mining and hydrocarbons sector, information and communications technology, and power sectors. Urban development is also examined. The World Bank Group contribution is highlighted.Chapter 6This chapter provides an overall assessment (relevance, efficacy) of the Bank Groups program in Afghanistan, outlining the internal and external drivers of success (knowledge services, staff capacity, customization of program design to country context, alignment of donor objectives, etc) and weakness. Chapter 7This chapter outlines the lessons for fragile and conflict-affected situations drawing on the specifics of the Afghanistan evaluation case. Recommendations are offered in areas such as labor markets, human resources, strategic-level analytical work vis-a-vis long-term development strategies, and strengthening of the regulatory environment for private sector investment.
Ministers of Finance in post-conflict countries face unique challenges. At a turbulent time when both financial and human resources are limited, what should a finance ministry do - and, more ...importantly, not do? Which countries offer successful examples of reform that can be used as models for finance ministry reform in other countries? Reforming Fiscal and Economic Management in Afghanistan sets out the impressive policy and institutional reforms made by the interim and transitional administrations of Afghanistan since the Bonn conference in November 2001. It explores the complexities of managing the significant amount of development assistance and donor interest while balancing the need to respond to donor priorities and to build strong public-sector institutions. The book demonstrates that the budget must be the primary vehicle for developing and then implementing policy, and shows how this strategy has shaped the renewal of Afghanistan's finance ministry. The volume closes with a specific agenda for finance ministry reform and restructuring. Although this edited volume is focused on Afghanistan, the questions raised have broad relevance for other countries seeking to restart economic and fiscal management following conflict. Reforming Fiscal and Economic Management in Afghanistan will be of great interest to finance ministries, national governments, international and nongovernmental organizations, and research institutions, and to anyone interested in post-conflict reconstruction and reform.
Afghanistan in transition Hogg, Richard; Nassif, Claudia; Gomez Osorio, Camilo ...
2013., 2013, 02-28-2013, 2013-03-07
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Afghanistan will experience a major security and development transition over the next three years. At the Kabul and Lisbon Conferences in 2010, the North Atlantic treaty organization and the Afghan ...government agreed that full responsibility for security would be handed over to the Afghan National Security Forces by the end of 2014. The country now faces the prospects of a drawdown of most international military forces over the coming several years, and an expected accompanying decline in civilian aid as international attention shifts elsewhere and aid budgets in many organization for economic cooperation and development countries come under increasing fiscal pressure. The decline in external assistance will have widespread ramifications for Afghanistan's political and economic landscape well beyond 2014. Ensuring the delivery of services to the Afghan people requires delegating more responsibilities to the provincial level. Only a tiny fraction of the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) budget gets outside the line ministries in Kabul. An important priority moving forward will be enhancing the capacity of provincial offices to participate in budget formulation and key spending ministries to execute their budgets subnationally. Without this, the government may find absorbing a greater proportion of aid on budget and delivering results to its people difficult.
The United States and its allies have been fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan for a decade in a war thateitherside could still win. While a gradual drawdown has begun, significant ...numbers of US combat troops will remain in Afghanistan until at least 2014, perhaps longer, depending on the situation on the ground and the outcome of the US presidential election in 2012. Given the realities of the Taliban's persistence and the desire of US policymakers-and the public-to find a way out, what can and should be the goals of the US and its allies in Afghanistan?Afghan Endgamesbrings together some of the finest minds in the fields of history, strategy, anthropology, ethics, and mass communications to provide a clear, balanced, and comprehensive assessment of the alternatives for restoring peace and stability to Afghanistan. Presenting a range of options-from immediate withdrawal of all coalition forces to the maintenance of an open-ended, but greatly reduced military presence-the contributors weigh the many costs, risks, and benefits of each alternative. This important book boldly pursues several strands of thought suggesting that a strong, legitimate central government is far from likely to emerge in Kabul; that fewer coalition forces, used in creative ways, may have better effects on the ground than a larger, more conventional presence; and that, even though Pakistan should not be pushed too hard, so as to avoid sparking social chaos there, Afghanistan's other neighbors can and should be encouraged to become more actively involved. The volume's editors conclude that while there may never be complete peace in Afghanistan, a self-sustaining security system able to restore order swiftly in the wake of violence is attainable.
Under the Drones Bashir, Shahzad; Crews, Robert D; Tarzi, Amin ...
2012, 2012-08-31, 2012-05-28, 20120101
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Western media coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan paints a simplistic picture of ageless barbarity, terrorist safe havens, and peoples in need of either punishment or salvation. Under the Drones ...looks beyond this limiting view to investigate real people on the ground, and analyze the political, social, and economic forces that shape their lives.
In the beginning of spreading of Islam in todays Afghanistan, some sahaba (companions of the prophet Mohammad) and tâbi’ûn (followers; muslims who saw the sahaba) scholars have been sent to this ...region for teaching the Islamic religion in general and especially Islamic fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). In short time, many famous fiqh scholars were educated from this region, they undertook this duty and continued this education until today. The fiqh education that started in mosques in the begining, continued also in madrasas after some time. Today the fiqh lessons have been included in modern primary, secondary and high schools’ curriculum, as well as the formal and informal madrasas. In higher education, the fiqh classes are included in law faculties’ curriculum as well as shariah (theology) faculties. This article provides informations and evaluations about the mentioned issues.
Afghanistan has held a strategic position throughout history. It has been inhabited since the Paleolithic and later became a crossroad for expanding civilizations and empires. Afghanistan's location, ...history, and diverse ethnic groups present a unique opportunity to explore how nations and ethnic groups emerged, and how major cultural evolutions and technological developments in human history have influenced modern population structures. In this study we have analyzed, for the first time, the four major ethnic groups in present-day Afghanistan: Hazara, Pashtun, Tajik, and Uzbek, using 52 binary markers and 19 short tandem repeats on the non-recombinant segment of the Y-chromosome. A total of 204 Afghan samples were investigated along with more than 8,500 samples from surrounding populations important to Afghanistan's history through migrations and conquests, including Iranians, Greeks, Indians, Middle Easterners, East Europeans, and East Asians. Our results suggest that all current Afghans largely share a heritage derived from a common unstructured ancestral population that could have emerged during the Neolithic revolution and the formation of the first farming communities. Our results also indicate that inter-Afghan differentiation started during the Bronze Age, probably driven by the formation of the first civilizations in the region. Later migrations and invasions into the region have been assimilated differentially among the ethnic groups, increasing inter-population genetic differences, and giving the Afghans a unique genetic diversity in Central Asia.
U radu se analiziraju četiri slučaja diplomacije prinude od kojih svaka predstavlja jedan aspekt suvremenih sigurnosnih ugroza: teritorijalna agresija motivirana nacionalističkim i etničkim ...aspiracijama (Bosna), agresija protiv vlastitog stanovništva zbog želje za samoodređenjem (Kosovo), terorizam (Afganistan) i oružje za masovno uništavanje (Irak). Cilj je provedene analize identificirati čimbenike koji su utjecali na ishod (uspjeh/neuspjeh) provedene strategije. Kao kriterij vrednovanja ishoda koristi se Jentlensonov cost/benefit model koji se temelji na zadovoljenju kriterija proporcionalnosti, recipročnosti i vjerodostojnosti. Uspjeh diplomacije prinude u Bosni imao je značajan utjecaj na odabir strategije za Kosovo, koji se smatra graničnim uspjehom s obzirom na dugotrajnost zračne kampanje. Diplomacija prinude u slučaju Afganistana i Iraka nije polučila željene rezultate te su ciljevi ostvareni primjenom sveobuhvatne vojne sile. Uzevši u obzir rezultate analize koji upućuju na zaključak da je diplomacija prinude, unatoč konceptualnoj jednostavnosti, kompleksna strategija čiji je ishod uvelike određen nizom kontekstualnih varijabli uz prilično ambivalentan karakter, svrha je ovoga rada spoznaja korisnosti i perspektive primjenjivosti Jentlensonova modela u objašnjenju uspjeha, odnosno neuspjeha strategije prinude.
Afganistan Lindisfarne, Nancy; Neale, Jonathan
2021
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In Afghanistan: The End of the Occupation, Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale offer a clear and succint view of the last fifty years of Afghan history, ending with the recent defeat and retreat of ...Western occupation forces. The authors, American-English anthropologists, began their fieldwork in Afghanistan almost fifty years ago, and they write about that country and its inhabitants with exemplary knowledge and exceptional understanding. Their narrative includes the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, the civil war that followed the Soviet retreat, the seizure of power by the Taliban in the mid-1990s, the US military intervention late in 2001 that removed the Taliban from power, and the next twenty years of American occupation assisted by European powers. Afghanistan: The End of the Occupation was written immediately after the liberation of Afghanistan. With the informatiion it brings to our knowledge and the rejection of stereotypes and prejudice about Afghanistan in general and the Taliban in particular, it has contributed to better understanding of that world-changing event. So far, the text has been translated in eight languages.
The authors describe possible regional security structures and bilateral U.S. relationships with Iraq and Afghanistan. They recommend that the United States offer a wide range of security cooperation ...activities to compatible future governments in Kabul and Baghdad but should also plan to hedge against less-favorable contingencies. They emphasize that the U.S. Air Force should expect to remain heavily tasked for the foreseeable future.
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