Watchdog: Lack of provincial budget threats Afghanistan villages

The lack of provincial budget in the past 13 years faced Afghanistan villages many challenges, Afghanistan transparency watchdog said.

Afghanistan transparency watchdog in a report expressed concerns over the lack of provincial budget; adding the budget is used just in the center and people have no role in budgeting process.

“Provincial funding in Afghanistan has not been established. There are many problems in the policies of the country. We should consulted with civil institutions regarding the issue,” Muhammad Ikram Afzali, head of watchdog said.

While concerns are raising that the new government has done nothing in decentralization so far.

“There are no plans for changing the current situation. The civil organizations also do not have much capacity to bring these programs to rural areas,” Afzali added.

However, the watchdog demands civil organization to play an effective role in creating provincial budgeting process.

Future stability in Afghanistan depends in part upon continued delivery of development assistance throughout the country, albeit at reduced levels, to meet basic needs. Experience demonstrates that delivery of development assistance to Afghan villages and townships is possible, though not without risks, even in a more demanding security environment.

Concerns about corruption, access, monitoring and evaluation do not represent an insuperable obstacle for development assistance.

An innovative risk management and mitigation approach is needed, entailing flexibility, a high degree of donor coherence, and commitment to a medium- to long-term strategy.

Reported by Farahnaz Forutan