Country Update ISSUE 058 APR. 2021 “ EATS seeks to respond to food security challenges and reduced income resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. ” page 40 page 4 page 6 page 46 page 48 world bank ongoing international afghanistan group support operations finance reconstruction corporation trust fund / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/3 NEW SUPPORT TO CONTENTS ongoing 10 results IMPROVE BASIC NEWS operations ‘Women’s access to ID cards SERVICES ACCESS AND world bank page 6-45 can accelerate development group support in Afghanistan’ PROVIDE RELIEF page 4 -5 page 6 $200 MILLION GRANT to support education and training the Afghanistan Water, Sanitation, page 4 Hygiene, and Institutional Support World Bank Projects and page 8 (A-WASH) Project to help alleviate Programs financial sector COVID-19 impacts and improve access to clean water, sanitation, and the International Finance page 18 quality of water supply in Kabul, Kan- Corporation health 24 results dahar, and Herat, and strengthen the Multilateral Investment capacity of Afghanistan Urban Water geneva conference renews support ‘Solar power provides page 21 Supply and Sewerage Corporation. Guarantee Agency a lifeline to Afghanistan’s infrastructure for afghanistan The grant comprises $50 million from hospitals’ IDA and $150 million from the ARTF. page 5 page 27 The Afghanistan Conference in 2020 saw 70 countries and 32 international orga- $193 MILLION GRANT for the Second Country Partnership rural development Additional Financing of the Citizens' nizations gather in Geneva to renew their aid commitments to Afghanistan for the Framework, 2017-2022 Charter Afghanistan Project (CCAP) period 2021 to 2024 that will be dependent on accountability, an end to the war, and page 39 aimed at improving delivery of core durable peace, stability, and prosperity. Afghanistan service delivery infrastructure, emergency support, After a series of virtual discussions in the two-day conference hosted jointly by the Reconstruction Trust Fund and social services to communities Finnish and Afghan governments and the United Nations on November 23 and 24, Japan Social page 45 through strengthened Community development partners pledged $3.3 billion in aid to Afghanistan for the first year with Development Fund urban development 32 results Development Councils. It will help ex- annual commitments to stay nearly the same until 2024. pand service delivery to 10 new cities, ‘“Leaking pot” exercise The international community made these pledges at a time when their respec- continue the COVID-19 crisis response tive countries were reeling from the devastating impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, helps poor households to communities, provide critical assis- sending a strong message that the world has not abandoned Afghans as they move reduce excess spending’ tance to Kuchi communities, increase international finance employment through public works, toward achieving a peaceful and prosperous future for themselves and their children. corporation initiate peace pilots, and continue to There had been a widespread feeling among Afghans that international aid would page 46-47 strengthen gender equality. The grant dwindle amid the withdrawal of international forces after the U.S. and Taliban signed comprises $35 million from IDA and a peace agreement. But the new aid pledges at the Geneva conference have revita- page 46 $158 million from the ARTF. lized the hopes of many Afghans. ongoing advisory projects $97.50 MILLION IDA GRANT for the Nonetheless, the country has staggering challenges to tackle, including a growing Drought Early Warning, Early Finance, number of young people entering the job market every year, a stagnating economy, and Early Action Project (ENETAWF) and increasing hunger and poverty due to the impacts of drought and COVID-19. results 62 to provide regular and predictable Given this scenario, these aid commitments are more precious than ever for mee- ‘Farmers doubled their afghanistan cash support to Afghans affected by ting key priorities, including reinvigorating the private sector, empowering women income with project support’ reconstruction trust droughts and COVID-19 and improve and young people, creating jobs, and giving assistance to those pushed to the brink fund food and nutrition security. The grant by the COVID-19 pandemic, which can help revive the Afghan economy. page 48-66 will also help build Afghanistan’s The Afghan government has agreed to some stringent terms through the Afghanis- drought early warning and response tan Partnership Framework to spend the aid more transparently. It has also pledged page 52 systems and complement regular to renew efforts in implementing economic reforms and creating a conducive busi- ongoing projects humanitarian relief efforts. It comple- ments grants of $115 million from the ness climate that can strengthen the private sector, create jobs for men and women, ARTF, $8 million from the Global Risk and improve government revenues. Financing Facility, and $2 million from The World Bank, as a key development partner to Afghanistan, will stand with the the program for Asia Resilience to Cli- Afghan government and provide the support it needs to deliver on the pledges it mate Change Multi-Donor Trust Fund. made at the Geneva conference to carve a brighter future for the Afghan people. 4/  Country Update/ / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/5 WORLD BANK GROUP SUPPORT COUNTRY PARTNERSHIP World Bank Projects forms, particularly in the fiscal and public environment for private sector investment and promote private sector–led growth. FRAMEWORK, as well as MIGA guarantees to provide an ini- projects are financed jointly with IDA ($1.2 administration spheres, and through its tial loss layer to insure investment projects in billion), with commitment value of $2 billion and Programs budget support operations. It has advo- IFC’s current cumulative committed invest- 2017–2022 difficult contexts. This facility could be used to from the ARTF. cated building capacity and legitimacy of ment portfolio stands at over $300 million boost the agencies’ exposure in Afghanistan. c For more information: see page 48. Since April 2002, the World Bank's Interna- the state, and channeling donor resources and its advisory services portfolio stands The World Bank Group’s enga- tional Development Association (IDA) has committed nearly $5.3 billion for develop- through the government to ensure invest- ments are aligned with national priorities. currently at $11.3 million. IFC’s investment portfolio includes investments in the infras- gement with Afghanistan over Afghanistan Japan Social ment and emergency reconstruction pro- To this end, the World Bank works closely tructure sector (telecommunications, energy) 2017–2022 is determined by the Reconstruction Development Fund jects, and eight budget support operations Trust Fund with other multilateral and bilateral agen- and financial markets. The investment pipe- Country Partnership Framework in Afghanistan. This support comprises over cies across a number of sectors where aid line looks promising and includes invest- The Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) strategy, which closely aligns with $4.8 billion in grants and $436.4 million in coordination and government ownership ments in the power and education sectors. was established by the Government of Japan no-interest loans known as “credits”. As of are most critical. c For more information: see page 46. the government’s Afghanistan The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund in 2000 as a means of supporting activities National Peace and Development (ARTF) is a partnership between the interna- February 3, 2021, the Bank has 12 active c For information about completed projects: that directly respond to the needs of poor tional community and the Government of IDA-only projects ($940 million) and 15 pro- www.worldbank.org.af – Projects & Programs. Framework. jects jointly funded with the Afghanistan Multilateral the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) and vulnerable groups, enhance their capaci- ties, and strengthen their empowerment and Reconstruction Trust Fund, with commit- International Investment The World Bank Group strategy to improve effectiveness of the reconstruc- tion effort. As of December 20, 2020, 34 participation in the development process. ment value of nearly $1.2 billion from IDA. The fund is administered by the World Bank. Since the adoption of the Afghanistan Na- Finance Corporation Guarantee Agency aims to help Afghanistan: donors have contributed nearly $12.9 billion, The Government of Japan and the World tional Peace and Development Framework making the ARTF the largest contributor to • Build strong and accountable Bank agreed to set up a special window with- (ANPDF), the World Bank’s engagement has TThe Multilateral Investment Guarantee the Afghan budget—for both operating costs The International Finance Corporation (IFC), in JSDF to support activities in Afghanistan become increasingly programmatic. Under- Agency (MIGA) has $116.5 million of gross institutions to support the go- and development programs. the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, under a multi-year program of assistance pinned by advisory work, both policy and exposure for two projects in dairy and cash- vernment’s state-building ob- The ARTF’s support for National Priority is supporting economic development in for the country’s reconstruction and transi- mere production. Programs, government operations, and the investment lending focus on the main enga- Afghanistan by providing a broad suite of jectives and enable the state to tion toward political, economic, and social gement clusters: macrofiscal management Among MIGA’s global priorities for FY policy reform agenda is contributing to the investment services to the private sector, par- fulfil its core mandate to deli- stability. and institution building, stimulating pri- 2018–2021 are support for foreign direct in- achievement of the ANPDF goals. More than ticularly in the infrastructure, finance, agribu- As of January 2019, JSDF’s total commit- vate investments and growth to create jobs, siness, and services sectors. vestment with high developmental impact in ver basic services to its citizens, $6.1 billion has been disbursed to the govern- ment has reached $85 million. A number of governance and anti-corruption, human The investment program is supported by IDA countries and fragile and conflict affected and create an enabling environ- ment to help cover civilian recurrent opera- JSDF-financed projects have been completed. situations. Afghanistan is a key country for ting costs, such as civil servants’ salaries, and capital development and service delivery, advisory services, including access to finance, ment for the private sector; c For more information: citizen engagement and gender equality, MIGA to deliver on these objectives. over $6 billion had been made available, both food safety management, financial system • Support inclusive growth, with http://go.worldbank.org/U5OQZVF200 n as well as urbanization, infrastructure, and management, strengthening horticulture In 2013, MIGA launched its “Conflict Affec- for closed and active investment projects. connectivity. export, access to renewable energy, and in- ted and Fragile Economies Facility” that uses a focus on lagging areas and ur- As of February 1, 2021, there are four active The Bank has actively supported key re- vestment climate reforms, to strengthen the donor partner contributions and guarantees ban informal settlements; and ARTF-only ($288 million) projects, while 15 • Deepen social inclusion through improved human development outcomes and reduced vulnera- bility amongst the most under- privileged sections of society, including the large numbers of internally displaced persons and returnees. 6/  Country Update/ / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/7 ONGOING OPERATIONS / education and training and the Bank, in its work to address Gender- Based Violence and has initiated the steps to Afghanistan Second strengthen safeguards at four key TVET insti- tutes through infrastructural improvements. Skills Development In 2019, a comprehensive five-year TVET Project (ASDP II) strategy (2020–2024) was developed and endorsed by the Human Capital Council. cIDA grant $55 million The strategy provides a roadmap for the de- velopment and expansion of the TVET sec- The project supports the Government of tor over the five-year period to cover formal, Afghanistan in its strategy to build mar- non-formal, and informal TVET on a common ket relevant vocational and technical skills strategic platform. The strategy was present- for economic growth and development. ed to donors and development partners in Building on the former Afghanistan Skills November 2020. The new strategy will form Development Project, this program will con- the basis for a new TVET operation that will tinue to strengthen the Technical Vocational support the sector after ASDP II closes in 2021. Education and Training (TVET) institution- Among other achievements, ASDP II has al system, improve performance of TVET developed and supported the concept of a schools and institutes, and improve teacher select number of lead institutes located in competencies. Herat, Kabul, and Nangarhar for targeted sup- The project was restructured in 2020 to port and capacity building to serve as hubs respond to the closure of TVET schools and for teacher training and curriculum develop- institutes due to COVID-19 measures by de- ment. The project also supports an in-service veloping an Alternative Learning Program Technical Teacher Training Institute. through distance learning. The restructuring The curricula for seven priority trades of in- also places strong emphasis on implementa- formation and communications technology, tion of an action plan for addressing issues accounting, business administration, con- associated with Gender-Based Violence. struction, auto-repair, agronomy, and horti- To streamline institutional capacity to culture have been redeveloped to respond to EQRA projects include deliver on the human capital development market needs. constructing new agenda, GoIRA established a standalone existing students as well as out-of-school TVET Authority (TVETA) based on Presidential The last round of Disbursement Linked buildings for existing schools that operate in the EQRA children who will be brought into school. The Indicators under the project was achieved open or in tents. The new Decree No. 11, dated April 21, 2018. The man- c IDA Grant $75 million project is expected to benefit about 7 million successfully and verified through a third-par- classrooms provide safety date for vocational education has been trans- from inclement weather c ARTF Grant $100 million children who are attending school regularly ty verification firm. ferred from the Ministry of Education and and a conducive learning c Global Partnership for Education from direct project interventions over the ASPD II also successfully financed an aca- environment. “I am now Deputy Minister for TVET to the TVETA, which five-year implementation period. demic partnership contract with Pune Uni- more interested to go $98 million has been tasked to oversee the coordination to school because it has Constraints that limit school participation versity for TVET teachers to pursue Master’s and implementation of TVET policy. In 2020, changed to a real learning EQRA will be implemented over the course in Afghanistan, such as deteriorating secu- degrees as well as a one-year technical environment,” says a the TVETA was endorsed as an independent of five years from 2018 to 2023. The project’s rity, cultural norms that undervalue educa- training program in Reva University in India. student from Kandahar government entity by parliament. province. objective is to increase equitable access to tion, opportunity costs to attending school, Upon request of the TVETA, the World Bank primary and secondary education in selected distance to school, lack of gender-segre- completed an institutional and capacity as- lagging provinces, particularly for girls, and to gated latrines, and lack of female teachers, sessment of the Authority to improve its ef- improve learning conditions in Afghanistan. will be addressed through key interven- ficiency and capacity in service delivery. An Primary beneficiaries are students in gen- tions. These include (i) improving school action plan with concrete steps for improving eral education, out-of-school children in lag- infrastructure, which will be implemented TVETA’s implementation capacity was devel- ging provinces (never enrolled or dropped by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and oped and is being implemented. out), teachers, principals, and Ministry of Development (MRRD); (ii) providing school The TVETA has completed some impor- Education (MoE) staff. The system-level im- grants; and (iii) establishing community- tant milestones, with support from ASDP II provements in management will benefit all based education classes. Country Update/ ongoing operations 8/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/9 In the first half of 2019, MoE was primar- in select rural and peri-urban areas. SWEEP ily focused on building the necessary founda- supported the development and capacity tion to ensure that project activities will be building of clusters (self-help groups com- properly implemented by developing detailed prising community-based savings groups, implementation procedures and identifying CBSGs), and provided them with training, annual work programs for each subcompo- business development services, and access nent and major activity. to finance. The project achieved three out of the four A baseline survey was completed in Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLI) for the October 2018, followed by project imple- year 2018 and all of its DLIs for 2019. The mentation in November 2018. A qualitative Third Party Verification Agency hired by the study was completed in 2020 and an endline Ministry of Finance through EQRA support is survey is planned for beginning of 2021. in the process of verifying the achievement From December 2018 to project closure, a of the 2019 DLIs. Five DLIs were set for 2020, total of 47 clusters were formed in four prov- of which two were fully achieved and three inces, with regular monthly cluster meetings partially. Movement restrictions and school held, subcommittees formed, and cluster closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic members trained. Revolving loan funds were have adversely impacted EQRA and project disbursed to CBSGs in 2020. Clusters also activities have been delayed. received additional business and soft skills The civil works program under EQRA im- training in 2020. plemented by MRRD in targeted provinces is Technical support was provided until the progressing with some delays. Out of 2,647 project closing date to CBSG members to projects planned under EQRA, technical and work on their businesses and to clusters for financial proposals have been developed for their self-functioning, networking, and link- 1,998 projects, of which 1,600 are for new ages, and their implementation of revolving buildings for existing schools that operate loan funds for at least two cycles. in open areas or under tents and 398 are for missing components. As of December 2020, around 700 projects have been completed, / financial sector 600 of which have been formally handed over to MoE. Access to Finance Project The Access to Finance Strengthening project is helping smaller firms improve their Women’s Economic cIDA grant $50 million access to finance and obtain better financing facilitator, rather than direct technical assis- in both provinces is close to 100 percent. Empowerment Project The project aims to build institutional capac- conditions. With project tance provider. Under component 1, MISFA has initiated a Implementation is progressing well and will be completed by end-June 2021. ity to improve access to credit of micro, small, support, the Afghan Credit (SWEEP) and medium enterprises. The project has the Guarantee Foundation has supported lending to over series of activities, including expanding the Financial inclusion, as measured by the following components: Targeting the Ultra Poor (TUP) program in percentage of TUP households that are linked c JSDF Grant $2.7 million 530 small and medium Component 1: Improving access to fi- enterprises through six provinces (Balkh, Kabul, Kandahar, Kunar, to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and sav- CLOSED ON MARCH 31, 2021 its partner financial nancial services for micro and small enter- Laghman, and Takhar), where it has been ings groups, is increasing. As of November institutions. SWEEP was a three-year pilot project im- prises. Aims to provide continuing support successful in targeting and initiating mean- 2020, 52 percent of beneficiaries have been plemented by the Aga Khan Foundation- to the microfinance sector through the ingful improvements in the well-being of linked to formal financial institutions (banks Afghanistan in close coordination with the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for ultra-poor beneficiaries. and MFIs). Despite the limited physical out- Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. SWEEP Afghanistan (MISFA), as well as supporting Based on the success of the program, the reach of MFIs in certain provinces and their was requested by the government to develop MISFA to take on a broader role as a catalyst TUP was scaled up in 2019 to reach close non-deposit taking status, the understand- tools and methods and provide a platform for innovations to increase access and us- to 4,000 households in two more prov- ing of benefits of formal financial services is to share experiences to inform the Women’s age of financial services from the lower end inces (Parwan and Nangarhar). With the increasing. Economic Empowerment National Priority of the market according to its new strategic COVID-19 crisis, the TUP was expanded to Under the Capacity Building Fund and Program (see page 66). plan. It should, however, be underlined that cover an additional 1,100 households in Strengthening MISFA subcomponent, several The main beneficiaries were poor women the role of MISFA is primarily that of market these two provinces. Women’s participation technical assistance (TA) projects have been Country Update/ongoing operations 10/  results women’s access to identification cards can accelerate development in Afghanistan By Talajeh Livani and Sarah Haddock T he gender gap in ID [identification] ownership is wide in Afghanistan: 89 percent of those lacking national IDs are women. Women’s low ownership of national identity docu- ments is a critical gender gap in Afghanistan. The World Bank, in collaboration with the Government of Afghanis- tan, aims to reduce this gap through a number of pro- jects and with the engagement and support from the Bank’s Afghanistan Gender and Social Inclusion Platform. Of 97 countries in the 2017 Identification for Develop- ment (ID4D)-Findex Survey, Afghanistan has the widest gender gap in ID ownership: 52 percent of women ver- sus only 6 percent of men lack IDs. This pattern is parti- cularly stark in rural areas, among the less educated, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Conservative social norms are a key obstacle – until re- cently, women had to be accompanied by a male relative to confirm their family ties in order to obtain ID cards at certificates, and passports. For women, Tazkira and mar- government offices. Hence, women without close male riage certificates are crucial for securing rights to inheri- relatives, or those with unsupportive male relatives could tance, marital property, and mahr (dower). Having legal not obtain IDs. While a 2010 legal amendment removed identity documents is also critical for reducing child this requirement, women in some regions continue to be marriage, which is very high in Afghanistan. asked to bring male witnesses. There are other factors at play – an ID4D study finds The World Bank supports inclusive ID systems that 68 percent of Afghan women who lack an ID say In Afghanistan, the Bank supports women’s access to they have “no need” for one, possibly because they have identification through several projects. The Women’s “ fewer opportunities to participate in activities outside Economic Empowerment-Rural Development Project the home. Moreover, 42 percent of women lacking IDs facilitates rural women’s application for ID cards, which stress that it’s “too difficult to apply” and 22 percent cite can then be used to open bank accounts, obtain bank “lack of necessary documents.” Until recently when the Women’s low ownership loans, and register businesses. Similarly, the Citizens' digital ID system was rolled out, obtaining Tazkira [na- Charter Afghanistan Project supports women’s access tional ID card] was particularly difficult for IDP women by raising awareness among rural women about the ” because it required travelling to Kabul or to one’s pro- importance of Tazkira for life events such as Nikah of national identity documents vince of origin. The costs and security concerns around such travel were discouraging for women. (marriage) and Hajj (Islamic pilgrimage). The Access to Finance Project, through the Targeting the Ultra Poor is a critical gender gap in Afghanistan. program, helps female beneficiaries in several provinces Women’s low ID ownership exacerbates other apply for ID cards. gender inequalities in Afghanistan In Afghanistan, Tazkira is required for accessing cer- Talajeh Livani is a Social Development Specialist at the World tain public services (e.g., education with some flexibility Bank Group. for IDPs and returnees), for employment with the public Sarah Haddock is a Social Development Specialist in the sector and much of the private sector, to register land South Asia Region of the World Bank. and property, to register mobile SIM cards (and thus ac- c This is an abridged version of a blog available at cess mobile banking), obtain bank loans, and to vote. https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/ Tazkira is also required for driver’s licenses, obtaining womens-access-identification-cards-can-accelerate-de- birth and death certificates for one’s family, marriage velopment-afghanistan Country Update/ ongoing operations 12/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/13 finalized. Ongoing TA activities include the integration of MFIs into the national pay- Afghanistan Incentive ment switch to facilitate the provision of Program Development digital financial services to their clients and the implementation of proposals in support Policy Grant (IP-DPG) of enhanced access to finance for women IDA Grant $160 million c and youth entrepreneurs and the agriculture ARTF Grant $240 million c sector. The IP-DPG operation supports continued pro- Component 2: Improving access to finan- gress on key reforms under the Afghanistan cial services for small and medium enterpris- National Peace and Development Framework. es (SMEs). Through support to the expansion The operation has provided up to $400 million of the Afghan Credit Guarantee Foundation of recurrent cost support to the Government (ACGF) and TA to financial institutions to of Afghanistan to support vital services, mo- strengthen their SME lending capacity, this bilized against a series of high priority policy component aims to increase commercial and institutional reforms. bank and MFI lending to SMEs and thus fa- This is the third of three planned opera- cilitate their access to financial services. tions aligned with the government’s cur- Component 2 supports the provision of cred- rent three-year program of policy reforms. it guarantees for SMEs. Supported reforms are organized under two As of December 2020, ACGF has supported pillars: (i) strengthening the policy framework lending to over 530 enterprises for a total to support state effectiveness, private invest- loan amount of $19.8 million through its four ment, and social inclusion; and (ii) improving partner financial institutions (PFIs). Despite the policy and institutional framework for the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorated public financial management. security situation, which led to a tightening The IP-DPG focuses on reforms to address of financial sector lending to SMEs in 2020 corruption, improve the management of pub- in number and volume, ACGF has continued to support PFIs in sustaining lending to SMEs lic resources, and manage current economic and plays a critical role in addressing the fi- and political risks. Reforms under the first pil- nancial institutions’ risk aversion toward lar support development of e-payments, civil lending to SMEs. service reforms, access to finance, power sec- The project is contributing to improved tor reform, land titling, and water productiv- The IP-DPG supports ity. Reforms under the second pillar support continued progress on key access to finance for smaller firms (after reforms in Afghanistan, integration of an MFI) and better financ- an improved public investment management focusing on reforms ing conditions for SMEs: loan maturity, col- system, tax administration, and accountabil- to address corruption, improve the management The project, effective from July 2018, is or- June 2020 to make financing resources avail- lateral requirements, and new products ity of public finances. of public resources, and ganized around three complementary invest- able for separate COVID-19 response projects. (e.g., Islamic finance). The profile of busi- manage current economic This partial cancellation triggered a project re- ment components: nesses getting financing has also evolved Afghanistan: Public- and political risks. • Strengthening institutional and technical structuring in September 2020 to scale down over time. Complementary TA to PFIs provided through the project also sup- Private Partnerships capacity of relevant institutions and supporting the development of a Public project activities in line with the reduced funds. ports capacity building of financial in- and Public Investment Investment Management–Public-Private The recent amendment to the Public-Private stitutions, including in credit appraisal, risk management, and loan monitoring. Advisory Project Partnership framework. • Supporting the establishment and ope- Partnership (PPP) Law transfers core PPP func- tions and responsibilities, including fiscal risk The project closing date is June 30, 2021. (PPIAP) ration of an Investment Project Preparation management, from the Ministry of Finance to Facility, including the development of its the Afghanistan Investment Facilitation Unit IDA Grant $10 million c governance structure, institutional roles, in the Administrative Office of the President. ARTF Grant $15 million c and responsibilities. This has caused the World Bank to flag con- PPIAP works with the government and, in par- • Project management. cerns regarding fiscal risk management, as ticular, the Central Partnerships Authority in The original project size was $50 million. well as potential implications for the scope the Ministry of Finance to develop a pipeline of In April 2020, $5 million was cancelled, fol- and design of PPIAP, which are being reviewed feasible privately and publicly funded projects. lowed by the cancellation of $20 million in and discussed with the government. Country Update/ ongoing operations 14/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/15 The National (ii) increased domestic revenue as a percent- Performance Management Information Procurement Authority age of GDP; (iii) increased compliance with System, alongside rollout of FPIP to 140 (NPA) is improving performance through audit recommendations; and, (iv) improve- teams across MoF, NPA, and Supreme Audit better management, ment in core institutional capacity, represent- Office. accountability, and ed by a reduction in the number of long-term transparency. Under the FSP, NPA has launched an e-procurement system, technical assistants. The overall implementation progress and Modernizing Afghan reducing inaccurate information and progress toward achievement of project ob- State-Owned Banks corruption risks. "The spread of technology in jectives are currently rated as "Moderately Satisfactory". The project remains generally Project an increasingly digital on track despite implementation slowdown IDA Grant $12 million c world has made access to information easier since the Mid-Term Review due to the finan- The project aims to strengthen corporate than ever—resulting cial and administrative disruptions associ- governance and enhance operational effi- in dramatic changes to ated with the COVID-19 pandemic. These ciency of state-owned banks. The project, im- economic activities and improved service delivery," disruptions are considered to be temporary. plemented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), said an NPA officer. Key implementation developments secured contributes to the modernization, trans- to date include: parency, and efficiency of the three Afghan Component 1: Budget as tool for devel- state-owned banks: New Kabul Bank (NKB), opment. Implementation by MoF of key en- Bank-e-Millie Afghan, and Pashtany Bank. hancements to the budget process through Since coming into effect in April 2018, the a revised budget circular and budget submis- project has supported initial corporate gov- sion template; introducing strategic screen- ernance reforms at the state-owned banks. ing; and improved costing information in In particular, MoF has developed an owner- budget submissions. This component also ship policy, established an ownership unit, supported preparations for the broadly suc- and defined the terms of reference of the su- cessful Geneva Conference on Afghanistan in pervisory boards by means of a presidential November 2020. decree that was issued in December 2018. Component 2: Revenue mobilization. The supervisory boards have been subse- Implementation by the Afghanistan Revenue quently established. Department of key reorganization and mod- In addition, the project has supported mod- ernization measures and of electronic filing; ernization of critical IT infrastructure at the and supporting preparations for the imple- state-owned banks, including the procure- Fiscal Performance moment in Afghanistan’s development. The project aims to improve domestic revenue mentation of value-added tax. Continued roll- ment of a core banking system (Flexcube) for Improvement Support mobilization and public expenditure man- out of the Automated Systems for Customs NKB that has yet to be installed. The project has been due for substantial agement, and to reinforce a performance- Data (ASYCUDA) system, with all customs Project (FSP) oriented management culture in MoF. offices connected, except for six having an restructuring since June 2020 as a result of active ASYCUDA connection; and supporting the cancellation of $28 million (70 percent IDA Grant $25 million c The Mid-Term Review of the project was preparations for the implementation of the of project funds) reallocated in support of ARTF Grant $35 million c conducted in June–July 2020, focusing on for- malization of the reduced scope of financing National Single Window. the government’s COVID-19 emergency re- Government of Afghanistan c in line with the omnibus portfolio cancella- Component 3: Treasury management, ac- sponse. As a result, the project's scope has $60 million been substantially reduced, focusing on tion and restructuring requests for realloca- countability, and transparency. Development FSP is designed to improve management of tion of $40 million from the ARTF grant to the of five key Electronic Government support for the merger of NKB and Bank-e- public finances in Afghanistan by strength- COVID-19 crisis response operations. Procurement (eGP) modules by the NPA, Millie Afghan, while dropping the bulk of ening the capacity of the Ministry of Finance Downsizing the scope of project compo- alongside complementary advances in Open other activities such as previously planned IT (MoF), National Procurement Authority (NPA), nents and activities will not substantially Contracting Partnership and Open Contract investments. and Supreme Audit Office. It supports the impact FSP’s ability to achieve its objectives. Data Standards implementation. As of January 2021, the required policy implementation of the Afghanistan Fiscal Improved public financial management and Component 4: Institutional capac- decisions related to the merger process are Performance Improvement Plan (FPIP) through revenue generation remain central to the gov- ity building and performance manage- still pending. The World Bank and MoF are recipient-executed investment financing. ernment’s self-sufficiency agenda. ment. Development and launch by the engaged in discussions about the project’s FSP, which came into effect in January FSP focuses on four key result areas: (i) im- MoF Performance Management Team of a status and the way forward. 2018, provides strategic support at a critical proved development budget execution rate; publicly accessible web-based Afghanistan Country Update/ ongoing operations 16/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/17 Payments Automation Deposit Insurance Scheme (i.e., established via formal legal act) for deposit-taking finan- and Integration of cial institutions in accordance with interna- Salaries in Afghanistan tional good practices. It also aims to ensure a sufficient level of capital to set, sustain, and/ (PAISA) Project or increase the appropriate level of deposit insurance coverage without compromising IDA Grant $7 million c the sustainability of the Deposit Insurance ARTF Grant $18 million c Fund. The project was approved by the World Bank Component 4: Enhancing DAB’s IT infra- Board of Executive Directors on April 25, structure: Aims to support investment in IT 2019 and became effective on September 25, hardware and software for DAB to strength- 2019. en its operational, regulatory, and super- The project objective is to support the de- visory capacity, along with investments in velopment of digital government-to-person upgrade of financial infrastructure aimed at (G2P) payments in Afghanistan. Advisory as- facilitating financial intermediation, includ- sistance to the recipient Ministry of Finance, ing the modernization of DAB’s core banking Da Afghanistan Bank, and beneficiary en- system. tities on improved legal and regulatory Component 5: Strengthening DAB’s su- frameworks and operational processes will pervisory and regulatory capacity: Supports complement investments in physical IT in- DAB with advisory, technical, and capacity frastructure as well as incentives to spur pri- building assistance aimed at strengthening vate-sector–led delivery of financial services. its core regulatory and supervisory function, The project comprises four components: thus facilitating financial stability. (i) supporting a biometric identification sys- Component 6: Project management: tem for civil servants and pensioners; (ii) in- Funds relevant project management func- tegrating the identification, verification, and tions administered by the Financial Sector payment systems; (iii) expanding financial Strengthening Projects Directorate of DAB services and access points for digital cash- and applicable to Components 3–6 under out and cashless payments; and (iv) project DAB’s administration. management. Component 7: Contingent emergency re- Ongoing procurement for the integration sponse component: Aims to support provi- of Mobile Money Operators with the national PAISA supports the use of sion of immediate response to an eligible a biometric identification payment switch operated by the Afghanistan small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). crisis or emergency, as needed. Strengthening system for civil servants Payment System (APS) aims to support the and pensioners, which has The project has seven components, includ- The project disbursements are expected to interoperability of all licensed financial institutions. reduced the number of follow-up visits pensioners Afghanistan Financial ing an emergency response contingency commence as soon as the project is included component: in the government's next fiscal year (year Other priority activities are the recruit- need to make to the Pension Department. With Intermediation (SAFI) Component 1: Strengthening credit guar- 1400, Afghan solar calendar) budget and ap- ment of a legal advisor for the development of a legal and regulatory framework related biometric data collection, retirees no longer have to Project antee fund: Aims to incentivize greater proved by the lower house of the National return yearly for a lengthy financial intermediation for MSMEs in Assembly. In the interim, the authorities and to data protection, as well as upgrades to the recertification process. IDA Grant $100 million c Afghanistan through risk-sharing and tech- the ACGF are working on preparatory opera- APS infrastructure. Instead, they are required TThe SAFI project was approved by the nical assistance implemented by the Afghan tional activities to facilitate prompt deploy- to visit once every two years for a shorter, more World Bank Board of Executive Directors Credit Guarantee Foundation (ACGF). ment of project resources following National efficient, review. on September 28, 2020. Following respec- Component 2: SME matching grants pro- Assembly approval. tive agreements signed with the Ministry gram: Aims to support SMEs with fixed capi- The next key steps include (i) MoF hiring of Finance (MoF) and Da Afghanistan Bank tal and working capital costs for COVID-19 the required project staff; (ii) the ACGF adopt- (DAB), the central bank, and between the adaptation and to strengthen the pipeline ing the Matching Grants Operations Manual; local implementing authorities, the project of bankable firms and demand for banking (iii) DAB developing the Operations Manual came into effect on January 6, 2021. services. for project components under its administra- The project objective is to strengthen in- Component 3: Strengthening deposit in- tion and an annual work plan, updating the stitutional capacity for financial stability surance: Aims to support the establishment procurement plan, and hiring remaining pro- and to enhance access to finance for micro, and implementation of a credible and explicit ject staff. Country Update/ ongoing operations 18/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/19 / health decrease barriers for women in accessing services. Afghanistan also has one of the high- Afghanistan est levels of child malnutrition in the world. Sehatmandi (Health) About 36.6 percent of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition, and both Project women and children suffer from high levels IDA Grant $140 million c of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. ARTF Grant $425 million c The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) fell Global Financing Facility c significantly from 1,600 per 100,000 live Grant $35 million births in 2002 to 638 per 100,000 live births in 2017, according to estimates of the United The project aims to increase the utilization Nations Inter-Agency Working Group for and quality of health, nutrition, and family Estimation of Maternal Mortality. planning services across Afghanistan. In November 2020, based on a govern- The project comprises three components: ment request, the Sehatmandi project went Component 1: To improve service delivery, through a no-cost extension for one year and this component will finance performance- was extended until June 30, 2022. In addition, based contracts to deliver the Basic Package during the Mid-Term Review, it was agreed of Health Services and Essential Package of that the project will receive additional financ- Hospital Services across the country. ing for two more years from July 1, 2022, to Component 2: To strengthen the health June 30, 2024. This will help MoPH fully test system and its performance, this component the impact of its pay for performance (P4P) ap- will support a systematic organized approach proach. The process of the additional financ- to establish a performance management cul- ing will be completed by September 2021. ture in the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and among stakeholders. Component 3: To strengthen demand and COVID-19 Emergency community accountability for key health Response and Health services, the third component will finance a range of activities, including communication Systems Preparedness Project In spite of significant campaigns aimed at raising overall aware- improvements in the ness of health rights as well as specific health coverage and quality of strengthening laboratory and diagnostic sys- guidelines, and hospital infection control in- IDA Grant $100.4 million c health services, as well as behaviors to support MoPH and service pro- tems to ensure prompt case finding and local terventions, as well as procurement of addi- viders to be more responsive to community Additional Financing: a drop in maternal, infant, and under-five mortality, containment. tional essential inputs for treatment, such as health needs. IDA Grant $60 million c Afghanistan still has one of Component 2: Health care strengthening. oxygen delivery systems and medicines, and The Afghan health system has made con- ARTF Grant $50 million c the highest levels of child Aims to strengthen essential health care ser- retention of skilled health workers through siderable progress during the past decade Energy Sector Management Program c malnutrition in the world. vice delivery to be able to provide the best extra payments (such as hazard pay and Over one third of children thanks to strong government leadership, $3 million under five suffer from care possible for people who become ill de- death benefits) to strengthen clinical care chronic malnutrition, and sound public health policies, innovative ser- The project objective is to respond to and spite a surge in demand. It will also ensure capacity. both women and children vice delivery, careful program monitoring mitigate the threat posed by COVID-19 in Af- suffer from high levels ongoing support for sick people in the com- Component 3: Mitigation of social im- and evaluation, and development assistance. ghanistan and strengthen national systems of vitamin and mineral munity to minimize the overall impact of the pacts. Addresses significant negative exter- deficiencies. Data from household surveys (between 2003 for public health preparedness. disease on society, public services, and the nalities expected in the event of a widespread and 2018) show significant declines in mater- The project comprises five components: economy. COVID-19 outbreak and includes compre- nal and child mortality. Component 1: Emergency COVID-19 re- Assistance will be provided to the health hensive communication strategies. The Despite significant improvements in the sponse. Aims to slow down and limit as care system for preparedness planning to primary focus will be on addressing social coverage and quality of health services, as much as possible the spread of COVID-19 in provide optimal medical care and maintain distancing measures, such as avoiding large well as a drop in maternal, infant, and under- the country. This component finances imme- essential lifesaving services and minimize social gatherings, and mitigating against the five mortality, Afghanistan health indicators diate support to enhance disease detection risks for patients and health personnel. The negative impacts on children’s learning and are still worse than the average for low-in- capacities by increasing surveillance capaci- project finances plans for establishing spe- well-being. come countries, indicating a need to further ties, provisioning of technical expertise, and cialized units in selected hospitals, treatment Component 4: Implementation man- Country Update/ongoing operations 20/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/21 agement and monitoring and evaluation. Supports strengthening public structures HEALTH INDICATORS for project coordination and management, ON POSITIVE TREND including central and local (decentralized) arrangements for coordination of activities, financial management, and procurement. UNDER-FIVE MORTALITY RATE It will also support monitoring and evalu- DROPPED from 191 to 50 per ation of prevention and preparedness, build- 1,000 live births from 2006 to ing capacity for clinical and public health 2018. research, and joint learning across and with- in countries. This component will finance NEWBORN MORTALITY RATE as well as hire an independent third-party monitor. FELL from 53 to 23 per 1,000 live Component 5: Contingent emergency re- births from 2003 to 2018. sponse component. In the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, the project will contrib- NUMBER OF FUNCTIONING ute to providing immediate and effective re- HEALTH FACILITIES INCREASED sponse to said crisis or emergency. to more than 2,800 in 2018 from The project’s progress toward achieving its objective and overall implementation per- 496 in 2002, while at the same formance is satisfactory. The project became time the proportion of facilities effective on April 12, 2020, which was timely with female staff increased. in responding to the first wave of COVID-19, which peaked in June–July. BIRTHS ATTENDED BY SKILLED Project funds were also used to respond to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic HEALTH PERSONNEL AMONG later in 2020. Procurement of an Afghan THE LOWEST INCOME QUINTILE Japan Hospital contract was delayed for four INCREASED to 58.8 percent from months, while a second hospital contract 14.9 percent. was cancelled because of fewer COVID-19 patients than envisaged. PENTA3 IMMUNIZATION Launched in April 2020, the COVID-19 Emergency Although a few of the COVID-19 vaccines COVERAGE MORE THAN Response and Health have received WHO pre-qualification and DOUBLED (a combination of five Systems Preparedness / infrastructure Central Asia South emergency use listing and Afghanistan has Project was timely in received commitments through the COVAX vaccines in one covering diphthe- responding to the first Asia Electricity facility and other partners such as World ria, Pertussis, tetanus, haemo- wave of COVID-19, which Afghanistan Digital peaked in June–July Transmission and Bank and Asian Development Bank, it will philus influenzae type b, and 2020. A major aim is to CASA 1 Project take time for the vaccines to be deployed and hepatitis B) from 29 percent to 61 strengthen essential health care service delivery Trade Project for a significant number of people to be vacci- IDA Grant $51 million c nated. Nonetheless, the project objective will percent among children age 12 to to provide the best care possible despite a surge The project, which came into effect in March (CASA-1000) remain relevant and the project will continue 23 months in the lowest income in demand. It will work IDA Grant/Credit $526.5 million, c to minimize the overall 2018, aims to increase access to affordable to mitigate the threat posed by COVID-19. quintile. impact of the disease on internet, attract private investors to the sec- including $316.5 million IDA grant to Additional financing to the project was society, public services, and tor, and improve the government’s capac- Afghanistan approved in March 2021 to help the Afghan CONTRACEPTIVE PREVALENCE the economy. ity to deliver digital government services by government purchase and deploy safe and CASA-1000, covering Afghanistan, Kyrgyz RATE INCREASED (using any supporting a regionally integrated digital effective COVID-19 vaccines and strengthen Republic, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, will put in modern method) from 5.3 percent infrastructure and creating an enabling en- its national program to ensure quick and fair place the commercial and institutional ar- vironment. The Ministry of Communications access to health services and vaccinations. to 17.4 percent between 2000 and rangements as well as the infrastructure and Information Technology is the imple- The funding package will help vaccinate 2018. menting agency. required for 1,300 megawatts (MW) of sus- more than 17 percent of Afghans, improve tainable electricity trade. essential medical services, and support The total project cost is estimated at $1.17 Afghanistan's recovery from the pandemic. billion, to which the World Bank has con- Country Update/ ongoing operations 22/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/23 The Herat Electrification Afghanistan is expected to receive 300 ments for building a new 110 kV transmis- Project was able to respond very quickly MW of electricity import from Tajikistan and sion line and four 110/20 kV substations and to the urgent need for Kyrgyz Republic through the existing 220 medium and low voltage distribution net- sustainable power supply kV AC lines from Sangtuda substation, and works in Chesht, Karokh, Obe, and Pashtun- in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Tajikistan to Chimtala substation in Kabul Zarghoon districts. June 2020, the project via Pul-e-Khumri. Da Afghanistan Breshna Component 2: Grid densification, exten- successfully supplied and Sherkat (DABS), Afghanistan’s national power sion, and off-grid pilots in Herat province. installed solar backup systems for the 10 utility company, is the implementing agency Supports investment for supply and instal- hospitals designated for for the Afghanistan portion of this project. lation of a capacitor bank at 24-Hoot sub- COVID-19 patients in Herat CASA-1000 came into effect in January station to improve the voltage profile of the province. 2018. Three contracts for the HVDC trans- existing network of Herat city, including the mission line in Afghanistan were signed in industrial park. Component 2 also supports December 2017 and became effective in July extension of a 220 kV transmission line, con- 2019. Survey and design work for all three lots struction of a substation at Pol-e-Hashimi, have been completed, with major transmis- and upgradation of the distribution network. sion line equipment on-site and construction It also covers piloting a solar mini-grid. work in progress. Component 3: Technical assistance. The country-specific Environmental and Finances project management and imple- Social Impact Assessment has been complet- mentation support to ensure timely and ed and publicly disclosed. The Resettlement quality compilation of the project. It also Action Plan for the HVDC transmission line supports the review of existing standards has been prepared and land valuation/clear- and procedures, and the preparation of a grid ance of the transmission line route is under code for the Afghanistan power system. process. A contract for a Project Owner’s Construction of the 110 kV transmission Engineer, who supports DABS in monitoring/ line to Karokh district has been completed, supervision, for the HVDC components was and commissioning and handover of the as- awarded in November 2018. set is under process. Major civil work of the Procurement for the majority of key in- four substations has been completed, power frastructure packages under CASA-1000 transformers are on-site, and the remain- tributed $526.5 million in loans and grants sioning of high voltage alternating current in the other three countries has also been ing equipment for the substations are being to the four countries. Several other devel- (HVAC) transmission lines and associated completed, including the procurement for shipped. opment partners are also providing financ- substation in Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan; the two convertor stations in Tajikistan and Supply and installation of the distribution ing for CASA-1000, including the Islamic high voltage direct current (HVDC) trans- Pakistan for which the contracts were signed network in all four districts have been com- Development Bank, European Bank for mission lines from Tajikistan to Pakistan in September 2018 pleted, with inspection and handover of the Reconstruction and Development, United via Afghanistan; and three new HVDC con- asset under process. States Government, United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office verter stations in Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. However, in 2016, the four Herat Electrification The contract for supply and installation of the capacitor bank in 24-Hoot substation and United States Agency for International countries restructured the project, in which Project has been signed and physical work at the site Development. the converter station in Kabul was dropped. is in progress. Contracts have been signed IDA Grant $60 million c CASA-1000 will build more than 1,200 kilo- Of the total project financing, Afghanistan for construction of the 220 kV transmission meters (km) of electricity transmission lines has received $316.5 million in the form of an The project aims to support DABS provide line from Noor-e-Jihad to Pol-e-Hashimi sub- to transmit excess summer hydropower en- IDA grant. The grant will support construction new or improved electricity services to stations and the 220/132 kV substation in ergy from existing power plants (such as the of about 560 km of an overhead HVDC trans- over 230,000 people and 1,600 institutions Pol-e-Hashimi. Toktogul power plant in Kyrgyz Republic and mission line from Sangtuda converter station and businesses in selected areas in Herat Evaluation of the bids for the solar mini- Nurek power plant in Tajikistan) to Pakistan in Tajikistan to Nowshera converter station in province. grid project has been completed and submit- and Afghanistan. Pakistan. In addition, Afghanistan has received The project comprises three components: ted for review by the National Procurement At approval, CASA-1000 included the en- a $3 0 million grant from the ARTF for the CASA Component 1: Electrification of four dis- Authority. Packages for upgradation of distri- gineering design, construction, and commis- Community Support Program (see page 52). tricts in Herat province. Supports invest- bution network and supply of smart meters Country Update/ ongoing operations 24/  results solar power provides a lifeline to Afghanistan’s hospitals • In Herat province, medical facilities have done their best to cope with the influx of COVID-19 patients, but power outages have made it challenging to provide adequate treatment. • Solar power now supplies reliable electricity in 10 government hospitals in Herat for COVID-19 patients, who require functioning critical medical equipment, such as ventilators. • The uninterrupted power is generated by solar panels installed by Afghanistan’s national power utility, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat, under the Herat Electrification Project. S ince it recorded the first COVID-19 case in Afghanistan in February 2020, Herat province has logged the country's second-highest number of confirmed cases, after Kabul. The pandemic has overstretched Afghanistan's health care system. In Herat, medical facilities have done their best to cope with the influx of patients, but power ou- tages have made it challenging to treat COVID-19 pa- tients, who require electrical ventilators and other respi- ratory devices to stay alive. Herat imports half of its electricity, mainly from Af- ghanistan’s neighbors, Iran and Turkmenistan. Power outages are common during the summer and winter months when power usage reaches its peak because of weather extremes. Higher demand has outstripped supply over the past “ years. Afghanistan's national power utility, Da Afgha- nistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), is often unable to meet Powering Life-Saving Equipment its customers' needs, especially during peak periods or Herat's Shaidayi children's hospital was converted into when long transmission lines are interrupted. a COVID-19 medical center to treat the mounting flow The solar power system has Solar Panels Provide Continuous Power of infected people. The majority of COVID-19 patients in the province have sought care in the 100-bed facility, created a good and When the pandemic hit Herat, DABS installed solar pa- nels in 10 government hospitals to supply emergency which has received more than 2,000 patients. The hospital has 36 solar panels generating energy for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). "The main usage of the so- effective working environment for doctors, power. Financed by the Herat Electrification Project, the solar panels were installed in June 2020, providing re- lar power is in the ICU," says Abdul Manan Azadmanesh, liable electricity for critical surgery and essential equip- 42, Director of Shaidayi Hospital. "If equipment such as ment for COVID-19 patients, such as ventilators and ventilators stops working due to a power outage, the and they will be able to use essential medical equipment ” monitoring devices. patients will have difficulty breathing, which can lead to death or serious damage after five minutes. Now that for the treatment of COVID-19 "We all know continuous and reliable electricity is a major need in our hospitals, and the solar power system the solar power panels have been installed, we no longer installed in the 10 hospitals in Herat will resolve many of need to rely on the power generator." with the help of continuous power. our issues," says Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai, 37, spokes- man for the Herat Department of Public Health. "It has The initial success of the solar panels has led local au- thorities to consider expanding the initiative to remote created a good and effective working environment for areas. "Districts far from the city and remote villages face more power outages than the provincial capital, –Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai, spokesman, doctors, and they will be able to use essential medical and solar panels could be a big help for the hospitals equipment for the treatment of COVID-19 with the help Herat Department of Public Health, Herat province. of continuous power." located in these areas," Sherzai says. Country Update/ ongoing operations 26/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/27 are in the procurement process. Progress has / rural development been made in preparing the grid code, with the revised draft under review. As a remarkable accomplishment during Afghanistan Rural the COVID-19 pandemic, the project suc- Access Project (ARAP) cessfully supplied and installed solar back- c IDA Grant $125 million up systems for 10 hospitals designated for c ARTF Grant $312 million COVID-19 patients in Herat province. CLOSED DECEMBER 31, 2020 Irrigation Restoration ARAP aimed to enable rural communities across Afghanistan to benefit from improved and Development access to basic services and facilities through Project (IRDP) all-weather roads. The project was expect- ed to increase the number of people living IDA Grant $95.8 million c within 2 kilometers (km) of all-season roads, ARTF Grant $108.4 million c reduce travel time to essential services, and Government of Afghanistan c enable rural communities to access essential $3.5 million services more frequently. CLOSED ON DECEMBER 31, 2020 At project closure, construction under civil work contracts completed included 930 km The project built upon and scaled up activities of secondary gravel roads, 289 km of second- supported under the completed World Bank- ary asphalt roads, and 1,550 km of tertiary financed Emergency Irrigation Rehabilitation roads. In addition, 1,480 linear meters of Project, closed in December 2011. secondary bridges and 1,980 linear meters of After project restructuring and additional tertiary bridges were built. financing in July 2016, IRDP envisaged sup- Routine and periodic maintenance of 670 port to rehabilitate irrigation systems and km of secondary roads were undertaken as hydro-meteorological facilities and services. well as routine and periodic maintenance of As part of a portfolio-wide restructuring By the closing of IRDP in 3,500 km of tertiary roads. approved by GoIRA because of the COVID-19 December 2020, a total Rollout of the first nationwide inventory crisis, $12 million from the project fund was of 215 irrigation schemes and condition survey of rural roads was com- cancelled and reallocated to the COVID-19 had been rehabilitated, covering over 280,000 pleted and over 90 percent of inventory for impact response activities in 2020. hectares of irrigation secondary roads and above were completed Project achievements are as follows: command area and for 32 out 34 provinces. In the irrigation component, a total of 215 ir- benefiting over 580,000 farmers, well over the ARAP successfully achieved all its planned rigation schemes were rehabilitated, covering dam in Kabul and Darunta dam in Jalalabad logical stations. Drilling works for 173 test project’s targets. objectives and closed as scheduled on 284,391hectares of irrigation command area were completed. Dam safety guidelines for wells in nine big cities, including Kabul, were December 31, 2020. and 580,901 farmers (compared to the end Afghanistan were developed and completed completed. target of 215,000 hectares and over 425,000 under the project. Dam Safety Inspection re- Hydrogeological maps were prepared farmers). Nearly 46 kilometers of critical river ports were prepared for 10 existing dams. for the Preliminary National Ground Water basin erosion protection work were complet- In the hydro-met component, installation Potential Map. ed in various part of the country. of 216 hydrological, snow, and meteorologi- Based on the prepared exit strategy, the In the small dam component, a pre- cal stations were completed in the five river National Water Affairs Regulation Authority feasibility review of 22 small dams resulted in basins. In addition, 69 cableway stations for is working to complete the remaining work of a feasibility study being conducted on the six flow measurement at selected hydrology sta- 24 uncompleted contracts from the govern- best ranked dams in the northern river basin tions were installed. ment budget. The Bank will continue super- (which are not on international waters). Further, a national O&M mobile team was vision through the Third Party Monitoring Further, minor repair works for Qargha established to take care of O&M of all hydro- Agent till completion of the contracts. Country Update/ ongoing operations 28/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/29 Citizens’ Charter redeployed in May 2020 toward providing emergency household assistance in the form Afghanistan Project of food/cash in CCAP communities. (CCAP) A parallel emergency project (see page 34) approved on August 4, 2020, by the World c IDA Grant $267.9 million Bank Board of Executive Directors Relief Effort c ARTF Grant $602.3 million for Afghan Communities and Households (includes additional financing for (REACH)—provides similar household sup- Citizens’ Charter Emergency Regional port to the rest of the country not currently Displacement Response of IDA Grant $127.7 covered under CCAP. million and ARTF Grant $44.3 million and The diversion of ARTF funds created a large Second Additional Financing for CCAP financing gap for the main project, which was of IDA Grant $35 million and ARTF Grant subsequently filled by a Second Additional $158 million) Financing (AF) for CCAP. The AF was approved on December 11, c Government of Afghanistan 2020, with the objective to expand the geo- $51 million graphic coverage of the Urban Areas Block The Citizens’ Charter Afghanistan Project Grants in 10 more cities and redirect re- (CCAP) is the successor to the highly suc- sources to areas recently freed from anti-gov- cessful National Solidarity Programme (NSP), ernment elements (AGEs), including Kunar, which introduced a community-driven devel- Laghman, and Nangahar, as well as 300 rural opment approach toward rural infrastruc- CDCs across 10 districts. ture and service delivery and reached about As a result, the AF allows CCAP to experi- 35,000 communities over 14 years. ment with four new peace promotion ac- CCAP aims to improve the delivery of core tivities in areas recently freed from AGEs, infrastructure, emergency support, and including local conflict analyses; local-level social services to participating communi- peace dialogues; peace grants focused on ties through strengthened Community building social cohesion and community Development Councils (CDCs). These services collective action; and conflict and dispute are part of a minimum service standards resolution training. The government, with package that the government is committed technical support from the World Bank, is Additional financing to delivering to the citizens of Afghanistan. refining the design and implementation mo- to CCAP will allow The project has been set up as a multisec- dalities for the peace pilot activities. development work to toral and interministerial program that deliv- Specifically, the Ministry of Rural be extended to urban communities in 10 Main Project Components ban CDCs and 120 Gozars (neighborhoods) in ers a range of basic services and builds trust Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) is cities. Residents stand to between citizens and the state. CCAP estab- considering Kunar, Laghman, and Nangahar, benefit from improved Component 1: Service standards grants. four major cities (Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar, lished a robust implementation machinery, and the Independent Directorate of Local infrastructure and service Supports two types of grants to CDCs: and Mazar-i-Sharif) to fund small infrastruc- delivery, such as street (1a) Rural Areas Service Standards Grants. ture works. The menu of options includes combining the use of national technical as- Governance (IDLG) is considering Jalalabad upgrades, provision of sistant contractual staff and the outsourcing as potential locations for the peace pilots, potable water, and solid MRRD has overall responsibility for the imple- street upgrading, parks, lighting, provision of service delivery and social mobilization taking into account important issues such as waste management. mentation of the grants. This subcomponent of potable water, solid waste management functions to non-governmental organiza- safe access for project personnel and oppor- supports delivery of minimum service stand- arrangements, and women’s economic ac- tions as “facilitating partners”. tunities for monitoring for programmatic and ards on rural infrastructure. Allocations per tivities. This subcomponent supports service CCAP supports the first of three phases of fiduciary reasons. One of the key features of community are needs-based and based on an delivery linkages between the CDC, cluster/ GoIRA’s 10-year Citizens’ Charter National the design is women’s participation in peace initial gap and needs assessment against the Gozar, urban district, and municipality. Program and targets one third of the coun- fora/gatherings/trainings. minimum service standards. The investments Under the Second AF, the Urban Area Block try. The first phase of the program covers 850 Additionally, the AF has also introduced include water supply and a choice between Grants (worth $70,000 each) will be extend- urban communities in four major regional other new activities, in particular, a new sub- basic road access, electricity, or small-scale ed to about 335 additional urban communi- hubs. component to support nomadic Kuchi popu- irrigation. ties in Mazar-i-Sharif and nine other cities In the context of the World Bank’s lations, as well as codify several changes in the (1b) Urban Areas Block Grants. IDLG, the that have not been covered by CCAP. These COVID-19 relief response in Afghanistan, project implementation, management, and project’s urban implementing agency, has communities will also form some 67 Gozar the fourth ARTF tranche of $100 million was monitoring and evaluation arrangements. overall responsibility for the grants to 600 ur- Assemblies (GAs), each of which will receive Country Update/ongoing operations 30/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/31 a Gozar Assembly Grant worth $200,000. Under the Second AF, the SIG initiative will (1c) Kuchi Block Grants have been added scale up in all rural and urban CCAP coverage under the Second AF to provide about 900 areas (~12,000 rural and peri-urban CDCs and Kuchi communities with block grants worth a 850 urban CDCs) to provide urgent relief sup- maximum of $20,000 in total. The Kuchi no- port to households affected by the COVID-19 madic encampments or Elbands will receive pandemic and to alleviate the negative im- assistance from the project’s social organiz- pacts arising from food insecurity. ers to form locally elected Kuchi Community Under this initiative, each CDC will receive Development Councils (KCDCs), with a mini- a relief grant based on the number of eligible mum of 40 percent women membership households and distribute the relief package overall and at least one woman office bearer worth 4,000 afghanis (about $52) to its con- (25 percent). stituent eligible households in kind (based on Component 2: Institution building. a standard relief package that includes essen- Supports capacity building, technical assis- tial food staples and hygiene products). Based tance, and community facilitation services. on the underlying principle of near-universal In rural areas, MRRD works with 14 facilitat- coverage, approximately top 10 percent of af- ing partners in undertaking capacity building fluent households will be excluded using pre- and training of provincial and district staff determined standard exclusion criteria. to oversee, monitor, and report on project (5b) MCCGs are to serve as quick-disburs- progress, as well as social organizers. The ing emergency grants for work/labor-inten- ministry provides engineering and techni- sive public works schemes that are targeted cal support to communities across all 34 at vulnerable households within the com- provinces. munities and managed through a commu- Component 3: Monitoring and knowledge nity-driven development approach. The cash learning. Includes robust supervision and for works will include repairs, rehabilitation, learning activities from village to national cleaning, expansion, or construction. Cash for levels, exchange visits across communities, services will target ultra-vulnerable house- especially for women, and support for the- holds that cannot participate in public works. matic studies and evaluations. It covers a The Kuchies Development Sub-Program range of participatory monitoring and evalu- (KDSP) is an additional sub-program to the ation tools, including the rollout of simple cit- CCAP is making good Citizens’ Charter. The sub-program was of- progress, reaching over ficially launched in April 2019 and aims to izen scorecards to be completed by CDCs and 13,000 communities social organizers to report on the minimum Provides emergency short-term employment across Afghanistan reach semi-nomadic and fully nomadic Kuchi service standards. opportunities through labor-intensive public and providing basic communities in Afghanistan. It adheres infrastructure, services, equally to the principles of equity, inclusion, Component 4 (new under Additional works, as well as support for collective action and employment for about Financing): Project implementation and activities beyond public works that are aimed 13.7 million beneficiaries, participation, accountability, and transpar- management. Supports the management to foster greater social inclusion and protect with almost 50 percent ency. KDSP is expected to comply with the participation of women. guidelines described in the Citizens’ Charter. and oversight of the project at national, pro- the ultra-poor/vulnerable in communities. vincial, and district level in rural areas and There are two subcomponents: EXPECTED CITIZENS’ CHARTER RESULTS KDSP will support the provision of develop- the municipal management units in the four (5a) Social Inclusion Grants (SIGs) and ment services to Kuchi communities in the Results expected under the first phase include : regional hub cities. This includes areas such Collective Action Activities will take the form areas of health, education, road construction, as policy and operational planning; capacity of a “matching grant” up to a total value of • 10 million Afghans reached. safe drinking water, electricity, and drainage building; management information systems; $2,000 per community that will be used to • 3.4 million people gaining access to clean drinking water. system. Additionally, the sectoral menu for grievance redressal mechanisms; human provide incentives for community philan- KDSP will include specific services tailored • Improvements to quality of service delivery in health, resource management; communications; thropy. The combination of the matching to the unique development needs of the no- donor and field coordination; financial man- grant and community donations will be used education, rural roads, and electrification. madic communities, which include electricity agement and procurement functions; and in the first instance to initiate a food/grain • Increase in citizen satisfaction and trust in government. through solar or biogas systems and modern- safeguard oversight. bank for the ultra-poor in each of the target- • 35 percent return on investment for infrastructure projects. ization of water reservoirs. Component 5 (new under Additional ed communities. It is expected that this will Financing): Social Inclusion and Maintenance be replenished periodically with additional Implementation Progress and Construction Cash Grants (MCCGs). community donations. The Virtual Implementation Support Country Update/ ongoing operations 32/  results “leaking pot” exercise helps thousands of poor households reduce excess spending • Communities using a participatory development tool called the “Leaking Pot” exercise are helping impoverished households curb spending by identifying excess expenditures usually spent on traditional practices, such as weddings and funerals. • The success of the exercise has led many communities to reduce bride prices and other ceremonial expenses, which previously left households in debt. • The “Leaking Pot” exercise, carried out under the Citizens’ Charter Afghanistan Project, helps community members understand the economic and social relations and underlying causes of poverty within their communities. I mages of leaking water pots have sprung up in communities throughout Afghanistan. They are part of an exercise under the Citizens’ Charter Afghanistan Project (CCAP) teaching communi- ties about financial planning and the benefits of increa- sing income while lowering expenses on traditional practices. CCAP works through community-driven approaches to ensure that development outcomes are inclusive, sustainable, cost-effective, and responsive to demand. Whereas traditional structures placed the budgetary and decision-making power in the hands of a commu- “ nity’s male elders, CCAP requires that women and young people work side by side with their community to ana- lyze financial pressures facing households using partici- These incremental changes in CCAP patory development planning tools, such as the “Leaking Pot” exercise and Well-Being Analysis. ships for the future and consider how to stop the leaks As Afghanistan’s protracted conflict has resulted in communities have enabled residents so that the pot will not be empty. weakened government institutions, grassroot efforts to strengthen community structures through multifaceted In Afghan communities, weddings, funerals, and other traditions require a large percentage of the family’s in- to improve their economic condition community development plans is a reliable strategy to promote targeted development. To prepare their plans, come. One of the successful outcomes of the Leaking Pot exercise was reducing these expenses. Community Development Councils take part in partici- and reduce future indebtedness, Through these efforts, village elders representing ” patory, community-driven exercises that aim to provide a communities have come together to collectively lower nuanced understanding of each community’s economic the maximum bride price1 and other ceremonial ex- allowing for greater investment in and social relations with focus on seasonal hunger, inde- penses to support their community’s efforts to promote btedness, poor wages, lack of access to health services financial responsibility. and education, among others. household well-being. These incremental changes in CCAP communities Reducing “Leaking” Expenses have enabled residents to improve their economic condition and reduce future indebtedness, allowing for Households identified as “poor” and “very poor” through greater investment in household well-being. The “lea- a Well-Being Analysis participate in the Leaking Pot exer- king pot” has become a new symbol in the government’s cise. This visual balance sheet through the image of a efforts to combat poverty throughout Afghan cities and pot (representing a livelihood pot) allows households the countryside. to understand why the pot is always empty because of 1 A “bride price” is the price a groom’s family pays to the bride’s family “leaking” expenses. The analysis requires participants to secure the union. Although illegal, it continues to be widespread in to outline the expenditures that create particular hard- urban and rural areas. Country Update/ ongoing operations 34/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/35 Mission carried out from September 27 to COVID-19 Relief Effort October 8, 2020, confirmed that the project objectives are valid and concluded that CCAP for Afghan Communi- is on track to achieve almost all targets in the ties and Households Project Results Framework. The project has now reached 13,055 com- Project (REACH) munities (the end target was 11,750) across c IDA Grant $155 million Afghanistan and provided basic infrastruc- c ARTF Grant $125 million ture, services, and employment for 13.7 mil- REACH or the Dastarkhan-e-milli (DM) pro- lion beneficiaries, with almost 50 percent gram aims to provide emergency support to participation of women. Since January 23, 2017, CCAP has financed 11,996 subprojects selected households through communities in (SPs) and disbursed $244 million in grants. project areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. In rural areas: As of November 2020, a The project targets all households in Afghani- total of 12,170 communities have been stan with incomes of $2 per day or lower. As mobilized with 12,130 CDCs established, a result, the DM program provides emergency 2,402 Cluster CDCs/GAs registered, and relief to approximately 90 percent of the popu- 12,052 CDCs completing Community lation, covering about two-thirds of the coun- Development Plans (CDPs). In terms of sub- try, with CCAP covering the remaining areas. project implementation, 11,478 SPs are This project contributes to the “relief” underway and 4,040 SPs have been com- phase of the president’s 8-point plan for pleted. In addition, there are 260 SPs ap- COVID-19 response, proposed as part of the proved and 111 ongoing under the KDSP “National Human Security Program”. with a total of $1.4 million in grants awarded. REACH has four components based on the In urban areas: As of November 2020, 850 geographic coverage of three different imple- communities have been mobilized with 850 menting agencies already managing relevant CDCs having completed elections, 175 GAs projects (i.e., CCAP, EZ-Kar, and Kabul Munici- registered, and 850 CDPs completed. Under pality Development Project). the Kuchi Sub-Program, 640 KCDCs have Component 1: REACH Rural—Household been established, representing an increase support in rural and peri-urban areas. In- of over 23 percent since the Mid-Term Review cludes provision of relief support in the form in February 2020. More than 600 KCDCs pre- of food and hygiene products to selected REACH is providing emergency relief to all pared their CDPs and 364 SP proposals have households in rural and peri-urban areas, in- households earning $2 been submitted. In terms of subproject im- cluding 19 provincial capital cities (PCCs) and a day or less to mitigate plementation, there are 944 SPs ongoing and those outside the municipal boundaries of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 782 SPs have been completed. Kabul and the other provincial capital cities. Eligible households will The Regional Displacement Response: As of This will support an estimated 2.2 million receive a relief package November 2020, despite the COVID-19 crisis, households in 234 districts and the 19 PCCs, that includes essential food staples and hygiene an additional 1.8 million labor days have where CCAP is not currently operating, and products. The program been created, benefiting 1.4 million people. where IDLG does not operate as they fall expects to cover 90 percent Moreover, SIGs worth $2.1 million have been outside municipal boundaries. The benefit of the population. disbursed with select communities receiving amount will be indexed at 4,000 afghanis $1,000 matching grants for raising $1,000. per household in one tranche, delivered in- COVID-19 Relief Response: As of February kind through a standard relief package that 2021, a total of 390,614 households have re- includes essential food staples and hygiene ceived relief packages with relief grants in the products. amount of $41 million already transferred to Component 2: REACH Urban—Household 3,695 CDCs. support in provincial capital cities. Comprises Country Update/ ongoing operations 36/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/37 lected households in Kabul. This will support National Horticulture and Livestock Project, approximately 630,000 households (about 80 Access to Finance Project, and microfinance percent of total households) in Kabul Munici- institutions. pality (KM). WEE-RDP will provide support to commu- A relief package worth a total of 8,000 af- nity-level women’s institutions through seed ghanis will be distributed to each eligible capital and technical assistance and link household in two tranches. Each tranche them to formal financial institutions and will be 4,000 afghanis per household. The markets to enable economic empowerment. contents of the relief packages and tranche The project has three components: distribution timings will be the same as in Component 1: Community mobilization and Component 2. institution development. Comprises (i) pro- Component 4: Project management, com- viding technical assistance to support com- munications, and monitoring. Supports pro- munity mobilization for establishing self-help ject management and capacity building; groups (SHGs) and federating them into Vil- dedicated strategic communications; and lage Loan and Savings Associations (VLSAs), monitoring, including safeguard compliance and Enterprise Groups (EGs) and federating for MRRD, IDLG, and KM. them into Producer Associations (PAs); and Over 2,800 communities across the coun- (ii) carrying out a program of activities to try have received COVID-19 relief assistance strengthen capacity, quality, and financial since the project started accelerated distribu- performance of SHGs, VSLAs, EGs, and PAs. tion in December 2020. The government will Component 2: Access to finance. Comprises also begin activities in four hard-to-reach pi- (i) providing seed grants to eligible SHGs and lot districts for COVID-19 relief. VSLAs to establish long-term revolving funds; and (ii) facilitating access to financial ser- Women’s Economic vices for rural women through partnerships with microfinance institutions and commer- Empowerment Rural cial banks to promote financial inclusion of Development Project Social mobilization under women groups; developing relevant financial WEE-RDP has been highly products and services with commercial banks (WEE-RDP) successful with more than 42,000 self-help and microfinance institutions; eliminating in- groups cumulatively stitutional constraints on women’s access to provision of relief support in the form of food the relief package to its constituent eligi- saving the equivalent of c IDA Grant $25 million formal financial services; exploring feasibility and hygiene products and/or cash to selected ble households either in-kind (based on the about $8.7 million. By c ARTF Grant $75 million leveraging these internally of piloting a system, enabled by information households, including returnees living in set- standard relief package that includes essen- generated savings and the WEE-RDP aims to increase social and eco- technology, for delivery of financial products; tlement camps inside municipal boundaries, tial food staples and hygiene products) or in external seed capital grant nomic empowerment of poor rural women and financial capacity building. received from the project, through CDCs and/or GAs in 14 PCCs. This cash, based on the preference of communi- the groups, including in selected communities. It is the flagship Component 3: Enterprise development and will support an estimated 450,000 house- ties and subject to local circumstances based Village Savings and operation under the Women’s Economic Em- market linkages. Comprises (i) providing tech- holds (about 90 percent of total households) on pre-determined criteria. Loan Associations, have disbursed a total of nearly powerment National Priority Program (WEE- nical assistance and supporting promotional in those PCCs, including about 1.45 million The second tranche of 4,000 afghanis per $17.5 million to their NPP) (see page 66) and builds upon the closed activities to strengthen the capacity of EGs, returnees based on estimates by the Interna- household will be rolled out later depend- members. Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development PAs, and individual women entrepreneurs to tional Organization for Migration. ing on the trajectory of the crisis. For the Project (AREDP). access markets and manage their businesses; The relief package worth a total of 8,000 second tranche, digital cash transfers will be WEE-RDP has engaged communities in (ii) providing catalytic funds to eligible EGs afghanis (about $100) will be distributed to considered in select urban areas, only where 76 districts, covering over 2,100 CDCs in all and PAs; and (iii) supporting EGs, PAs, and/ each eligible household in two tranches. The feasible. 34 provinces across Afghanistan. It is work- or individual women entrepreneurs through first tranche of 4,000 afghanis per household Component 3: REACH Kabul—Household ing in close collaboration with several other facilitating their partnerships with business will be transferred to all eligible households support in Kabul Municipality. Comprises pro- rural development programs in the country, enterprises to improve the supply of business through CDCs, GAs, or Ad-Hoc COVID-19 vision of relief support in the form of food and including the Citizens’ Charter, Ministry of Ru- development services and access to markets. CDCs. Each of these entities will distribute hygiene products and/or cash transfer to se- ral Rehabilitation and Development projects, The pace of social mobilization under WEE- Country Update/ ongoing operations 38/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/39 RDP has been remarkably high. As of January Trans-Hindukush 2021, a total of 473,756 beneficiaries have been mobilized into establishing 42,143 ac- Road Connectivity tive SHGs, of which 80 percent are women’s Project groups. Further, 2,383 VSLAs have been es- c IDA Grant $150 million tablished, with credit functions for their members. The project aims to support the government’s Overall, 78 percent of SHG members be- efforts to improve road transport links across long to the “poor” and “poorest” categories, the Hindukush mountain range, including according to the Well-Being Analysis carried the rehabilitation of the Salang road and tun- out by the CCAP, which WEE-RDP uses to iden- nel. It will develop existing mountain cross- tify target beneficiaries. ings into dependable, all-season roads that The SHGs have cumulatively saved over will allow the vital transport of passengers 677 million afghanis (about $8.7 million) and goods to cross the Hindukush mountain and opened bank accounts for almost all the range throughout the year. VSLAs with women as signatories. Overall, an In support of the response to the COVID-19 amount of over 225 million afghanis (nearly pandemic, $100 million from the project $3 million) has been transferred to the com- fund was cancelled and reallocated to the munities by way of seed capital grants. emergency measures. This has impacted the By leveraging their own internally generat- overall scope of the project and resulted in ed savings and the external seed capital grant suspension of the civil work activities on the received from the project, the groups (SHGs Salang corridor. However, these activities may and VSLAs combined) have disbursed a total resume once adequate project funding is amount of about 1.3 billion afghanis (nearly available. $17.5 million) to their members. The project has been restructured to incor- For an overwhelming majority of members, porate the changes and lessons learned from this is the first time in their lives that they the implementation so far. It will continue to have access to financial services—both sav- carry out civil works for the upgrading of the ings and loans. Anecdotally, many have spo- Baghlan to Bamiyan (B2B) road (152 km) into a paved road as planned. ALASP supports the work ken very highly of how this has helped them to provide the population in consumption smoothing and taking care of As of January 31, 2021, three out of the six in selected areas with their immediate and short-term emergency segments along the B2B road are under con- improved land registration / service delivery million from the original $35 million project struction, namely segments 1, 2, and 5, while services, including the needs, but also providing them with an op- issuance of Titles and financing to redirect funds to support govern- portunity to start investing in their business segment 6 is being re-procured. The procure- ment process of segments 3, 4a, and 4b has Occupancy Certificates. Here, an Occupancy Afghanistan Land ment response to the COVID-19 pandemic. and enterprises for the long term to improve ALASP aims to (i) establish an effective land incomes and the standard of living of their started and is expected to be completed by Certificate team is carrying out a survey under the Administration System administration system in Afghanistan that families. start of April. The Construction Supervision Unit of the project in Herat province. To date, over 1,800 Project (ALASP) provides transparent land services, contrib- Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic uting to stability and growth; (ii) help close Ministry of Public Work is supervising the certificates have been c IDA Grant $17.9million and resulting policy measures have reduced gaps in and further develop the policy, legal, implementation of the segments under con- issued in the country. c ARTF Grant $7.1 million the progress of the project significantly. Ef- and institutional framework for land ad- forts are being made to support the affect- struction. Physical progress on segment 1 and The project objective is to support the devel- ministration; (iii) provide the building blocks ed groups with awareness activities on the segment 2 stands at roughly 48 percent and opment of the Afghanistan land administra- for a modern land administration system in coronavirus and to take measures to cush- 12 percent of the work, respectively. tion system, and provide the population in Afghanistan; and (iv) support capacity build- ion the impacts on beneficiaries and their The design consultancy for the Salang Tun- selected areas with improved land registra- ing of the Ministry of Urban Development enterprises. nel rehabilitation has advanced and is sche- tion services, including the issuance of Titles and Land (MUDL) and improve its governance duled to be completed by March 31, 2021. and Occupancy Certificates (OCs). structure to enhance institutional effective- The project was restructured following a ness and accountability. June 2020 request from GoIRA to cancel $10 The project also focuses on women’s eco- Country Update/ongoing operations 40/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/41 nomic empowerment through policy devel- Project Implementation Unit has been com- opment to enhance female ownership and pleted, including: Project Director, Special inheritance of land and other family assets. Desk Gender officers, Senior Procurement The project components are (i) land policy Specialist, Senior M&E Specialist, M&E and institutional strengthening; (ii) devel- Specialist, GRM Officer, and the Social oping technological capacity, information Safeguards Officer. and systems for land administration; and (l) Recruitment of a consultancy firm for pro- (iii) project management, monitoring and ject communications and outreach, as well as evaluation. the recruitment of an audit firm are at short- ALASP has progressed specifically in the fol- list stage. lowing activities: (m) Project procurement above $100,000 is (a) Advancing the transition from a deeds sys- being processed by the National Procurement tem managed by the courts to an administra- Authority. tive form of deeds issuance, with the signing (n) Technical documents on geodesy and pho- of a protocol that transfers deed transactions togrammetry have been drafted. from the Supreme Court to MUDL. As part of (o) Staff training on photogrammetry has this process, Deeds Automation Regulation been conducted. and Procedures have been approved, a deed (p) Technical specifications for the Land automation test software developed, a Deed Information System have been given a no- Automation Office refurbished in Herat, and objection by the Bank; the cadastral law has deed automation staff trained. been submitted to the National Assembly (b) Amendments to the Occupancy Certificate and the amendments to the OC Regulations Regulations reflecting recommendations to have been submitted to the Cabinet—all manage social risks and speed up OC issu- before the deadline of November 15, 2020, ance have been discussed by the cabinet and resulting in MUDL achieving its goals for the are undergoing further revisions as per cabi- Incentive Program Development Policy Grant. net request. (c) The OC administrative, legal, and technical approach has been finalized. Emergency EATS was launched in (d) OC staff has been trained in Balkh, Bamyan, Agriculture and Food August 2020 to respond to the food security Farah, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, and Nili on OC, gender, and the grievance re- Supply Project (EATS) challenges and reduced income resulting from restore/maintain and improve food security with a focus on wheat and other key staple forts to boost wheat productivity of the next harvest season, beginning in June, for vulner- dressal mechanism (GRM). c IDA Grant $55 million the COVID-19 crisis. The crops; (ii) employment generation with spe- able households. (e) A total of 1,862 (39 to women, 325 to men, c ARTF Grant $45 million project has so far reached cific and strong support to youth and women The procurement process for labor-inten- over 210,000 farmers with and 1,498 jointly) OCs have been issued; engagement in agriculture; and (iii) resilient sive activities is well underway, and imple- improved seed packages (f) A five-year Strategy for Women EATS was approved in August 2020 in re- as part of its efforts to agriculture and agribusiness and sustainable mentation of the first batch of irrigation Empowerment and Gender Equity has been sponse to the COVID-19 emergency to sup- boost wheat productivity of the next harvest season, productivity. schemes is expected to start in early March prepared. port critical food supply chains and create beginning in June, for The project balances immediate action on 2021, right after the cold season. In addition, (g) Anti-harassment procedures have been short-term economic opportunities. This is vulnerable households. job creation for food security and livelihood other interventions including establishment developed. to allow early action on impending COVID-19 support with early action against crop failure of kitchen gardening schemes for women are (h) The Women Land Rights Task Force con- induced impacts on food security (food pro- (seeds for 2021 wheat harvest, as well as ir- ready for implementation. ducted an outreach program. duction decrease, food prices increase, dis- rigation infrastructure to mitigate drought- In April-May, EATS will be able to advance (i) Training on the OC reference book and ruptions of supply chains, unemployment, related crop loss for food security). implementation of its key activities planned Gender-Based Violence has been completed. and purchasing power decrease). To date, most of the key project staff are on for the 2021 spring season, while prepar- (j) The GRM operational manual was finalized EATS seeks to respond to food security board and project manuals and safeguard in- ing for another seed distribution campaign and the GRM system is functional, receiving challenges and reduced income resulting struments have been prepared and approved. with improved seed packages covering over 49 cases and resolving 31. from the COVID-19 crisis through support The project has reached over 210,000 farmers 300,000 households. (k) Recruitment of several key positions in the for: (i) food supply chains and production to with improved seed packages as part of its ef- Country Update/ ongoing operations 42/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/43 Eshteghal Zaiee – mainly due to the COVID-19 crisis, which gen- erated challenges in recruitment, procure- Karmondena Project ment, and planning. However, the project is (EZ-Kar) starting to gradually resume activities. As of February 2021, the project has signed c IDA Grant $150 million contracts with facilitating partners in nine c ARTF Grant $47.75 million (out of 12) cities to mobilize communities and businesses to implement labor-inten- EZ-Kar aims at strengthening the enabling environment for economic opportunities in sive public works, community subprojects, cities where there is a high influx of displaced market-enabling subprojects, and COVID-19 people. The project objective will be pursued emergency relief grants for local businesses by increasing returnees’ access to civil docu- through Community Development Councils, ments, providing short-term employment Gozars, and Business Gozars. opportunities, improving market-enabling in- At the municipal level, prioritized urban frastructure, and supporting investor-friendly investment projects (PIPs) for infrastructure regulatory reforms. development are being planned and imple- The project targets Afghan refugees liv- mented in Kabul Municipality and the four ing in Pakistan and in 13 Afghan provincial target provincial capital cities. To date, 23 PIPs capital cities with the highest influx of re- have been approved, of which two are under cent returnees. The 13 cities are Asadabad, implementation and four are in the procure- Firozkoh, Herat, Jalalabad, Kabul, Kandahar, ment process. Khost, Kunduz, Maimana, Mihtarlam, Paroon, In addition, 121 labor-intensive public Puli Khumri, and Taloqan. The project has five works projects have been identified across 22 components: districts in Kabul Municipality and are being Component 1: Regional and national inte- prepared for implementation. gration of displaced persons. The component As part of support for business-friendly reg- is implemented by the Ministry of Foreign ulatory reforms, construction permits regula- Affairs. tory reform implementation plans have been Component 2: Short-term employment op- finalized. Once approved by IDLG and Kabul EZ-Kar is making progress portunities, reforms, and market-enabling Municipality, the plan will be implemented in in nine cities with a high infrastructure and municipal-level regulatory the municipalities of Herat, Jalalabad, Kabul, influx of displaced people to mobilize communities reforms in 12 cities implemented by the Inde- and Kandahar. and businesses to competent civil servants in key positions and Component 1: Human resource capacity pendent Directorate of Local Governance implement labor-intensive administrative reforms in 16 line ministries. injection. IARCSC has so far approved 994 po- Tackling Afghanistan’s (IDLG). public works, community subprojects, market- The project supports up to a total of 1,100 sitions for financing through TAGHIR. These Component 3: Prioritized urban invest- civil service positions to enable the ministries positions have been approved based on the Government HRM enabling subprojects, and ments in four provincial capital cities—Herat, COVID-19 emergency relief to meet objectives and deliver on their priori- strategic staffing lists submitted by the pri- [Human Resource Jalalabad, Kandahar, and Khost—implement- grants for local businesses through Community ties. The Independent Administrative Reform ority line ministries. As of January 30, 2021, ed by IDLG. and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC) leads TAGHIR has issued contracts to 759 civil serv- Management] and Development Councils and Component 4: Market-enabling infra- business councils. the project implementation. ants, of whom 622 are active and 137 have structure and regulatory reforms for Kabul Municipality implemented by Kabul Institutional Reforms TAGHIR also helps the government estab- left the civil service for different personal, lish and operationalize a functional Human professional, and potentially political reasons. Municipality. (TAGHIR) Resources Management Information System Of the 622 TAGHIR appointees, 76 are Component 5: Red carpet, project coordi- c IDA Grant $25 million (HRMIS) for over 400,000 civil servants in the women, making it 12 percent of total ap- nation, and national-level regulatory reforms c ARTF Grant $50 million Afghan Civil Service. pointments under the project, in which the implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Progress toward achievement of the pro- target is to increase women representation which is also responsible for overall project TAGHIR is a follow-on to the Capacity ject objective and overall project implemen- in these key positions from 7.5 percent in coordination. Building for Results (CBR) Facility. It assists the tation is currently rated as " Moderately October 2018 to 10 percent by project end. In The project was launched in February 2019, Government of Afghanistan to deliver its key Satisfactory". Key implementation develop- total, 372 positions are currently under differ- but experienced delays in implementation policy priorities by having more qualified and ments secured to date include: ent stages of the recruitment process, which Country Update/ ongoing operations 44/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/45 and mandate overlap issues in the targeted the five participating provincial capital cit- entities. ies—Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Khost, and As of January 26, 2021, IARCSC has complet- Mazar-i-Sharif. ed overall functional review of the Ministry of The project includes labor-intensive Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Ministry “Emergency Projects”, which are designed to of Communication & IT, and Supreme Audit provide rapid employment opportunities to Office, and has made substantial progress daily laborers who have lost their livelihoods in the functional review of the Ministry of due to the pandemic. Emergency Projects Finance in collaboration with the ministry. consist of activities like the constructing or TAGHIR also supports the strengthening of rehabilitating gravel roads, paving tertiary the e-recruitment system and contents. The streets, canal/drain cleaning, and other activi- Exam Content Research and Development ties as identified by municipal counterparts. Center in the IARCSC has developed around The restructured project has strengthened 30,000 research-based questions that test the involvement of municipalities in these candidates’ general knowledge, job-specific works, improving their capacity in procure- skills, and analytical skills within 295 different ment, financial management, engineering job streams. design, and supervision. Under this component, TAGHIR has also The project has shown progress in the last supported a research study on the socio- six months despite the recent challenges cultural and organizational factors associated posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Project with lower representation of women in the Implementation Unit, in collaboration with upper echelons of the Afghan Civil Service the municipalities, has prepared a pipeline (Grade 1 and 2) and more explicitly why fewer of 130+ “Emergency Projects”. Works on the women than men apply for these positions. ground are ongoing on six projects, while This study seeks and explores the extent to five have been completed and 120 at various which the “power-dynamic” of holding a stages of procurement. leadership position act as an impediment to In addition, 18 “Priority Projects” have women’s full participation and involvement been prepared. Priority Projects are medium- in executive roles. sized infrastructure investments that stretch Another major focus of this research will be across neighborhoods. Works on the ground to determine and elaborate on key practices are ongoing for all, of which six are nearly TAGHIR is supporting within the Afghan public institutions that un- completed. research on factors associated with lower dermine women’s career advancement. The Finally, there has also been progress in pre- representation of women findings of the study will be used to recom- paring the groundwork for technical assis- will be completed by June 30, 2021. HRMIS team has started the deployment of in the upper echelons of mend practical solutions and foster reforms tance. The Afghanistan Finance Management the Afghan Civil Service Component 2: Personnel and payroll man- the HRMIS (roll-out) to the line ministries. and concrete changes that can ultimately Information System baseline assessment is and more explicitly why agement. The HRMIS team has developed The Organizational Structure (Tashkeel) and fewer women than men have an impact on women’s equal represen- currently being conducted by a consulting seven modules so far (five core and two sup- Biography Modules have been deployed in 20 apply for these positions. tation in the Afghan Civil Service. firm. The study findings will port): (i) Tashkeel (Organization Structure/ LMAs and the rollout to the rest of the enti- The Own Source Revenue consultancy is at be used to recommend Establishment Control), (ii) Job Description, ties is ongoing. practical solutions and the final award stage and the policy dialogue (iii) Biography, Sawaneh (Personnel Files), Component 3: Support to administrative foster reforms that / urban development on the Municipal Incentive Fund is ongoing will have an impact (iv) Attendance, (v) Settings, (vi) User reforms. The project uses the just in-time with government counterparts. CIP is keeping on women’s equal Management, and (vii) Payroll Module, which is still being upgraded to reflect the different support approach under this component. It supports priority reforms that are aligned representation in the civil service. Cities Investment the municipal finance reform agenda intact as per the original design after restructuring. needs of different line ministries. with the IARCSC five-year strategy and em- Program (CIP) To date, a total of 434,010 approved bedded in its annual reform plan. c IDA Grant $25 million Tashkeel positions of 58 line ministries and Functional review of LMAs is an area that c ARTF Grant $25 million agencies (LMAs) have been stored in the TAGHIR supports. The project provides local HRMIS. The biometric and biographic data technical assistance to the relevant teams The project’s objective is to support COVID-19 of 320,000 civil servants from 50 LMAs at in IARCSC to conduct functional reviews. recovery efforts, rehabilitate municipal in- the center and subnational levels have been These reviews are relatively light in nature frastructure, and introduce improved mu- collected and entered into the system. The and focuses on addressing major structural nicipal finance and management systems in 46/  Country Update/ / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/47 INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION The International Finance Corporation’s key tionally and internationally. This project aims / advisory projects with goira prong of engagement has been through to improve the livelihood of horticulture advisory support focused on improving the farmers by linking them to fruit processing Investment Climate investment climate and building capacity, companies through contract farming and The program is designed to tackle business while supporting selective investments in supporting processing companies to expand and investment climate challenges of the sectors with high development impact and their export markets. country. job creation. IFC’s current strategy is alig- It aims to improve the quality of busi- ned with the ongoing World Bank Group’s Afghanistan Agribusiness Mapping ness regulations, strengthen mechanisms Country Partnership Framework, 2017 to FY The goal of the mapping exercise is to for trade facilitation and export promotion, 2020 (extended to FY 2022). develop a list of companies with potential and enhance mechanisms for investment for growth, as IFC is planning to build on attraction and retention to reduce private Investment Portfolio its agribusiness program and scale up its sector’s cost of compliance (cost savings) in IFC provides a mix of investments services existing interventions through upstream Afghanistan. in Afghanistan, with a focus on financial work identifying, developing, and promoting IFC is currently working to support the gov- inclusion, telecommunications, and energy investment opportunities in the agriculture ernment in promoting an investment and generation. IFC’s current cumulative com- sector. business climate that is conducive to private mitted portfolio stands at over $300 million, sector growth through the investment cli- including investment in Roshan Telecom, Afghanistan Competitiveness Study mate program’s subprojects: First Microfinance Bank (FMFB), Afghanistan The project aims to identify Afghanistan’s (i) Business Enabling Environment Project International Bank (AIB) and Mazar comparative advantages, bottlenecks, policy The focus of the project is on catalyzing Doing Independent Power Producer Gas-to-Power. gaps, and investment opportunities in the Business reforms in Afghanistan, with em- study on legal barriers to women’s economic its Public Private Partnership Transaction IFC investments have had a transforma- pharmaceuticals, agriculture, cement and phasis on areas with the greatest potential activities. Advisory Services division, to act as lead tional impact in access to finance and out- steel sectors. to contribute to improving the investment (ii) Afghanistan Export Competitiveness transaction advisor to invite private sector reach, particularly in the microfinance and climate and investment facilitation. Project developers to compete for the right to devel- telecommunications sectors. IFC will con- Banking on Women Advisory The project objectives are to (i) streamline The project aims to improve export proce- op, finance, construct, operate, maintain, and tinue to seek new investment opportunities The program provides expertise to financial the legal and regulatory framework for Doing dures at government and non-governmen- transfer an independent utility-scale solar and engage upstream with local players to institutions/banks to help them acquire Business reforms; and (ii) strengthen inter- tal agencies by undertaking regulatory and photovoltaic power project in Afghanistan of support the development of Afghanistan’s women-owned SMEs and retail customers— agency coordination mechanisms on invest- procedural reforms, and streamline sanitary up to 40MW. private sector. and profitably finance them. It will contrib- ment climate reforms and establish effective and phytosanitary system and quarantine The first Scaling Solar project in Herat The investment pipeline looks promis- ute to narrowing the financing gap of the public-private dialogue mechanisms. certificate processes. It also aims to identify, province (40 MW) being the largest renew- ing and includes further investments in the women’s market in Afghanistan through in- Under its institutional support component, promote, and facilitate investments, develop able plant in the country will have a sig- power sector and an investment in the edu- creased and improved access to finance and the project is providing technical support to market intelligence system, and increase ex- nificant impact on the energy landscape as cation sector. financial inclusion. the Executive Committee on Private Sector ports in top priority markets. Afghanistan currently relies on imported Development (PriSEC) structured under the electricity. Wind Pre-feasibility Study Office of the First Vice President, which is the Scaling Solar / advisory projects with IFC is conducting a pre-feasibility study to lead agency for coordinating reforms for pri- Scaling Solar is a “one stop shop” program the private sector identify the wind power potential in Balkh vate sector development in the country. for governments to rapidly mobilize privately and Herat provinces. This study will help in To date, the project has helped in the de- funded grid connected solar projects at com- Strengthening Afghanistan Horticulture determining suitable sites for wind inde- velopment of a five-year strategy for private petitive tariffs. The program brings together Exports pendent power producers. The key compo- sector development and Doing Business re- a suite of World Bank Group services under IFC is working to develop Afghanistan’s hor- nents of the study include wind resource form memorandum, and assisted in their a single engagement based on a template ticultural exports by helping agriculturists assessment, economic and financial assess- implementation to improve the country’s approach to create viable markets for solar enhance efficiency and supporting the ex- ment, and preliminary technical and envi- Doing Business ranking. It has also helped power in each client country. tension of market opportunities, both na- ronmental analysis. set up and support PriSEC, and conducted a GoIRA has engaged IFC, acting through 48/  Country Update/ / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/49 AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION TRUST FUND The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund Islamic Development Bank, and the United (ARTF) is a multidonor trust fund that coor- Nations Development Program as members. dinates international aid to improve the The United Nations Assistance Mission in lives of millions of Afghans. The World Bank Afghanistan serves as an official observer to the MC. ARTF donors are also invited to administers the ARTF on behalf of donor observe MC meetings. The MC makes deci- partners. To date, 34 donors have contribu- sions on a consensus basis informed by rec- ted to the fund. ommendations of the ARTF working groups. ARTF is the largest single source of fun- MC participation is generally at the country ding for Afghanistan's development, fi- director or deputy minister level. nancing up to 30 percent of the country’s 3. The World Bank serves as ARTF Admin- civilian budget and supporting core func- istrator. In this capacity, the World Bank is re- tions of the government. sponsible for ARTF finances. The World Bank Since 2002, ARTF has delivered support also manages secretariat functions to moni- through National Priority Programs and tor and report ARTF program performance. It driven some of the fastest progress in the also reports the Management Committee's world in reducing infant mortality and in- funding decisions to the Steering Committee. Working groups play critical roles in ARTF creasing children's enrollment in school. governance by advising the SC, monitoring The ARTF’s support of the government’s the implementation of ARTF strategies and priority programs, policy reform agenda, programs, and providing strategic and tech- and the non-security operating costs of nical advice. government operations contributes to the 1. Strategy Group (SG) contributes to the achievement of Afghanistan’s national development of the multiyear ARTF strat- strategic goals. egy known as the Partnership Framework pipeline development, and portfolio man- and Financing Program (PFFP) (formerly the agement. The GWG reviews gender as- Management Financing Strategy), implementation of the pects of ARTF-financed activities and shares Governance entities set policy and strategy, strategy and individual ARTF programs, and knowledge and expertise on innovations in oversee finances and allocations, and man- advises the Steering Committee on recom- gender as they relate to the ARTF. The GWG is age contributions and administrative func- mended updates to the PFFP. The SG is co- co-chaired by the World Bank and a rotating tions of the ARTF. chaired by the World Bank and Ministry of donor co-chair, and reports its findings and 1. Steering Committee (SC) sets policy and the Finance. SG participation is generally at the recommendations to the SG. Members are strategy for the ARTF. It consists of the World country director, deputy minister, or head of technical specialist. Bank and the Afghan Ministry of Finance as cooperation level. AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION TRUST FUND co-chairs and ARTF donor countries as mem- 2. Incentive Program Working Group (IPWG) How the ARTF works bers. The SC makes decisions on a consen- is an advisory, coordination, and informa- Donors contribute funds into a single ac- The objectives of the ARTF are to: sus basis informed by recommendations of tion-sharing body established to support the count held by the World Bank in the USA. The • Position the national budget as the key vehicle to align the reconstruction the ARTF working groups. SC participation is Incentive Program process. It provides a cen- ARTF Management Committee makes deci- program with national development objectives. generally at the minister, country director, or tral forum for policy dialogue on key revenue, sions on proposed allocations at its regular ambassador level. Management Committee public financial management, and structural meetings, and those decisions are translated • Promote transparency and accountability of reconstruction assistance. members serve as observers to the SC. reforms between the government, the World into funds through Grant Agreements signed • Reduce the burden on limited government capacity while promoting 2. Management Committee (MC) oversees Bank, and ARTF donors. The IPWG discusses between the World Bank as administrator capacity building over time. ARTF finances and reviews proposals to com- policy reforms with the government and re- of the trust fund and GoIRA. Management mit ARTF funds considering both techni- ports on reform progress to the SC and SG. Committee decisions are guided by the mul- • Enhance donor coordination for financing and policy dialogue. cal quality and alignment with the current The World Bank chairs the IPWG and mem- tiyear Partnership Framework and Financing financing strategy. The MC consists of the bers are technical specialists. Program developed by the Strategy Group World Bank as the Chair and the Ministry of 3. Gender Working Group (GWG) supports and endorsed by the Steering Committee. Finance, the Asian Development Bank, the gender mainstreaming in ARTF strategies, ARTF allocations are made from the ARTF Country Update/ artf 50/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/51 2. Investment Window (IW) has been in place Recurrent Cost Window since the ARTF was established in 2002. It Grant $6.1 billion —$5.17 billion provides "on-budget" grant financing for na- (recurrent and capital cost) and tional development programs in the develop- $930 million (development policy grants) ment budget. The IW is recipient-executed. The RCW was established in 2002 to provide Please see the ARTF website, www.artf.af, for coordinated and predictable support to re- more information on all active and closed curring civilian costs of government, helping projects, a "footprint" map showing pro- to fill a gap between non-security expendi- ject presence, and links to individual project ture needs and revenue collections. As the reports. government domestic revenues remain in- 3. Advisory Services, Implementation sufficient to cover the costs of government, Support, and Technical Assistance (ASIST) the RCW has ensured the basic functioning was established in 2018 to respond to the of government and delivery of basic services government's request for hands-on advisory such as health care and education. services, implementation support, and tech- Financing through the RCW was previous- nical assistance, especially in priority sec- ly through two projects. The Fiscal Stability tors of the national development strategy. Facility was a one-time project established in ASIST replaces the now-inactive Research and 2018 and closed in 2019. It was designed as Analysis Program window. The ASIST window a bridge that aimed to reduce potential risks is Bank-executed, which means that World that could arise in transitioning away from Bank personnel lead and execute ASIST- the long-running Recurrent and Capital Costs funded initiatives. (RCC), which ran from 2002 through 2019. 4. Anti-Corruption and Results Monitoring Between 2002 and 2018, the RCC disbursed Action Program (ACReMAP) finances initia- $5.17 billion, financing an annual average of tives to enhance anti-corruption, safeguards, 30 percent of the government’s civilian recur- and results monitoring efforts in the ARTF rent costs. portfolio. Like ASIST, the ACReMAP window Incentive Program Development Policy was established in 2018. ACReMAP supports Grants (IP-DPG) are the sole instrument used Trustee Account through four windows: the World Bank's commitment, as ARTF ad- to provide financing through the RCW and 1. Recurrent Cost Window (RCW) has been ministrator, to respond to elevated fiduci- the financing is fully results-based. in place since the ARTF was established in Expenses claimed by the government un- ary and safeguard risks in the Afghanistan 2002. The RCW is recipient-executed, which der the RCW must meet a set of eligibility portfolio and maximize the fund's devel- means that the government leads and ex- criteria, established by the World Bank, and opment impact. The ACReMAP window is ecutes RCW programming. The RCW pro- be verified by an independent, international, Bank-executed. vides "on-budget" financing to reimburse third-party monitoring agent (TPMA). A TPMA the government for a portion of eligible and has been in place since 2002 to carefully Donor Contributions non-security related operating expenditures monitor the entire civilian operating budget Over the last few years, the “preferenced” every year. and ensure all expenditures financed from portion of donor contributions has been the RCW operations have evolved: Since 2018, the RCW are eligible. main factor driving growth. The agreed ARTF 100 percent of RCW financing is incentivized, It should also be noted that the RCW re- rule is that donors may “preference” up to meaning that reimbursement is based on the sources ensure the payment of salaries of 50 percent of their annual contributions. government's achievement of policy bench- around 62 percent of non-uniformed civil serv- This rule is to ensure that the ARTF has suf- marks discussed and agreed in the Incentive ants in all 34 provinces in Afghanistan. Steady ficient funding to finance the Recurrent Cost Program Working Group. From 2002–2017, year-on-year increases in operating costs Window and that it retains some flexibility in the RCW financed a mix of baseline (non- across government mean the RCW accounts the approval of projects in support of govern- conditioned) budget expenses and joint and for a declining share of the overall budget. ment priorities. bilateral incentivized policy priorities. Country Update/ artf 52/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/53 / ongoing projects for implementation of CSP subprojects. Moreover, CSP hires staff as needed, which Central Asia South has contributed to significant cost savings, al- lowing for a decrease in the overall amount Asia-1000 needed for this component from $7.77 mil- Community Support lion to $2.7 million. Component 3: Project implementation Program (CASA-CSP) support. Included Third Party Monitoring (TPM) of CSP, but the Afghanistan portfolio is Grant $30 million now being covered by the independent TPM CASA-CSP supports communities along the financed by the ARTF. Therefore, project funds CASA-1000 transmission line in Afghanistan that were meant for the CSP TPM have been (see page 23). CASA-CSP was first restruc- reallocated for COVID-19 response. tured in 2019. The program is now being im- Component 4: Communications and out- plemented in alignment with the Citizens’ reach. The cost of this component was revised Charter Afghanistan Project (CCAP) and in from $930,000 to $900,000 based on updat- close collaboration with the CASA-1000 ed budgeted contracts, which resulted in cost Energy Project. savings. The project team carried out a second Component 5: Social Inclusion Grants project restructuring, which was approved (SIGs) and Maintenance and Construction on November 22, 2020. The second project Cash Grants (MCCGs) for COVID-19 emer- restructuring was part of the omnibus port- gency relief. Provides emergency short-term folio cancellations and restructuring pro- employment opportunities through labor- cesses requested by the Ministry of Finance intensive public works that are financed by on July 2, 2020. The restructuring focused on MCCGs. It also provides SIGs for works that the reallocation of $10 million of the project foster greater social inclusion and protect budget to finance the government COVID-19 the most vulnerable within the project’s crisis response; addition of a new compo- geographical boundaries. The component is nent for COVID-19 response activities (see modeled on the CCAP MCCG component and Component 5); and an update of the Results was adapted to the COVID-19 context based The implementation of Framework to reflect the adjusted project on a pilot conducted by MRRD. CASA-CSP in many of the scope, scale, and overall targets. Project interventions cover communities target villages comes Following the second restructuring, project within the four-kilometer wide CoI along the at a time when the rate along the CoI and initially identified 638 com- contractors. However, continual changes to of unemployment has activities and components reflect the follow- CASA-1000 transmission line, which was fi- increased due to the munities as a result. Due to the changes re- the final number of communities because of ing structure and respective changes: nalized in February 2019. After the route was COVID-19 pandemic. quired in the transmission line’s path and the route changes pose challenges to CSP to ad- Component 1: Community service stand- approved, MRRD carried out an initial map- Community-driven presence of communities near transmission just and reverify the communities and also to development projects ards grants. The grant amount changed from ping of the communities along the CoI and line towers, the projected number of commu- ensure sufficient funds and staff are available under CASA-CSP are not $18.9 million to $22.4 million as the number 461 communities were identified. only providing much nities rose from 638 to 696 after MRRD en- to cover all the communities. of communities increased to 697 based on a Although CSP has started mobilization ac- needed infrastructural gineers and social organizers on the ground Overall, project implementation has con- investment, but more recent CASA-1000 route and mapping tivities and verification of communities along identified more communities than expected tinued, procurement processes have been re- also creating short- of communities within the corridor of influ- the CoI, project implementation has faced term employment along the CASA-1000 CoI. vised, and implementation and disbursement ence (CoI). The average size of the grant per challenges as the route has required targeted opportunities. Since the project restructuring, there con- plans have been submitted to the World Bank. community will be $32,000 based on the cal- adjustments due to terrain issues and there tinues to be minor route alignment changes MRRD has filled 190 (78 percent) of 243 po- culation of subproject costs under CCAP. were more communities than expected dur- proposed for the transmission line. The fig- sitions for CSP, including the hiring of a sen- Component 2: Community mobiliza- ing the physical verification of the CASA-1000 ures shared by MRRD from December 2020 ior gender specialist to address persistent tion. Community mobilization is carried out transmission line. show an increase to 712 targeted commu- gender inclusion and implementation is- by social organizers hired by the Ministry After receiving the GPS points from CASA- nities within the CoI, according to the final sues, grievance handling officers, and envi- of Rehabilitation and Rural Development 1000 contractors, CSP engineers conducted route submitted by DABS and the GPS points ronmental and social safeguard officers, over (MRRD), whose engineers are responsible a physical verification of the communities taken from CASA-1000 management and the last quarter. MRRD has also continued its Country Update/ artf 54/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/55 recruitment process for a dedicated project Component 2: Development of a training manager. center in Kabul. DABS did not have any train- Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the ing facility for its staff, and this had been country, most of the CSP staff were involved identified as a critical gap in its overall capac- in COVID-19 awareness efforts and commu- ity building efforts. nity profiling for relief efforts under CCAP. The project supported the preparation and Additionally, issues surrounding the approval implementation by DABS of annual opera- and verification of the official CASA-1000 tions and maintenance (O&M) plans for six transmission line had led to further delays. major load centers prepared by a consultant Nevertheless, project implementation ef- using new standards and procedures based forts have made important progress and the on good international practice adjusted for mobilization process has recommenced af- local conditions. ter months of travel restrictions. Social mo- The project provided internship opportuni- bilization and infrastructure work continue ty for new women engineering graduates to smoothly in most of project areas. work in DABS. Twelve female engineers were In the CCAP overlapping communities, CSP hired as interns in DABS and assigned to dif- social mobilizers have focused on subproject ferent departments. implementation and building support for the The project supported training and a new transmission line, satisfactorily communicat- training center, which were expected to im- ing the additional benefits provided by CSP to prove skills of 90 percent of DABS planning the targeted communities. and O&M staff. Technical and management To date, CSP has completed social aware- trainings, focused mainly on distribution sys- ness workshops in 642 communities in seven tems O&M as well as distribution systems provinces, and 281 subproject proposals have planning and design, were provided to the been submitted, with a total disbursement of more than 600 DABS personnel by a consul- about $6.4 million for 220 of the submitted tancy firm hired under the project. subprojects and about $1.6 million under the Construction of the training center was technical and fiduciary review. completed and training equipment pur- Furthermore, MRRD reports that 495 CDCs chased for the training center. By project closure, the have been established and have carried out DABS Planning and The Afghanistan Energy Information elections (252 CDCs overlapping with CCAP). Capacity Support Project Center website was also updated, and the According to MRRD, women’s participation had helped build staff capacity through training DABS Planning software and hardware gap of the center was has increased dramatically, making up more than 50 percent of the 243 elected CDC programs and the building of a training center, which and Capacity filled. Specialized training equipment was purchased under this contract that will be members. were expected to improve the skills of 90 percent of Support Project used in the training centers. With the second restructuring completed The project also supported capacity en- planning and O&M staff. Grant $6 million and COVID-19 relief efforts being implement- hancement of the DABS planning depart- CLOSED ON JULY 31, 2020 ed alongside CCAP as well as the Relief Efforts ment. The Electricity Company of Ghana, the for Afghan Communities and Households The project aimed to improve Da Afghanistan public utility of Ghana, provided training to project activities, the project team expects Breshna Sherkat (DABS) capacity in distribu- the planning department to carry out a fea- to ramp up implementation efforts to meet tion investment planning, implementation, sibility study for a new transmission project. beneficiaries’ needs for emergency support. and operations and maintenance. A feasibility study for two new investment This project had two components: projects was also prepared. Six power sys- Component 1: Staff capacity building, tem analysis software programs were also which aimed to support DABS capacity to purchased for the planning department and plan and implement new investments in dis- staff were given a series of three trainings to tribution systems and to operate and main- learn to use the software for power systems tain the investments properly. planning. Country Update/ artf 56/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/57 Higher Education effectiveness: (i) provision of faculty scholar- ships (150 postgraduate scholarships to pub- Development Project lic university academics in priority disciplines (HEDP) with one third allocated to female academ- ics); (ii) support to public universities to pre- Grant $55 million pare and implement Strategic Institutional Development Plans; (iii) training of teaching HEDP aims to increase access to higher edu- faculty in Outcome-Based Education (OBE) cation in Afghanistan, as well as improve its and Student-Centered Learning (SCL); and quality and relevance. HEDP, which started in (iv) grants to support individual and group 2015, uses an Investment Project Financing research projects at universities. Steady pro- instrument based on the Results-based gress is being made in meeting the targets in Financing modality. these key activity areas. Under component one, project funds With World Bank and project support, are being disbursed against selected line MoHE has established a technical committee items in the annual budget of the Ministry to take forward the work addressing Gender- of Higher Education (MoHE) up to capped Based Violence. MoHE is also being support- amounts, and on condition that the agreed ed by a non-governmental organization in set of disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) this process. are achieved. The project was restructured in 2020 to in- The DLIs reflect the priorities for develop- tegrate distance and blended learning as an ment. These include intermediate outcomes integral component of OBE and SCL and in that build cumulatively over the lifespan response to the closure of higher education of HEDP to improve access to the higher institutions due to COVID-19. education system and raise its quality and relevance. This component supports the re- forms initiated through the National Higher Kabul Municipal HEDP has provided 150 Education Strategic Plan II and focuses on outcomes and results rather than inputs. Development Program postgraduate scholarships to public university MoHE has developed a policy and by- (KMDP) academics in priority law for the practice of e-learning. This will disciplines with one third Grant $100 million support gradual introduction of blended allocated to women. learning, incorporating e-learning into the Kabul Municipality is responsible for imple- university curriculum, as well as recognition menting the project. The project objectives of blended learning toward program credits. are to (i) increase access to basic munici- An e-learning technical committee has been pal services in selected residential areas of established at ministry level to facilitate the Kabul city; (ii) redesign Kabul Municipality’s gradual implementation of e-learning and Financial Management System to support blended learning. better service delivery; and (iii) enable early re- MoHE is in the process of updating its five- sponse in the event of an eligible emergency. year sectoral strategic plan with technical as- KMDP is expected to deliver welfare and sistance from the project as well as the World human development benefits to over 2 mil- Bank. lion people through services provided in 3,795 The project received additional financing hectares of private and government land. The of $5 million in 2018 and extended its closing project also supported development of a plan date to December 21, 2022, mainly to expand to improve the municipality’s financial man- the following successful project interventions agement and planning capacity to deliver im- to scale up project impact and development proved services. The implementation of the Country Update/ artf 58/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/59 plan is underway, which will enhance Kabul secondary employment in the years ahead. Municipality’s institutional capacity. Importantly, KMDP has established a However, as part of the country’s portfolio- strong foundation for gender inclusive com- level COVID-19 response, $10 million of the munity participation in decision-making over project financing has been repurposed for public expenditures in Gozars. emergency relief response. To date, about $84.5 million has been dis- bursed. Over 2 million people (about 73 per- Kabul Urban cent women and children) have benefited Transport Efficiency from the construction of about 660 kilome- ters of neighborhood roads, 890 kilometers of Improvement Project community drains, and almost 44 kilometers (KUTEI) trunk roads. However, construction progress Grant $90.5 million has been delayed due to the lockdown during CLOSED DECEMBER 31, 2020 the Covid-19 outbreak. Under project component B, the World KUTEI aimed to improve road conditions and Bank supported Kabul Municipality to im- traffic flow on select corridors of Kabul city. plement institutional reforms, including the The project focused on improving road infra- rollout of the AFMIS core financial module structure and providing technical assistance and purchasing module that covers budget to Kabul Municipality in specific areas. control, accounting, commitment and pay- Investments in key road infrastructure im- ment management, bank reconciliations, and proved connectivity and made Kabul more reporting functions of government financial inclusive, while technical and knowledge management. support transformed Kabul Municipality into Moreover, Kabul Municipality has also im- a modern planning and implementing agen- plemented payroll management and fixed cy by adopting international best practice. asset and inventory management applica- Kabul Municipality was responsible for pro- tions developed by MoF, and streamlined the ject implementation, including procurement development of a comprehensive revenue and financial management. management module. Project objectives were measured against Kabul Municipality is hiring a consultancy the following indicators: (i) traffic capacity firm to develop a case management sys- improvements, measured by average vehi- Investments in key road tem for monitoring and timely follow up on cle speed during off-peak hours; (ii) people infrastructure made under KUTEI improved citizen complaints and a document manage- (within a 500-meter range) in urban areas connectivity and made ment system to track, manage, and store provided access to all-season roads; and (iii) Kabul more inclusive. documents. The firm will also develop an IT percentage of Kabul city’s trunk road network Upgraded roads not only improved traffic circulation strategy to support the needs and long-term in at least “fair” condition. but also reduced dust objectives of Kabul Municipality. In addition, Project implementation was suc- pollution from poor road the firm will facilitate capacity building of the cessfully completed and all planned conditions. “Having a good road is a blessing for municipality’s finance and administration civil works contracts, which included our health,” said a Kabul staff. 45 kilometers of roadway, were com- resident. Temporary employment of some 4.2 mil- pleted and the roads opened to traffic. lion people has been generated through the execution of contracts with labor intensive work at an investment of $223/person per month. Durable infrastructure will generate Country Update/artf 60/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/61 Naghlu Hydropower drain both galleries were installed in August Rehabilitation of the 2020. The drainage galleries have been emp- Naghlu Hydropower Plant Rehabilitation Project tied and are ready for further inspection. is progressing well. As part of local development The procurement of consultancy services (NHRP) to carry out a dam safety and hydromechani- assistance, NHRP intends to provide electricity in Grant $83 million cal audit is in its final stage. A bathymet- areas close to the Naghlu dam. Residents in several ric survey of the Naghlu dam reservoir was villages in two districts NHRP aims to improve dam safety and sus- performed by DABS personnel with support close by will benefit from tainability of hydropower and to increase from the Ministry of Energy and Water and the project. the supply of electricity at the Naghlu Food and Agriculture Organization team. Hydropower Plant (NHPP). NHPP is of stra- Following procurement of an eco-sounder, tegic importance to Afghanistan's power the DABS team provided training for con- generation portfolio as it provides more than ducting a bathymetric survey in January half of Kabul's electricity. 2020. A bathymetric survey of the section of Component 1. Aims to rehabilitate the the Naghlu reservoir near the face of the dam electrical and electromechanical parts of was conducted in April 2020. NHPP and ensure its sustainable operation. DABS also performed an internal interim It covers rehabilitation of specific units in sediment assessment and prepared a lim- NHPP and enhancing the plant’s mainte- ited environmental and social assessment nance. In November 2018, NHPP started op- report. Sediment samples were delivered to erating at full capacity (100 MW) after the GSG laboratory in India and the result of the rehabilitation of turbine units 1 and 3. Unit interim sediment assessment was provided 2 also requires overhauling as it has operated in June. Selective sediment removal will start continuously without any major overhaul for upon finalization of the limited environmen- more than 40,000 hours. Procurement of a tal and social assessment report. contractor to overhaul this unit is in progress. Component 3. Aims to ensure environ- NHRP will support provision of spare parts mental and social sustainability of the dam for three to five years to ensure the sustain- through (i) supporting activities to improve able operation and normal maintenance of environmental and social management; the existing plant as well as the development and (ii) local development assistance. This of warehouses to provide secure storage for component also aims to improve project equipment. It will also provide advisory and management in DABS and support future management team is under recruitment training services to ensure proper operations hydropower project preparation. at the National Water Affairs Regulation and maintenance (O&M) of the plant. The consultant to carry out the environ- Authority. The procurement of the con- RESULTS EXPECTED UNDER THE NHRP Procurement of consultancy services for mental and social impact assessment (ESIA) sultancy service firm to develop the ESIA NHPP staff training is in an advanced stage, in the dam safety audit and implementation and Resettlement Action Plan for phase 2 • Revived 50 MW of previously nonoperational capacity of Naghlu Hydropower Plant by while the procurement of supply of spare is on board and the assessment is in an initial of the Kajaki addition is at the request for rehabilitating Unit 1 and Unit 3. parts and consumables for five years of O&M stage. proposal stage. • Improved routine operation and maintenance of the power plant for five years. of the Naghlu plant was expected to start in As part of local development assistance, Following a formal request from MoF, February. • Improvement of Naghlu Dam safety measures and re-activation of the dam bottom outlet NHRP envisages providing electrification in NHRP will be restructured to include the re- Component 2. Aims to ensure safe opera- the areas close to Naghlu dam. Construction habilitation and renovation of the Darunta / flash out gate. tion of the dam through a dam safety au- of the Sorobi 20 MW substation was com- Hydropower Plant and the closing date of • Enhanced staff capacity to operate and maintain the power plant. dit, implementation of safety improvement pleted in April 2019. Extension of the distri- the project will be extended. Three units will • Residents living near NHPP connected to electricity and facilitated NHLP extension measures, and optimization of power genera- bution system to 18 villages in Sorobi district be renewed, and an administrative building tion. Work on dam safety enhancement is un- services, i.e., poultry farming, kitchen gardening, and establishment of orchards. has been completed. Procurement of a con- and warehouse will be constructed inside the derway. Submersible water pumps have been tractor to extend the distribution system to power plant. Procurement of this activity has • Enhanced security and safety measures of the NHPP. installed inside the dam’s drainage gallery to villages in Tagap district started in February. been finalized based on World Bank procure- • Renovate and revive full capacity of Darunta Hydropower Plant. release upward water pressure. Two addition- This component also supports preparation ment guidelines and the contract was sched- • Preparation of ESIA and RAP for Kajaki II project. al turbine type pumps required to completely work of the Kajaki dam addition. The project uled to be signed in September 2020. Country Update/ artf 62/  results farmers doubled their income with project support in Kabul province • “Pioneer” farmers in 300 villages in Kabul province helped fellow farmers improve their horticultural practices and increase their income. • These pioneer farmers helped extend the impact of the National Horticulture and Livestock Project (NHLP) by teaching other farmers modern methods in areas such irrigation, pesticide application, and pruning. • NHLP, which closed on 31 December 2020, provided resources that farmers would not have had to raise their productivity and income. A pple farmer Nasir Ahmad Arabzai, 55, belie- ves that he was the best pioneer farmer in his area in Paghman district in Kabul pro- vince. As a pioneer farmer, he provided gui- dance to other farmers and saw the improvements made in their farming. “I helped supervise other farmers in this area and I saw great progress in their work,” said Arabzai, who grows mainly apples on his 3-jerib (0.6-hectare) orchard. “They used to earn a minimum amount of profit, but their benefits increased like mine.” Arabzai was nominated by the local shura (council) of his village, Qalay Daler, to be a pioneer farmer in 2013 under the National Horticulture and Livestock Project (NHLP), which closed on 31 December 2020. NHLP worked in more than 300 villages in Paghman district. Each village nominated a pioneer farmer, who was chosen based on his good reputation in the commu- nity, long experience in agriculture, and level of educa- “ tion (high school graduates were preferred). The work of a pioneer farmer, a voluntary position, helped spread Increase in Income and Productivity valuable information on horticulture that allowed even For Arabzai and some 80 farmers in Qalay Daler village, All the things that I currently more farmers to benefit from NHLP initiatives. NHLP assistance led to notable results. “I worked with Arabzai explained his work as a pioneer farmer: “I was NHLP for five years and each year, my yield and income in contact with NHLP technical experts who came here improved,” Arabzai said. “The support made a big diffe- know about horticulture, [to the village] and taught me, and in turn, I taught other farmers what I had learned. Sometimes I organized rence.” In 2018, Arabzai saw his annual income double over I owe to NHLP. I now know horticulture like a other farmers to come to my orchard and we all received the previous year. “I earned 330,000 afghanis [about ” training from NHLP.” The training covered topics such as $4,400], [while in the previous year] I earned 170,000 af- irrigation methods, pesticide application, identification ghanis [about $2,300],” he says. “When NHLP first came professional. I am very happy with NHLP of plant diseases, branch pruning, and fruit harvesting, among others. to our village, I was earning just 50,000 afghanis [about $670] a year from my produce.” for the work they had done for us. After the years of training, Arabzai was confident in NHLP provided support only to farmers who had their his work and grateful for the changes it made to his far- own land, which was crucial in helping them become ming. “NHLP helped me understand farming,” he said. more efficient. With the tangible and financial support “All the things that I know about horticulture, I owe to NHLP provided, farmers had access to resources that –Nasir Ahmad Arabzai, farmer, Qalay Daler village, Paghman district, Kabul province. NHLP. I now know horticulture like a professional. I am they did not have previously to raise the productivity of very happy with NHLP for the work they had done for us.” their land and increase their incomes Country Update/artf 64/  / The World Bank Group in Afghanistan/65 National Horticulture adopted elements of livestock technology/ practices promoted by NHLP. and Livestock Project Under component A, over 37,000 hectares (NHLP) (ha) of new orchards, including pistachios, were established against the project target of Grant $190 million 19,000 ha. In addition, over 36,000 ha of exist- CLOSED ON 31 DECEMBER 2020 ing orchards were rehabilitated. NHLP established demonstrations on 404 NHLP aimed to promote the adoption of ha of high-density orchards intended to sig- improved production and post-harvest nificantly increase return per unit of land practices and technologies by target farmers while contributing to substituting import. in the horticultural sector and to support Furthermore, NHLP supported construction the livestock sector, with gradual rollout of of 1,353 small water harvesting structures farmer-centric agricultural services systems through Community Development Councils and investment support. and successfully established over 2,000 raisin The project had three components: (i) hor- drying houses to improve added value at farm ticultural production; (ii) animal production level. and health; and (iii) implementation manage- On women-focused activities under the ment and technical assistance support. These horticulture component, NHLP established activities were initially implemented in 120 more than 150,000 kitchen gardening plots focus districts in 23 target provinces. and saffron demonstrations against the tar- The original budget of the project was get of 90,000 schemes in 28 provinces. $100 million, but based on the high demand Under component B, in line with the agreed for NHLP services, the project received an ad- targets, NHLP supported establishment ditional financing of $90 million to allow ex- of 25,000 backyard and 3,000 small-scale pansion of its work programs to more farmers poultry production units for 28,000 women. and add new activities. Construction of 25 milk collection centers However, as part of the adjustment of the were completed by project closure. Bank’s project portfolio in Afghanistan for On animal health, the major focus was COVID-19 response, $12.5 million of NHLP fi- on zoonotic diseases namely, the National nancing was cancelled and reallocated. It was Brucellosis Control Program and Sanitary decided to close the project by December 31, Mandate Contracting Scheme (SMCS). Under At its closure in December 2020, which closed successfully. the National Brucellosis Control Program, 2020, NHLP covered 291 At its closure, the project was active in 291 districts of all 34 provinces over, 791,000 young female calves and some districts of all 34 provinces and reached over and reached over 570,000 14 million young female sheep and goats beneficiaries, over 45 570,000 farmers/beneficiaries, including were vaccinated in close coordination with percent of whom were around 264,000 women. women. Over 90 percent General Directorate of Animal Health and Overall, over 90 percent of the targeted cli- of the targeted clients Production (GDAHP). were satisfied with the ents were satisfied with the agricultural ser- Under SMCS, NHLP followed the agreed agricultural services they vices against 75 percent end target; almost received. “NHLP taught me exit strategy, handing over 26 provinces to 55 percent of the targeted farmers (against to irrigate and prune my the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and trees properly, deal with 75 percent end target) adopted elements of Livestock. In the months leading to project seasonal diseases, apply the horticulture technology packages pro- fertilizers, and maintain closure, NHLP decreased its contribution moted by NHLP; 83,163 producers were pro- my orchard," says a farmer while the ministry increased its ownership. from Parwan province. vided improved post-production facilities, By project closure, responsibility for all animal "Thanks to this, I am self- tools, and market access out of an end tar- reliant." health activities were transferred to GDAHP. get of 181,140; and about 55 percent of tar- get farmers (against 70 percent end target) Country Update/artf 66/  Although there has been progress, WEE-NPP has faced numerous challenges during implementation. As the Project Preparation Grant draws to a close, the World Bank will continue its policy dialogue with GoIRA on the WEE agenda and ensure that the lessons from this first phase of the WEE-NPP are used to inform future planning. Women’s Economic The PPG began in 2017 and the closing Empowerment date has been extended for one year to June 30, 2021, in consideration of the delay in im- National Priority plementation due to the transition of the Program (WEE-NPP) PCO from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to MoF in September 2019. Grant $5 million The PPG has achieved some noteworthy The objective of the WEE-NPP is to advance successes: the WEE-NPP technical working women’s agency, autonomy, and well-being group and steering committee meet on a by expanding women’s access to economic regular basis; implementing line ministries resources. (LMs) have progressed according to their The WEE-NPP is led by a Project Coordi- agreed action plans and targets; and the PCO nation Office (PCO) in the Ministry of Finance maintains the Monitoring and Evaluation (MoF). The PCO is responsible for overseeing Framework and coordinates across the LMs. WEE-NPP activities across six pillars: (i) in- Nonetheless, the program has faced nu- creasing the availability of gender statistics; merous challenges during implementation, (ii) removing legal barriers to participation; including frequent staff turnover, slow pro- (iii) training in literacy, business manage- gress, failure of the innovation fund com- ment, and labor skills; (iv) inclusive access to ponent to launch, and a complex design for finance; (v) access to agricultural inputs, ex- evidence-based budgeting and coordination tension services, and markets; and (vi) access across LMs that never came to fruition. As to creative economy markets. the PPG draws to a close, the Bank will con- The Project Preparation Grant (PPG) has tinue its policy dialogue with GoIRA on the three components: (i) coordination and pro- WEE agenda and ensure that the lessons gram management; (ii) provide technical from this first phase of the WEE-NPP are assistance and capacity building for line min- used to inform future planning. istries carrying out WEE activities and con- duct relevant analytic work; and (iii) establish Note: All dollar figures are in US dollar equivalents. and operate an Innovation Fund to support IDA, the International Development Association, is the women’s economic activities. World Bank’s concessionary lending arm. The World Bank Group in Afghanistan Abdullah Yadgare phone +93 701 133 373 infoafghanistan@worldbank.org House 238, Street 15, Wazir Akbar Khan, Kabul, afghanistan www.worldbank.org.af /WorldBankAfghanistan /WorldBankSAsia photos and cover photo © Rumi Consultancy/World Bank/2021. ©World Bank, APRIL 2021.