Situating Workable Response continues....

An effective plan for developing sub-national governance becomes

imperative because the function of the local government is a critical

factor in shaping the public perception of the legitimacy of the state

because local administration is the first and sometimes the only point of

contact of the majority of Afghan with the political system. In fact, the

efficiency of the sub-national government in delivering services and

responding to their constituencies plays a major role in building

confidence among the Afghan populace about the government’s reform

process.

As part of building a new Afghan state, the principles for sub-national

governance were articulated in several key documents like the

constitution, yet a legal framework is yet to be established and

constructing that framework will require better information, more

experimentation than has taken place thus far. Meanwhile, both, the

Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS) which replaced the

National Development Framework (NDF) and the Afghan Compact of

2006, highlight the importance of sub-national governance, more

broadly the achievements of political and development goals and recognize the current weakness of public administration, especially at the

14 sub-national level. Both these documents make reference to the

establishment and improvement of structures that are to contribute to

development planning, coordination and representation at the provincial

15 level. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid towards establishing

or improving such structures. The piecemeal state-building efforts of the

past must be knitted together, and altered where necessary, into a fabric of

federal governance. This framework must be guided by coherent and

nationally-agreed goals about the nature, role and reach of the Afghan

state.

This is not a matter of a single

programme or a given institutional design. It is a journey toward a

condition where legitimacy is gradually strengthened through

effectiveness and accountability. Sustainability is gradually created

through efficiency and steadfast support to a coherent and comprehensive

vision. Planning at sub-national levels must correspond to the resources

available there and adhere to the nationally agreed procedures for

allocating those resources.

To be continued...