York academics to evaluate the Afghanistan National Solidarity Programme
Posted on 27 September 2005
The Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) and the World Bank chose the PRDU, which is part of the University's Department of Politics, to carry out the mid term monitoring of the US$ 600 million National Solidarity Programme (NSP).
The programme is considered the principal post-war reconstruction programme in Afghanistan with millions of beneficiaries outside the capital Kabul.
The Afghan Government says that chronic poverty in the country, exacerbated by years of neglect, drought and the accumulated effects of conflict and political instability, has produced unacceptable levels of human suffering and deprivation. More than 50% of Afghanistan rural population live below the poverty line.
Led by Professor Sultan Barakat, the PRDU research work will start on 3 October 2005 and will focus on evaluating the key elements of the three year programme: reconstruction and poverty reduction; community empowerment and the institutional capacity of the MRRD and its partners.
The PRDU's technical proposal was selected ahead of three other major international consulting firms. Professor Barakat said: "The successful tender for such an internationally prestigious programme is yet another sign of the growing influence and success of the PRDU at York."
The investigation work involves a number of academic staff from the Department of Politics, including Professor Mark Evans and Dr Roger MacGinty. As well as PRDU Research Fellows: Dr Richard Jones, Dr Margaret Chard, Mr Waheed Omer, Dr David Connolly and Mr Mirwais Wardak, the evaluation will employ 10 additional national consultants.
Dr Richard Jones, who has recently returned from Kabul, where he met stakeholders in preparation for the mission, said: "While poverty reduction lies at the heart of the government's social policy, the objective of poverty reduction can only be achieved by empowering poor communities to strengthen their social capital and bonds, make decisions that affect their lives and use public and their own resources in the best interest of their communities."
The NSP is mobilising community and public institutions, private sector, NGOs and UN agencies to support Afghanistan's poor communities in their struggle to escape poverty.
Professor Barakat added: "We already have extensive experience of working in Afghanistan and we are looking forward to fielding a large team of international and national experts to assess lessons learned and define recommendations that are relevant to the remainder of the NSP programme."
Notes to editors:
Notes for editors:
- The Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit specialises in the research, consultancy and training of professionals in issues of management and planning of reconstruction after war, humanitarian intervention in complex emergencies and peace-building.
- Dr Sultan Barakat is the Director of the Unit, founded at the University of York in 1992. He has experience in development planning and in conducting in-country strategy and training workshops. He has written about refugee shelter, humanitarian assistance policy and impact, NGO development and peace-building strategies, settlement planning, rehabilitation and conservation of urban areas, post-war reconstruction and development, disaster mitigation, social and economic rebuilding of war-torn societies.
- Dr Richard Jones is Research Fellow at the PRDU. He specialises in advocating best practice in the recovery of war torn societies; the promotion of development through poverty reduction and conflict resolution; the evaluation of development interventions, and; the development of programmes for responding to conflict/development needs.