The overarching vision of UN-Habitat’s work in Afghanistan is for prosperous, inclusive and equitable human settlements that reduce poverty and contribute to national stability and development. In the context of a global mandate ‘to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all’, the mission of the UN-Habitat Country Programme is ‘to transform lives through enhancing access to urban land, housing and services, while making systems and institutions responsive to people’s views and needs.’ In order to ensure that Afghans can live in prosperous, inclusive and equitable settlements that provide opportunities to reduce poverty while contributing to national stability and development, UN-Habitat’s strategy is focused on the three Thematic Focus Areas described below. Integral to each of these Focus Areas are cross-cutting issues of gender, youth, development of national capacity, environmental protection and disaster risk reduction.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM UN-HABITAT’S ACTIVITIES IN AFGHANISTAN

UN-Habitat has been involved in a broad range of activities across Afghanistan over more than two decades, through periods of relative calm and intense conflict. A national resettlement programme initiated in 1990 evolved into an Urban Reconstruction Programme in 1994, in the context of which community-based approaches to recovery were explored, including the formation of Community Forums. Assimilated into a national multi-agency PEACE Initiative during the Taliban administration, these Forums evolved in to the Community Development Councils that remain the backbone of the National Solidarity Programme and urban development interventions today.
In addition to direct implementation of community based urban and rural rehabilitation and development initiatives, the enhancement of professional and technical skills, and the delivery of humanitarian relief, UN-Habitat has supported government counterparts with technical assistance in policy, planning and urban management, the provision or upgrading of services and infrastructure and the reintegration of returnees. The diversity of UN-Habitat’s experience across Afghanistan reflects one of the key lessons learned over the past two decades: the importance of operating at multiple levels from central-level authorities, provincial authorities, municipalities, to communities and households, in order to address a complex in a holistic and organic manner an array of issues which are rarely static. Core to our work, whether contributing to the development of policy or delivering services, has been the importance of participation, as embodied in UN-Habitat’s “people’s process” that draws on the ideas and reflects the interests of key stakeholders. The effectiveness of this approach has been highlighted in evaluations of UN-Habitat’s work, which also acknowledge the value of ‘community contracting’ in making use of the human and material resources that exist within communities to optimize the impact of external investments.
By remaining attentive and ensuring that we are accessible – UN-Habitat has a presence in 11 provinces of the country, including five major cities – the country team has consistently managed to keep a ‘finger on the pulse’ of the nation, and thereby direct resources to critical needs or processes. This is possible due to the central role played by experienced Afghan staff who are often from the areas in which the projects they manage are implemented, and are best placed to assess the situation on the ground, including possible security risks. This ‘light footprint’ has proved to be an effective strategy that will continue to characterize UN-Habitat’s operations in the future, combined with increased focus on strengthening national and sub-national institutions.

FOCUS AREAS 2016 – 2019

The proposed strategy and activities for the human settlements sector are aligned with the relevant national development goals, as well as sector-specific issues outlined in the previous section. With gender, youth, the  environment, capacity-building and risk reduction as cross-cutting issues, three thematic and programmatic areas of focus have been identified, as follows:

FOCUS AREA 1: PLANNED AND WELL-GOVERNED SETTLEMENTS

One of the principal obstacles to sustainable urban management and growth is the lack of a coherent strategy to enable the full realization of the social, physical and economic potential of fast-growing towns and cities across the country. While progress has been made in recent years on revising aspects of policy and practice, fundamental issues related to urban management remain to be addressed. Urban governance in Afghanistan has undergone significant changes in the past decade. The Ministry of Urban Development Affairs (MUDA) is responsible for the development of urban policy, planning standards and regulatory frameworks, the revision of which may require significant additional technical assistance. The planning and management of provincial cities is the responsibility of the Deputy Ministry for Municipality (DMM) of the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), which oversees the work of provincial municipalities with a focus on promoting transparency and accountability.31 Technical assistance continues to be provided by UN-Habitat and others to enhance the ability of municipalities to raise revenue through property registration and taxation, and to deliver services and infrastructure. It will be important to institutionalize processes of reform and replicate the approach in all municipalities, as resources allow. As part of efforts to consolidate and expand the scope of ongoing initiatives in urban governance, planning and management, UN-Habitat will draw on its considerable international experience in these fields under  Thematic Focus Area 1 of the Country Programme, with the aim of enhancing government capacity to formulate and implement appropriate policies to guide the development of human settlements in a participatory, equitable and accountable manner while ensuring access to basic services. The results of this engagement are foreseen as follows:

•  An improved human settlements policy framework that results in more inclusive systems of planning and governance, as well as effective management of urban land
•  Enhanced capacity of municipalities to sustain their operations and effectively deliver public services
•  Increased availability and use of information and data to support human settlements policy, planning and management

FOCUS AREA 2: INCLUSIVE SETTLEMENTS

Engagement with communities has been central to UN-Habitat’s approach towards supporting rehabilitation and development in Afghanistan since the early 1990s. This formed the basis of contributions to the formulation of the National Solidarity Programme, in which UN-Habitat has been a facilitating partner since 2003. This flagship national development initiative has engaged with some 4,600 communities in nine provinces to establish Community Development Councils which identify and manage development activities. As resources allow, UN-Habitat will continue its involvement in NSP and contribute to efforts to consolidate the programme. After decades of under-investment in urban services and infrastructure, significant progress has been made since 2002 in improving access in most cities. Despite this, many urban households in Afghanistan remain reliant on shallow wells for water and, with 80% of households having inadequate sanitation, the risk of contamination is high. Official policy precludes public investment in services in neighborhoods outside of the ‘master plan’, thereby excluding a significant proportion of the urban population. While (UN and NGO-supported) community-managed projects have improved access to services in some informal settlements, there is no way these piecemeal initiatives can meet the growing demand.33 It is only by integrating all urban neighborhoods, regardless of their status, into the city and developing a municipal level approach that access to services can be ensured.
While successive Afghan governments have committed to providing ‘affordable’ housing for the poor, this has tended to take the form of heavily-subsidized schemes for civil servants. The bulk of urban housing therefore continues to be self-built and privately-funded. Its quality varies considerably, depending on the financial means of the household, but the widespread use of traditional forms and materials represents an efficient response to climatic and physical conditions. Policies and strategies addressing urban housing should build on this self-reliance and focus on measures to facilitate access to affordable finance, appropriate building materials and construction advice. In the light of the  growth of contractor-built speculative residential development in most cities, measures should be devised and implemented to ensure minimum spatial, construction and service standards.
The process of urbanization in Afghanistan is not confined to the major cities, with many small-and medium-sized settlements having experienced significant growth in recent years. In addition to the support that is provided to municipalities, an integrated National Urban Policy (and associated Human Settlements Spatial Strategy) has the potential to guide the development of these centers. Specifically the strategy could enhance the ability of communities to plan their settlement, to construct safe and affordable homes, to ensure access to services and infrastructure, to develop technical skills and engage in community development initiatives, to support livelihoods or generate local employment through the production of building materials or components. Drawing on experience gained in community development, upgrading and service provision, UN-Habitat aims to achieve improved access to affordable land and housing, services and infrastructure for residents of human settlements under Thematic Focus Area 2, foreseeing the following results:

• Increased access to services, infrastructure and public facilities
• Improved systems of community governance to ensure effective participation of residents in the development and management of human settlements
• Access to urban land and housing, with a focus on poor and female-headed

FOCUS AREA 3: PROSPEROUS SETTLEMENTS

With limited private investment in manufacturing, urban economic activity in Afghanistan primarily revolves around trade, services (including transport) and construction, much of which is generated by the international military and aid agencies. The reduction of the international presence is likely to have a profound impact on the urban economy. Hardest hit will be households which derive their primary livelihood from casual day labor, rendering the third of the urban population who now live in poverty even more vulnerable as they struggle to meet the rising costs of urban life and find themselves unable to pay for services, health care or education. Also affected will be those who have managed to get a foot on the urban ladder by acquiring land and constructing a home, and who depend on sustained economic activity. Unless alternative sources of investment can be found, there is a very real danger that urbanization in Afghanistan may fail to deliver the sustainable outcomes that have been achieved in other countries. With little prospect of a significant scaling-up of public investments in services and infrastructure, greater cost-sharing with beneficiaries will be essential. The ‘corporatization’ of water and power utilities in Afghanistan has gone some way to recovering costs but, until they are able to charge commercially-viable tariffs, their operations remain unsustainable. The scale of private sector investments in service-provision to date remains negligible.
Significant progress has been made through a range of pilot revenue-generation initiatives38 which focus on regularization (and thereby taxation) of property classified as ‘informal’. This revenue enables municipalities to invest in public services and infrastructure and, if replicated, has the potential to achieve a more sustainable form of development, while fostering trust between urban communities and the local government. Trust can also be built through the implementation of Economic Development Strategies in cities and towns, where pilot projects have the potential to support informal economic players, including street vendors or traders and female-owned or managed small-scale enterprises.
Education will remain critical to Afghanistan’s economic development. While access to formal education has improved, many young Afghans still leave school ill-prepared for employment. Many will rely for a livelihood on trade, services or the construction sector, in preparation for which technical training will improve their prospects of finding employment. As well as the economic opportunities that such training represents, initiatives that foster the engagement of young Afghans in civic affairs have the potential to enhance urban governance. UN-Habitat’s ‘Safer Cities’ programme, which aims to promote social cohesion and reduce urban violence, is a valuable resource for such initiatives. With the aim of contributing to towns and cities being hubs of economic activity that generate sustainable employment and enable the development of key skills, particularly for young Afghans, the results foreseen under Focus Area 3 are as follows:

• Enhanced fiscal sustainability of municipalities for local service delivery
• Increased economic activity and job creation in human settlements, including in the informal economy
• Improved opportunities for young Afghans to develop skills that will enable them to contribute to, and benefit from, economic activity