13^th June 2019, Bamiyan. The city of Bamyan has recently inaugurated two green public and recreational areas for its residents. The provision of these new public green spaces is changing the nature of Afghanistan’s rapid and unplanned urbanization. The Municipality of Bamiyan has been very keen in partnering with UN-Habitat, the UN focal point for sustainable urbanization, for promoting green and clean spaces for their residents. As part of the Clean and Green Cities (CGC) programme, this initiative has contributed to the construction of more than 49 parks in 12 Afghan cities. The new public spaces are changing the social and cultural trends of the citizens, building social cohesion among families and neighbors.

Mr. Mohamed Ewas, Community Elder of District 1 of Bamyan (the Gurdana ye Bala District/upper Gurdana), told us that “the new park has changed the lives and dynamics of our children. They now have space where to play and enjoy. They have a green area and a playground for children”.

Mr. Mohamed Ewaz, Community Elder of District 1 of Bamyan

These parks have been built with local labor. Unemployed neighbors, especially poor people and women, were hired to do the works of the neighborhood, cleaning the city, planting trees, building these parks as well as a drainage system in the entire district. The Clean and Green Cities Programme (CGC) has contributed to the physical upgrading of the city as well as providing jobs for their residents.

The acting Mayor of Bamiyan was very pleased for the strategic partnership with UN-Habitat which in his words “improved basic services and increased trust between the Municipality and the citizens”. As an example, he added that thanks to the new installations, “citizens are now keen to pay their property fee, safayi, increasing the contribution ten times fold, reaching 3Mill Afs per year”.

– From left, Mr. Hadi Akbari Acting Mayor of Bamyan city; Koussay Boulaich, UN-Habitat Afghanistan, Head of Communications; Eng. Jan Mohammad, CFA Team Leader

Mr. Abdullah Mahmoodi, a resident of Bamyan, explained to us how “these new parks are also an effective way to stop illegal land grabbing activities which are very common in our culture”. Land grabbing is a regular illegal practice largely found in Afghanistan. Indeed, the provision of these public spaces guarantees the use of the land by community members for recreational, sports or educational use.

Mr. Abdullah Mahmoodi, a resident of Bamyan

The parks are frequently used by kids in the allocated playgrounds; by high school students for their daily volleyball tournaments; by university students who prefer to study for their exams in public spaces; by women who gather in the evenings with their families and kids and by elders, senior community members who like to enjoy peacefully their evenings chit chatting.

The Clean and Green City Programme is funded by the European Union and USAID

In addition to these two CGC parks, the Children Park and the Welayat Park, the city has invested a lot of efforts in providing two more additional parks located in the same district. The two remaining parks are also assisted by UN-Habitat as part of the City for All Programme (funded by USAID and the EU) and by the Afghanistan Urban Peacebuilding Programme (AUPP), funded by the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Solar lighting in this park in Bamya District 1 assisted by UN-Habitat Afghanistan’s Urban Peace Building Programme (AUPP)

Kids playing after school hours at the UN-Habitat Clean and Green Cities (CGC) Park in Bamyan District 1

Kids enjoying the facilities of the Clean and Green Cities (CGC) park in Bamyan

Image of the new City for All (CFA) park and sports complex in Bamyan District 1 assisted by UN-Habitat

For more information, contact Mr. Koussay Boulaich, UN-Habitat’s Head of Communications in Afghanistan

koussay.boulaich@un.org