28th May 2019, Kabul. Residents of Kabul District 9 welcomed the construction of a new road in their neighborhood. The new road has a length of 1.2 Kms and it benefits more than 150 families, especially children. Prior to the road concreting and the construction of side drainage ditches, children experienced a lot of problems while commuting to school. The road was unpaved and frequently flooded in the rainy season making the situation untenable for children and residents. “Our clothes were always dirty due to the road bad conditions”, one of the children told us.

During the inauguration ceremony, the Nahia (District) thanked City for All and UN-Habitat for this project. The construction of this footpath is funded with a block grant contribution by City for All for being one of the highest Safayi paying Gozars.

The city for All (CFA), a national government program, is assisting Afghan municipalities in increasing property tax revenues (Safayi fees), transparent Safayi fee collection and spending. The implementation of the Gozar grant has been selected by communities through an inclusive process of public consultations in the framework of the Strategic Nahia Action Plan (SNAP) workshop.

SNAPs are five-year strategies which provide an overview of the current urban situation and plans; sets out the community’s common vision for local urban development; and includes future plans and Capital Investment Plans (CIPs) based on the priority projects identified by communities and aligned with government projects.

This project is co-funded by USAID through City for All ($75,000) and the community ($22,568).