22 October 2020 – Herat. The Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), a digital system to manage invoicing and collection of municipal revenues, was officially inaugurated in Herat municipality by Dr. Noor Ahmad Haidari, the Deputy Governor of Herat Province, Mr. Ghulam Hazrat Mushfaq, the Mayor of Herat, the revenue director of DMM/IDLG and UN-Habitat officials. The inauguration was organized as part of Urban October, a month-long celebration of sustainable urbanization that is commemorated every year in the month of October.

Mr. Mushfaq was delighted at the launch of IFMS for Herat municipality.   In his address, he said, “IFMS will take over from the old manual system and the new digital system will bring transparency in revenue collection, financial management, and budgeting, which will enable the municipality to deliver better services to city residents.”

Dr. Haidari thanked UN-Habitat for technical support to Herat municipality: “In order to facilitate good governance and better accountability for the citizens of Herat, the IFMS system has been established in Herat Municipality and we thank UN-Habitat for their ongoing support. The system will ensure accountability, transparency and contribute to the fight against corruption”.

IFMS inauguration and urban October ceremony in Herat municipality.

UN-Habitat supported Herat municipality to survey and register urban properties, to produce safayi invoices and collect safayi fees, to produce a Strategic Action Plan, and to implement infrastructure projects under the City for All (CFA) national programme.  In Herat, 39,212 surveyed properties were invoiced, resulting in 131,472,541 Afs in additional safayi revenue. The CFA programme is also being implemented with Kandahar, Farah, Bamyan, Nili, Mazar-e-sharif, and Jalalabad municipalities and will increase revenues and improve the delivery of basic services.

Urban regulation, planning, and financing are key elements of sustainable urbanization and are enshrined in the New Urban Agenda. The City for All programme leads the localization of the New Urban Agenda in Afghanistan. The programme is a flagship action of the Government of Afghanistan’s Urban National Priority Programme (U-NPP) and is funded by the European Union.