Surveying and Registering Urban Properties in Kabul
Kabul, 23rd May 2018. The government of Afghanistan, through the Afghanistan Land Authority (ARAZI), is carrying out an unprecedented and ambitious reform in land management. By 2020 the government intends to survey and register all properties in 12 municipalities (within their boundaries) including Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and other major cities. The objective is to improve tenure security in urban areas by issuing occupancy certificates for those living in informal areas, already representing more than 70 percent of the total urban population. This government programme, City for All, , aims at registering 426.000 properties in Kabul. So far, 192,000 properties have been surveyed. UN-Habitat is providing technical support for the programme.
Qari Gul Alam, 43, is a resident of an informal area of Kabul District 01, which has already been surveyed. Mr. Alam, a handicapped father of six, believes that this programme is going to change his life.
“When engineers came to measure and sketch our house, I was briefed about the benefits of this innovative programme. The only thing that I want is to secure my house for my family without constantly fearing the threat of eviction and the fear of losing my property. This is why I am here in the District office to pay my fees in order to get my Safayi notebook. I would like to thank the government and the donor, USAID, for this great initiative”, Mr. Gul Alam said.
City for All official explaining Mr. Gul Alam the objectives of the government led programme.
The registration of urban properties as well as the issuance of occupancy certificates will not only increase the value of the properties but will also contribute to better urban governance . This will improve the lives of urban residents who constitute more than one third of Afghanistan’s population. The correlation between urbanization and development is one of the novelties enshrined in the Sustainable Developments Goals and in the New Urban Agenda, the UN roadmap for sustainable development. Congratulations to Afghanistan!
City for All officials surveying the property of Mr. Gul Alam in District 01 of Kabul.
For more information, please contact UN-Habitat’s Head of Communications in Afghanistan, Mr. Koussay Boulaich,