Local Governance Failing to Meet Local Needs

Hello and welcome to this podcast by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. It’s a recording of a press conference on local governance which took place in Kabul on June 22, 2011. The event was translated into Dari and Pashto, although these languages don’t feature on this recording. The speaker is Dr Douglas Saltmarshe... and his report is entitled “Local Governance in Afghanistan: A View from the Ground.” It’s the result of an in-depth research project across Afghanistan and is available for download at www.areu.org.af

1. The first question about corruption, and the role that international aid might play in it.
2. The next question is about planning, and whether too much-localized planning might be unconstitutional
3. A journalist asks if the research has findings relevant to the handover of security responsibility to Afghan forces.
4. The next question asks if similar research has been done before and whether Douglas would like to expand the research to new areas of Afghanistan.
5. The next question is about local shuras in Afghanistan. The journalist says the heads of such councils are often corrupt and asks that if they are given more money, won’t that increase their corruption.
6. A question is asked about the capacity building of local officials, and how this might affect corruption.
7. The final question returns to the issue of corrupt local councils and asks for examples of such practices from the research.

Thank you for listening to this podcast of a press conference on local governance in Afghanistan. I should mention that the event featured translation into Dari and Pashto, although this doesn’t feature on the recording.

The research report is available for download from AREU’s website, where you can access all of our publications as well as information on our research program. The address is www.areu.org.af