New Zealand contributes NZ$800,000 to Afghanistan Flagship Development Program

Kabul - 09/July/2007,

The New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) agreed today to provide a contribution of NZ$800,000 (US$ 595,920) to the National Solidarity Program (NSP) of Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD).

These funds will support local communities in Bamyan province to implement projects they have prioritized according to their own needs. Such projects typically include irrigation systems, local roads and infrastructure, schools. The projects are managed by the communities, through councils they elect, and provide work to the local population.

NZAID views the MRRD/NSP as a vital program to reduce poverty and strengthen governance and democracy at the grassroots level in Afghanistan. Since its inception in 2003, MRRD through its National Solidarity Program has changed the lives of millions of rural Afghans in all 34 provinces of the country.

The Afghan Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Mohammad Ehsan Zia, expressed his deep gratitude to NZAID. “The National Solidarity Program has been instrumental in reshaping the social and economic landscape of rural Afghanistan,” he said. “This grant will allow the program to reach out to new communities in Bamyan province, helping more of the poorest and most vulnerable.”

Under MRRD/NSP, about a half of the community projects involve productive infrastructure such as irrigation, roads and village electrification, thereby promoting productivity and stimulating local economies. A further quarter involves safe water and sanitation which assures better health for the communities. More than 80 percent of all labour required under the subprojects, and paid by the block grants, is provided by the communities.

These NZAID funds are made available under New Zealand’s official development assistance Complex Emergencies programme. The main focus of other NZAID funding for the period 2006-2009 is Bamyan Province, with particular attention to sustainable rural livelihoods and maternal and child health. NZAID continues to provide support to the Police Training project and the New Zealand Defence Force, which runs the Provincial Reconstruction Team, to facilitate development in the province.

With this contribution, NZAID joins a growing number of donors to NSP, including Canada, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the World Bank.