Afghan Cabinet

Just read about the members of the new Afghan cabinet...not surprisingly all kinds of people are included so that no major party is left out - true democracy!

For original and updated text, follow this link: http://www.aan-afghanistan.org/index.asp?id=520

The Cabinet list

posted: 24-12-2009 by: Martine van Bijlert

For those of you - sitting under the Christmas tree - who have not been able to find the complete Cabinet list yet, please find it below. With some of the most basic facts added. Corrections and additions, as always, welcome.

1. Minister of Defence, Rahim Wardak – Pashtun from Wardak, military academy in Kabul and US, Deputy Minister of Defence since 2002 and Minister of Defence since 2004; used to be in Mahaz-e Melli (Pir Gailani), faced difficult questions on the business activities of his son Hamed Wardak.

2. Minister of Interior, Hanif Atmar – 1968, Pashtun from Laghman, Masters from York University, NGO background (NCA), was Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and Minister of Education before becoming Minister of Interior in 2008; former Khalqi (worked for Khad, the intelligence service under the communist regime).

3. Minister of Finance, Dr. Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal – 1965, Pashtun from Nangarhar, educated in Canada (doctorate), was Director of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) and Acting Minister of Transport, before becoming Minister of Finance in 2008; likely to face issue of dual citizenship, said to be close to Afghan Mellat.

4. Minister of Justice, Sarwar Danish – 1961, Hazara from Daikondi, studied Law and Islamic Education in Qom, member of the Constitutional Commission, first Governor of Daikondi, Minister of Justice since 2004; Hezb-e Wahdat (Khalili).

5. Minister of Education, Dr. Ghulam Farooq Wardak – Pashtun from Wardak, studied Pharmacy and Management in Pakistan, worked with the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (1986-96) and UNDP (1996-2002), head of the Constitutional Commission Secretariat, head of the JEMB Secretariat (2004 elections), head of the Secretariat of the Ministers’ Council and Head of the Office of Administrative Affairs, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Head of the Peace Jirga Secretariat, and finally Minister of Education since 2008; Hezb-e Islami

6. Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Obaidullah Obaid – 1970, Tajik from Kabul, was Presidential Adviser on Social Affairs and Chancellor of the Medical University; facing questions on his own higher education and the fact that he gave three different dates of birth, neo-conservative.

7. Minister of Energy and Water, Mohamad Ismail Khan – 1958, Tajik from Shindad Herat, studied military academy in Kabul, was army commander of the southwest until joining the uprising against the communist government, Herat Governor (or actually Amir of the Southwest) under the mujahedin and Karzai government, Minister of Energy and Water since 2004; Jamiat-e Islami.

8. Minister of Haj, Enayatullah Baleegh – 1934, from Kapisa, held several government and judicial position under all regimes (including deputy of the Vice and Virtue department under Rabbani), most recently lecturer Sharia Law at Kabul University; senior member of Ettehad-e Islami (Sayyaf).

9. Minister of Public Welfare, Mirza Husain Abdullahi – 1956, Hazara from Ghazni, egineering factulty, Masters from Manilla and (online) Doctorate from Atlanta University, worked in the private sector in Iran, was adviser to the Minister of Planning, had several positions in the Ministry of Education and was most recently Director of Civil Service Reform in the Civil Service Commission; Hezb-e Wahdat (Mohaqeq)

10. Minister of Culture, Dr. Seyyed Makhdum Raheen – 1948, Seyyed from Kabul, Masters and Doctorate Literature from Tehran University, served on the Constitutional Commision under Daoud Khan, various cultural posts in Pakistan and the US, active in the Rome group, Minister of Culture from 2002-5, failed to receive the vote of confidence in the 2005 Cabinet, currently Ambassador to India; close to the king’s family.

11. Minister of Public Health, Seyyed Mohammad Amin Fatemi – 1951, Seyyed from Nangarhar, graduated from Nangarhar Medical Faculty, additional studies in Germany and US, Minister of Public Health in the mujahedin administration and in the current administration since 2004; affiliated with Nejat-e Melli (Mojadedi).

12. Minister of Agriculture, Mohamad Asef Rahimi – 1959, Tajik? from Paghman, studied Public Management in Nebraska, NGO background (CARE), Director of NSP from 2004 to 2006, Deputy Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development from 2006 to 2008, and Minister of Agriculture since 2008.

13. Minister of Economics, Anwar Ulhaq Ahadi – 1951 Pashtun from Sorobi Kabul, studied in Kabul, Beirut (American University) and Chicago, universtity lecturer in the US, Head of the Kabul Central Bank from 2002 to 2004, Minister of Finance from 2004 to 2008 (when he declared – and later retracted – his intention to run for the Presidency); head of Afghan Mellat

14. Minister of Mines, Wahidullah Shahrani – 1973, Uzbek from Badakhshan, s/o Niamatullah Shahrani former minister of Haj, educated in Pakistan and the UK, universtity lecturer in the UK, after return in 2004 respectively Presidential Adviser on Economic Affairs, Deputy Head of the Central Bank, and Deputy Minister of Finance. Became Minister of Commerce in 2008.

15. Minister of Technology and Telecommunication, Eng. Amirzai Sangeen – 1954, Pashtun from Paktika, studied in the UK and lived and worked in Sweden, mainly in the field of telecommunication, returned in 2002 and worked as Ministerial Adviser, Director of GSM licensing, CEO of Afghan Telecom, and Minister of Telecommunication since December 2004 (he only just received the vote of confidence in the midst of confusion over what constituted a simple majority).

16. Minister of Commerce, Ghulam Mohamad Eylaghi – 1939, Hazara from Balkh, lecturer at the Kabul University from 1967-78, Deputy Head of the Export Bank and Deputy Ministery of Commerce under the communist regime, until 1989. No official positions until 2006 (although he held unoficial government positions in Mazar-e Sharif). Currently Acting Director of the Chambre of Commerce and adviser to the Minister of Commerce; introduced by Mohaqeq.

17. Minister of Rural Rehabilitation, Wais Barmak – 1972, Tajik from Panjshir, NGO background (ACBAR), Kabul Enigineering Factulty and Masters from London SOAS (2004), currently Deputy Minister of MRRD; said to be introduced by Fahim.

18. Minister of Martyrs and Disabled, Taj Ali Saber – 1973, Pashtun from Khost, studied Political Science in Nangarhar, lecturer at Khost University, was until recently a member of the Khost provincial council.

19. Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Mohammad Ismail Munshi – 1959, Turkman from Jowzjan, graduated from the Literature Faculty in 1985 after which he engaged in literacy courses all over country, left in 1989 and spent time in Pakistan and Turmenistan, returned in 2002, member of the Executive Board of Jombesh-e Melli, Deputy Head of Jombesh since 2007.

20. Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mohammadullah Batash – 1961, Uzbek from Kunduz, studied in Russia, was Dean of the Journalism Faculty in the 80s, Adviser to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs from 2005-2008, Adviser to IDLG since 2008, member of the Special Advisory Board on Senior Appointments; Secretary of the Jombesh General Council from 2003-5.

21. Minister of Women's Affairs, Husna Banu Ghazanfar – 1957, Uzbek from Balkh, studied literature in Kabul and Russia, worked in the Kabul University since the 80s, Dean of the Literature Faculty since 2003, Minister of Women’s Affairs since 2005; brother owns Ghazanfar Bank.

22. Minister of Refugees, Enayatullah Nazari – 1954, Tajik from Parwan, studied Political Science and Law in Kabul, worked for the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General’s Office under both the communist and mujahedin regime, was Minister of Refugees during the Interim Administration, said to be reintroduced by Fahim.

23. Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs, Seyyed Hamed Gailani – 1954, Seyyed from Paktika, studied in Cairo, Iran and Pakistan, s/o Pir Seyyed Gailani leader of Mahaz-e Melli, currently Deputy Speaker of the Meshrano Jirga, deputy of Mahaz-e Melli.

24. Minister of Counter-Narcotics, General Khodaidad – 1955, Hazara from Daikondi, studied at the Military Academy in Kabul, India and Russia; army officer under the communist regime, Deputy Minister of Counter-Narcotics since 2005 and Minister since 2007; Khalq background, supported by Khalili

Obama's first big mistake?

I guess to err is human and Obama is no exception. I wonder if it was the extraordinary achievements of the existing troops that convinced Obama that another 30,000 would do even better?!? The truth is the larger the troop size, the stronger the resistance and the larger the mistakes they make, not to mention the increased losses of lives on both sides. And by the way, what did the troops achieve in 8 years that makes Obama believe they are going to achieve a lot more in 18 months and withdraw troops? Are we too dumb and too blind to see the light? What can be achieved in 18 months? Aren't we thinking about way too much of ourselves and our abilities to transform the rest? What do they know about that country, its culture, its people, its history? By the time they have learned a bit about Afghanistan and get used to the terrain, it will be time for them to return.

What is gonna happen in 18 months? I hate to be among the first to say this, but we will have made a bad situation worse. You can't fight an enemy that you don't even know well enough. Military expansion and troops excalation is not the solution, but who will listen?

foreign interference in the Afghan election?

Well, that is what the UN Special Representative to Afghanistan seems to be worried about... read here... anyone would be I guess, but the question I want to ask is "who are we kidding?"

Do you also want the world to believe there was no "foreign influence" in making Karzai the president in the first place?!? ... I can understand why noone would want to publicly announce that they were behind a major decision for another nation that could have enormous consequence, good and bad, but especially if we think the latter is more likely. Not that I have any special preferences for one candidate over another nor do I hold anything against one or another (with exceptions of course), but I just couldn't help, but find this decision to sack someone for raising issues of corruption in an election that the world were hoping would open a new chapter in Afghanistan's history, problematic, to say the least and not a good example of promoting democracy and freedom. This reminds me of the "shut up and sing"documentary film...do watch if you haven't already.

I can also understand why the international community would want to hear all rosy stories of how successful the Afghan election was and what democracy has been created in less than a decade's intervention, but find it sad to see those hopes and dreams wither away, although not surprised! Or is it just another signal telling us that we are not after all omnipotent and can't change the fate of an entire nation overnight (especially since most of our efforts seem to fail to be effective anyway as evident from the last 8 years of engagement in Afghanistan)...

The lecture I'll always remember from Harvard...

It was our orientation to the MPA/ID program after having gone through a three-week math marathon with one of the greatest mathematics professors I had ever encountered, Prof. Deborah Hughes Hallett, that I heard the sentence "we don't use math because we are smart; we use it because we are not smart enough" from Dani Rodrik, the then chair of the MPA/ID program. He also pointed out, jokingly, that we are at least smart enough to know we are not smart enough to do it without math, thus suggesting that we are one step ahead in the race towards solving the world's problems and making it a better place.

Anyway, what else do I remember form that day? Rodrik started by discussing "the global poverty among plenty"...something that had drawn eighty something of us from around the globe (roughly 50% of us from developing countries alone, which for a change put American students in minority position within the US :)

He then went on to discuss two fallacies:
1. The fallacy of determinism, which basically suggests that the plight or success of a nation is determined by a specific factor, such as history, geography, or the like of it.

2. The fallacy of holistic reform, which basically suggested that small steps won't work and that we need to change 'everything' to get the desired outcome of a better world

Rodrik stated that both these are termed "fallacies" because they are not quite accurate and not the best place to start as they tie our hands, leaving us to believe that well "we can't change their history or geography" or that "changing everything at once is impossible..." so let them (the developing countries) live the way they are as there is not much we can do about it anyway.

He suggested that a better place to start is that something can be done, but obviously, economists being economists just can't agree on this "something" [I am obviously not quoting Rodrik, but just using his ideas and sometimes caricaturizing it, so noone should quote me as having quoted him!]. He suggested that there are broadly three schools of thought on what could be done:

1. Money, and only large quantities of it will do the job. And one way to get the free money is to wait for foreign aid! We need foreign aid and we need alot of them. (Read Jeffrey Sachs)

2. Market is the way, so if things are not working well (automatically, or based on laissez faire), we should make sure there are no impediments s to market mechanism and the rest will take of itself through the market's magical "invisible hands" to use Adman Smith's terms. (Milton Friedman, Friedrick Hayek?)

3. Governance is the way to: Listen to the current world bank advice!

Well, which of these schools of thought did Harvard promote? Not so easy to catch them! Another line that I will always remember from that day was the claim that "we teach you HOW to think, not WHAT to think." I wonder if that claim stands the test of time!

This last line is especially relevant to my current PhD studies at the Korbel School. Some of the faculty members here are quite critical of the "economic approach" to solving social problems, but they (at least the specific individuals) don't shy away from stating their bias...

GDP under fire by Nobel Laureates!

GDP as a measure of a country's well-being is under attack, not for its traditionally cited shortcomings such as not accounting for unpaid work done at home (imagine eating out every meal, washing and cleaning all your clothes outside, raising your kids in daycare centers, etc.), but because it doesn't take into account costs of joblessness and environmental degradation. Read here the NYT article....

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has formed a commission, headed by two Nobel laureates, Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen. It comes at a time when the most the world, most noticeably the US And Western Europe, are still suffering from the economic recession, which most people believe is due to imperfect neoliberal policies. Some longtime critics see this is as a sign of the beginning of the fall of the promise of neoliberal policies and free market. Let's see what comes out of this initiative.

One week into PhD!

So I survived my first week of PhD courses. Korbel School is great and given its rather smaller size, you get a lot more student-professor interaction. The good news is I am taking 3 courses only, but the downside is a) it is quarter system, so time really runs fast, b) courses are often reading-heavy (especially if you wanna read the 'optional' ones too), and c) I am taking an RA job and insha'allah will soon get a teaching job too, which will keep me pretty occupied.

Here is something I found really interesting in one of my readings:

Someone was stopped by a cop for speeding at 56 miles an hour. She argued, "But officer, taking the car ahead of me as fixed, I was not moving at all." "Never mind that," replied the officer, "You were going 56 miles an hour along the road, and (as he stamped his foot) this is what is fixed." "Oh, come now, officer; surely you learned in school that this road as part of the earth is not fixed at all but is rotating rapidly eastward on its axis. Since I was driving westward, I was going slower than those cars parked over there." "O.K., lady, I'll give them all tickets for speeding right now-and you get a ticket for parking on the highway." Nelson Goodman (1989) p.84

I know such stuff may be too basic for many people, but having never taken any courses in the field of philosophy, which this particular course is all about (The Normative Foundations of Global Political Economy), it is quite amazing to read this kind of material for a change from graphs and models and Hamiltonians, etc.

The Incred!ble India and some pics :)

The Cricket Team...a lot of fun!

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I often get asked about my experience India. T short answer is that "it was great." And here is the longer answer...

They don't call it "the incredible India" for no reason...it is incredible in so many ways. Of course, I had heard a lot of this in the past, but seeing it is a different story. It was incredible how the entire system works in face of a bursting population, heart-wrenching poverty (with rising inequality... some of the richest people in the world are Indians!), extreme weather conditions, the infamous monsoons and of course the unmatched diversity (Chennai, where we were staying is an entirely different world from any other place, say Kerala, or Mumbai or Hyderabad).

Let me get into some more details - I know this means falling victim to the criticism that I always have of others ("tourists") who stereotype based on their very superficial and 'scratching the surface' understanding of a people. So I am hoping my critics (esp my Indian friends) would be a bit more forgiving. ;)

What really impressed me about India was how "content" people were with their lives. You would see people literally having nothing, born and raised on the streets, often with no shelter or regular food, but still "happy" and satisfied with their conditions (at least seemingly). And it's not that they are unaware of the worldly luxuries. They see skyscrapers and SUVs and posh malls, yet they don't seem to have the temptations or the burning desires to own them...

There were other more obvious things that impressed me about India. One is their touristic sites such as their world famous Taj Mahal, which is again un-describable in words, Humayoon Tomb, wild sanctuaries and places like Munar in Kerala. The food is another obvious element. Although I was unable to develop a taste for Idlis, I loved their Dosai, and snacks like pav bhaji, dahi puri, etc. As for fruits, I believe nothing beats their mangos, and all fresh fruits were simply amazing.

But like anywhere else, not everything is rosy…I won’t discuss the over-discussed issues of poverty, pollution, congestion, etc. What I found uncomforting and sometimes puzzling (for lack of a better word) is how class plays a role in every day life. An example of something that didn’t (and still doesn’t) make sense to me is this: we are all sitting in a restaurant and enjoying the food. Someone calls the waiter and asks him to serve the food that is right in front of him on the table...I always wondered if it was easier to simply help yourself as the serving dish is right in front of you rather than calling the waiter and asking him to do so…maybe I am missing something (I am pretty sure I am), but I had a couple of such observations where hierarchical relationships were simply perplexing.

You can see India as the next rising economic power in the region although they have many many issues to deal with from the environment to poverty, to cultural practices and so on. The Slumdog Millionnaire, although a controversial movie, raises some of these issues in the bustling city of Mumbai.

Below are some of the pictures from our one year time in India, looking at which always takes us back there, reminding us of the good old times, nice friends and colleagues and the incredible experience!

In Kanchipuram, a transition school ran by Hand in Hand (Montessori-style), Photo credit: Joanne Sprague

Najim & Salma enjoying their first camel ride in the beautiful and serene Pushkar!

Heaven on earth....the magnificent tea plantations of Munnar.

Houseboats in Kerala

And now there is "The weekend Taliban"...will we ever learn?!?

Click here for the BBC Article on 11th Sep, 2009
Eight long years have passed since the US-invasion of Afghanistan - nicely named Operation Enduring Freedom - that toppled the Taliban in no time despite their tight control over 95% of the country. One would think that they (the Taliban) would have been wiped off the region by now given more than $20 billion dollars being spent on reconstruction aid (let alone the roughly $30 billion each year spent on the military) in the country. But to our surprise, eight years from the invasion, not only are the Taliban NOT wiped off, they are actually making a comeback and getting more and more popular support from the people every minute that we spend arguing how the billions should be spent. The answer is simple: stop putting them in deep pockets where they disappear or get siphoned off through multiple layers of contracting and sub-contracting, and instead try to make a difference in the lives of ordinary people who suffered under the Taliban and now have no choice but to return to them because they (the Taliban) at least feed their families on roughly $8 a day.

There is more than enough evidence that there are no scary beings called "the Taliban insurgency"...read here...but we are creating them on a daily basis through our unfulfilled promises and repeated mistakes. There used to be the "occasional Taliban" ...read here... and now there are the "weekend Taliban" ...read here... and soon they are going to be the full-time Taliban unless we (all those in charge in Afghanistan who control the flow of money) take immediate actions now to truly win their "hearts and minds" and stop them from becoming full-time Taliban and start another chapter of war and violence in the already war-ravaged country.

Alas, those in charge are caught in a bureau-political quagmire and won't listen no matter how many times the same mistakes are repeated!

Heading for Denver!

We are finally set for our next destination for 3-5 years...PhD in International Studies at Korbel School of University of Denver!

We can certainly write a book on our visa odysseys - this time was no exception...although it was actually issued about a week from the date of interview in mid June...we did not get it until early August. It was lost in the mail and finally recovered in a colleague's drawer who had kept it in "a safe place" as I was out of office when it had arrived. So finally, we have our visa's and tickets for Aug 25th ready. I am sure our trip won't lack any adventures, but that is becoming so normal that we are not even worried about the "random" checks of "SSSSS" on our boarding pass for tight security checks ;)

JOBS is the need of the hour in Afghanistan

It is great to hear this from the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, saying "Give jobs to rural young men, which will take them away from the Taliban" in an interview. Click here for original article.

This is what we have been saying for the last two years through our JobsForAfghans efforts and more firmly in our latest visit to Kabul where we were able to meet with key people and garner support for such employment generating activities, especially for fighting age men.

It is also interesting to notice that "according to an ABC News poll taken earlier this year, Afghans are twice as pessimistic about the future of their country as they were in 2004," which again points to failed promises and unsuccessful attempts at steering the country towards real improvement and reconstruction by the international community. Let's hope that change is on the way!

Was it because he was black?

Just read this article on BBC...

I wonder if this would have happened if the Harvard professor was not black, or maybe I should say if he was white, because most likely the same thing would have happened if he was anything, but white! Imagine if, in addition to being a person of color, he also had a beard or even worse if his name said "Ahmad" or "Mohammad" in it....I found the incident epsecially intriguing because even "After providing the officer with his university ID card and driver's licence, the African-American studies scholar was handcuffed on his front porch."

Have the British learned anything from the past 3 Anglo-Afghan wars?

An interesting BBC article outlining the three unsuccessful attempts by the British to subvert Afghanistan and similarities/differences between now and then. Click here to read the article. The author, a Kings College professor, differentiates today from previous three Anglo-Afghan wars stating that now there is much more focus on "understanding the culture, traditions and customs of the Afghan population."

I would love to see the reflections of such understanding in practice. Mounting civilian causalities is certainly not one of them. Nor is breaking open the doors of people's houses in remote villages. They have yet to learn the basic fact that in Afghanistan, a man does not enter his own house without knocking first and allowing the people inside, especially the women, to prepare themselves to receive someone at the door. Now imagine the kind of an image it leaves in people’s minds when armed foreign soldiers forcefully break into people’s homes just because they are “suspects” in their “fight against terror.”

I thought I was the only one perplexed by the "military" doing "development"

...but I am finding out that the more I talk to people, the more confident I get that the military-development marriage is a flawed, if not arranged or even worse, forced one.

With all due to respect to the military people and their mentality, but how would they feel if a group of economists started doing their job? When did we throw away our close-to-heart concepts of "specialization" and "you do what you are best at and I do what I am best at"? I wonder how many of the guys in their uniform haven been adequately trained on participative democracy, or rural development or poverty and inequality, etc., which they claim to tackle all at once in addition to defeating insurgency, and many other lofty goals the set for themselves. William Easterly, whose ideas and works I deeply respect, commented on the utopian goals set in the Army Field Manuals. Read it for yourself for more details.

The PRTs in Afghanistan have a "clear, hold, build" strategy. While I respect their intents to do good, if I were them, I would be humbled to do the first two alone, leaving the third part of the strategy to those who are better (more effective and more efficient) at "building", but that's me...

One of the people we talked to in the US Forces in Afghanistan was wondering why NGOs would not want to be within miles of the military. I wonder why one would wonder on such questions...

The French government seems to have nothing better to do....

but to study what people wear and if they should ban what they wear...why not think of ways on how to integrate the French Muslim community, about 7% of the country's population? Or more importantly, tackle the financial crisis? They seem to get a kick out of discussing the term "burqa", which by the way, despite its reference to what some women wear in Afghanistan, no one in Afghanistan would know the term!

Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa

Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa

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Dambisa Moyo is my new hero!

It is "sad, but true" that you rarely find people using commensese to answer the so called "complicated" questions of development, when at least in certain cases like extremely poor or post conflict countries the answer lies right in front of our eyes - excessive unemployment!

this is what Dambisa Moyo, Odford PhD and Harvard graduate, is trying to tell the world in her recent book "Dead Aid".

She reminds us in her recent post that "Don't forget that the over 60 percent of Africans that are under the age of 24 need jobs not sympathy" which is what Ralph and I have been pushing for since 2007 in our jobs-for-afghans efforts. I just wish there were more people thinking like her and our world would have been a much better place.

The 2009 Iranian Elections...fraud?

We are witnessing one of the most critical points in Iranian history....this election is potentially the turning point for Iran and their relationships with the rest of the world, especially the US. Based on yesterday's polling results, Ahmadinejad has won by more than 60% of the votes, while there are many indications that the truth could be otherwise - people in Tehran taking it to streets in thousands and violent clashes with the police is a sign that this is not what they expected. Other signs include blocking sms a day before elections, power going off whenever Mousavi wanted to make a speech, internet sites and facebook getting blocked, etc.

Amanpur of BBC and many more had predicted that the leading opponent, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, would win by a landslide. Mousavi himself declared himself as victorious and arguing that the counting is ridden with fraud. For many of the Iranian citizens, Mousavi represented their hope for the future - much like Obama did with his message of change for the American public.

As my wife, Salma, argues, what many people outside of Iran don't know is that the 75% turnout is an indication that people in millions did not come out to re-elect the much less populat Ahamdinejad, but to push for a change by voting for the reformist Mousavi. Let's see how long people can sustain their resistance and continue challenging the results.

JobsforAfghans and Pictures from our Kabul Visit

Myself and Ralph at a press conference in Kabul

A little more about the JobsforAfghans initiative and some pictures from our visit. In brief, our initiative is in response to the multiple reports - especially those from Oxfam's Matt Waldman and ACBAR (Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief) - that state multiple reasons for foreign aid not reaching its potentials in the context of Afghanistan. Few of those points are listed below:

• Per capita amounts of aid in Afghanistan is about $60 per Afghan, while the Marshall plan allocated about 10 times as much per European in late 40s.
• Yet, aid accounts for nearly 90% of public expenditure. Government revenues is on the rise, but far from levels required for a country to stand on its own feet.
• Apprximately $20billion has been spent in Afghanistan in reconstruction aid since the fall of Taliban in late 2001.
• US military expenditure (at about $34billion per year) is more than 10 times non-military expenditure in Afghanistan. ==> An obvious implication is that reallocating 10% of military expenditure to humanitarian assistance will more than double the aid dollars in the country!
• Around 40-50% of aid dollars make their way back out of Afghanistan to donor countries in the form of high consultant salaries and corporate profits.
• Alot of reconstruction work, especially large-scale projects like building highways or constructing schools, etc., are contracted out to for profit firms, often hiring either foreign labor or using capital equipment and machinery istead of hiring local labor. Many other projects are similarly sub-contracted multiple times, each layer taking profits and often high admin costs.
• Consultants receive as high as $500,000 a year in Afghanistan. I wonder how they can justify these amounts in a country where about 40% of the people will kill for a $4/day job, which is what daily wage earners get (if they are lucky enough to find work). In place of one such consultant, we could feed 500 families by giving one member 250 workdays of paid job in a year. I bet this would much more effective at "winning hearts and minds" than what a consultant can bring to a country that s/he may know very little about!

So in brief, we are proposing mega scale, labor intensive projects that would curb the 40% unemployment rate as top priority. Cash-for-work type of projects is one way to achieve this goal. As far as implementation is concerned, we propose that all the points above must be avoided i.e. multiple layers of contracting must be eliminated, hiring expensive consultants should be minimized, money should makes it way directly to the poor as much as possible, minimizing admn costs to the extent possible, etc. Anyway, for more details you cangoogle jobsforafghans or visit our webiste http://www.jobsforafghans.org/



Here are a few more pictures from our visit:

This is Ralph arriving at Kabul airport - all happy!

There are several spots like this in Kabul where unemployed men wait as early as 3am hoping to find a day's job for about Rs.200 a day ($4/day).

This is an example of the kind of projects we are proposing. This is a $25m cash for work project, funded by USAID, implemented by CARE International, 80% of project cost is daily wages for these men and women fixing drainage system and graveling roads.

Our Kabul Visit for the initiative: www.jobsforafghans.org

I have been meaning to write about this since I returned from my visit last week, but procastination seems to have taken over my determination to write...honestly it is my fear of blogging - I keep telling myself "wait, write it down on a seperate sheet first, make sure it reads well, then post it...", but today I decided to post something anyway, I can always add a more polished version later (ya right).

So anyway, what was my visit all about? It is about an initiative that basically started out from a conversation with a random peace activist, Ralph Lopez (now not a random guy, but a great friend, a colleague and co-founder of JobsforAfghans) in Cambridge about three years ago. When I first met Ralph and upon finding out that I am from Afghanistan, he got all excited and asked that we meet again, I was thinking with myself "everyone wants to talk to this guy from Afghanistan" and never made an effort to see him again. But he was determined (well, an activist has to be) and he found me again and after a couple of conversations and exchange of ideas, he was basically kind enough to label me as his "co-founder" in his initiative now known as JobsforAfghans.

So long story short, from those random conversations, we now found ourselves meeting some of the most important players in Afghanistan. We have been getting tremendous response lately, espeically on our visit to Kabul last week hosted by an Aghan NGO called DHSA (Development Humanitarian Services for Afghanistan). Thanks to Shahir and Melek of DHSA, we spoke with and were warmly welcomed by government agencies, donor organizations (USAID, UNAMA, CIDA), embassies (Norway, Canada, Italy and US), local and internatinal NGOs (Care International, DACAAR), US Forces Deputy Commanding General (Macdonald) and his PAO (Col. Julian), small businesses, enthusiastic and committed individuals and most importantly ordinary Afghans, the unemployed, laborers etc.

Our webiste is http://www.jobsforafghans.org/. The picture above is myself and Ralph on Tap-e-Nadir Khan (The Nadir Khan Hill) overlooking one side of the beatuiful Kabul. Will add more details and pictures later...

My first posting on my blog!

Technically, this is the second posting, I first blogged on indiadevelopmentblog connected to IFMR, but this is the first posting on my OWN blog :) Being seated next to a technology geek (Shannon Spanhake), I was finally able to overcome my fear and started writing. Time will tell if I can sustain it. Also hoping that for my future postings, I will have more to say than just five lines.