Overview

The Support to Sub-National Governance Structure project provides training and support to 34 Provincial Councils (PCs) to conduct oversight and to contribute to the provincial development process.  In addition to enhancing the PCs’ understanding of their legal mandate, the project provides support to the General Directorate for Coordination of Local Council Affairs (GDLCA), a unit within the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), to work towards the following objectives: 1) Increase the professional skills and technical capacity of PC members and staff in Afghanistan’s 34 provinces; 2) improve coordination among PCs, the national parliament, district-level bodies and relevant executive officials at the national and sub-national levels; and, (3) increase IDLG–GDLCA’s human resource capacity to support and empower PC members.

Activities

• Strengthen the capacity of PCs to function and plan for effective development
• Support the PCs in their efforts to coordinate with other provincial actors and to provide oversight over provincial development projects and budgets
• Increase citizens’ awareness about their role in a democratic system and develop citizens’ advocacy skills so that they can effectively engage with government and provide input into service-delivery decisions
• Provide mentoring to PCs on topics such as conducting project site visits, local consultations with counterparts, public hearings and town hall meetings, and outreach to districts
• Support PC links to other government actors by sponsoring meetings with members of Parliament and other central government bodies to discuss provincial issues

Accomplishments

• Supported PCs in organizing over 300 public consultation events, 150 local project site visits and 100 public hearings to gain information from government officials and solicit public feedback
• Provided technical guidance on the preparation of provincial development plans and best practices in the evaluation of ongoing projects.  
• Observed measurable progress, including: increases in the number and quality of outreach activities held by councilors; more robust PC engagement in the development process; and greater PC attention to transparency and executive oversight
• Through engagement in technical and information-sharing sessions, PCs have improved their ability to apply knowledge and skills in public outreach and oversight processes
• Conducted PC project management training sessions on project management, office filing systems, report writing, and monitoring and evaluation techniques 
• Designed the “Ask Your Governor” media program, in consultation with IDLG, to enable citizens to communicate their needs and concerns directly to their governors
• Designed and conducted citizen satisfaction surveys in 20 provinces, which helped provincial governments define the needs of their constituents and tracked the effectiveness of government responses
• Implemented regular town hall meetings to foster a dialogue and understanding among diverse stakeholders throughout Afghanistan’s provinces