NGO and Government
Dr. G. Rauf Roashan
In the wake of the resignation of Afghanistan's planning minister,
Mr. Ramazan Bashardost, the issue of NGO operation in Afghanistan has
once again raised a number of questions and concerns. Non-Governmental
Organizations have played a big role in Afghanistan during the past
many years. They are now categorized as international and local NGOs.
According to Mr. Bashardost, presently there are 2,355 NGOs registered
of which 333 are international, he said. He says out of 4.5 billion
dollars pledged to Afghanistan by international donors at the Tokyo
conference last year, about a third has been allocated to international
NGOs, the same again to the United Nations, and the roughly one third
directly to the government of Afghanistan. Based on the figures given
by Mr. Bashardost, NGO's have been entrusted with one third of the assistance
money for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. This amount is equal to
the money allotted directly to the government for the same purpose.
Whether the actual money has been released to these sources is another
question, but the fact remains that a lot of money is involved and considering
the dire need of the people for reconstruction and rehabilitation of
the country's infrastructure and other social services, it represents
placement of a great deal of confidence in NGOs.
This column has consistently referred to the need for coordination
of efforts for the process of reconstruction in Afghanistan so that
duplication of effort and expenditures are prevented and reconstruction
goals are met based on a concise plan built with due consideration of
the country's priorities. This column had even criticized the planning
ministry for its inability to take up the coordination task. With Mr.Bashardost's
appointment and his enthusiastic approach to serve selflessly, it seemed
that the ministry had taken up in earnest its responsibility. The minister's
feelings as publicized by him on his ministry's web site and his claim
to exemplary dedication was heartening. However, soon he found himself
defending his attitudes, which were considered extreme by even some
of his own cabinet colleagues. Although he was called upon from the
ministry of foreign affairs where he worked on research programs and
relations with European Union to take up the portfolio of planning minister
in Mr. Karzai's cabinet, it would seem that Mr. Bashardost lacked diplomacy
in dealing with his planning ministry's issues and his relations with
the NGOs, whom he considered as self serving institutions interested
in profit making for themselves. Yet, his proposal for enacting of a
new and comprehensive law regulating all aspects of the work of NGOs
was a prudent act. His proposal remains in draft form. He further sought
and got the approval of the head of the state to establish department
of NGO Supervision within his ministry. In the mean time, a coalition
of the NGOs have started openly to oppose his ideas and it seems that
their pressure on president Karzai's administration was stronger than
Mr. Karzai's confidence in his planning minister and obviously this
led to the decision by the minister to resign and prompted the office
of the president to declare that Mr. Bashardost's declarations have
been selfish and for gaining personal political ends.
But the resignation of the planning minister does not solve the real
problem of the NGOs and the need to regulate them. It is not hard to
find the truth of the claim of Mr.Bashardost that NGOs have had considerably
higher overhead expenditures in means of transportation like vehicles,
housing, like renting of luxury homes in the capital Kabul and provincial
cities, and an expenditure of almost as high as more than fifty percent
of the budget for security. It is not hard to find more than one and,
as a matter of fact, sometimes dozens of NGOs doing the same thing and
covering the same area of endeavor, like building schools, engaging
in agricultural development or building of clinics etc without any coordination
or cooperation among them. On the contrary, rivalries are common in
situations like this when different organizations compete for more money
from the same sources. This situation leads to dilution of the real
expenditure for the program as the overhead expenditures increase manifold
and the cost of security hits the ceiling.
It is therefore apparent that there is a need for a body, either within
the planning ministry or under the president to study all aspects of
the work of NGOs, categorize them according to their interests, expertise
and experiences, coordinate their objectives and align their work in
such a way that there is equal development on the basis of the country's
geographical needs. This body will also ensure that there is no concentration
of NGO works in bigger cities alone and that they engage in working
also in rural areas that are resided by more than 85 percent of the
country's population.
Even beyond the area of the NGO work, there is a dire need for coordination
of work by the ministries of the government. This column has also dealt
with the subject earlier on and has suggested especially the need for
coordination of the work of the ministries directly involved in reconstruction.
These include the ministries of planning, reconstruction, finance, rural
development, agriculture and industries. A high level working committee,
responsible to the Council of Ministers should undertake the task and
report on a regular basis to the Council. This will prevent duplication
of effort and expenses within the government ministries and would provide
for a balanced development in the work of reconstruction. It will also
enlist inter-ministerial cooperation, and will remove the possibility
of the strongest minister from imposing his will on the work of the
reconstruction. 12/19/04
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