2005-04-18

 

New Law for Non-Government Organizations

The Afghan government has asked the NGOs to submit their work reports and expenditures for the last three years. President Karzai appointed a committee of local and foreign representatives to study draft legislation aimed at controlling aid agencies after some Afghan people raised concern over the bill. The Afghan government announced that they had drafted the legislation in a move which followed a government probe into the activities of some non-government organizations {NGOs} and amid the perception by many Afghan people that the organizations are squandering international aid money. Most Afghan people say that half of the aid money is spent on the personal requirements of these NGOs. Fierce debate is raging over the slow progress in making Afghan daily life easier. The Afghan people accuse NGOs of squandering funds channeled through them. The Afghan people welcome President Karzai for appointing a committee to control the NGO activities. President Karzai skirted the NGO controversy at the outset of the Afghanistan Development Forum last week and instead pitched for more control over the way money is spent. All organizations concerned are accountable for expenditure of the funds contributed to Afghanistan. In past three years Afghanistan was the eyewitness to considerable political development and to rehabilitation and economic development of Afghanistan. It should be explained to Afghan people alongside its expenses. So the people can be assured the funds contributed for rehabilitation of Afghanistan were not embezzled. The government is responsible for its people because it is established based on their vote.

Comments:
I very glad to hear that NGO's are going to be watched more carefully.

The government shoud take this as an opportunity to coordinate the efforts of NGO's for development if at all possible.

Right now there are a lot of well-meaning people running around doing their own thing, if Afghanistan could harvest their enthusiasm and resources with a unified development plan that would be best.
 
"I strongly disagree with poster "turnea" on a unified development plan. Some national level coordination is fine. However, local control is better as long as corruption can be minimized."

Why would local control be better?

In today's global economy the best bet an imporverished nation has is exports. In order to efectively export the country's resources need mapping, cross country roads need building foreign investements must be sought..

China and India have used federal coodination to great effect to these ends, it is even more crucial for landlocked Afghanistan to have careful development.

Corruption is a problem but not the greatest. Simple lack of funds is, as usual, coordination and central control number two. Local control would help, but it should not be predominant.
 
Few people are more revolting than the NGO employee who claims that his organization has such high purposes that the organization or his own personal conduct may not be questioned. Some of these folks strive to treated as some sort of international nobility, exempt from the judgment of others.

Don't let them get away with it, but do keep their nose to the grindstone. One problem is that it can be very difficult to account for many NGOs expenditures. One way to comfort donors and aid recipients may be to subject NGO officers' personal accounts to scrutiny. (This, of course, is what I suppose Afghans do when they see NGOs drive up rental and real estate prices in Kabul while practically running down citizens with their Land Rovers.) Let's work on the public relations angle more and let the NGOs prove that they are worthy.
 
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