Governance News

AREU Report. The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has published a new report entitled Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) - Afghanistan. It is 242-pages long published in June 2017. The LGAF was developed by the World Bank and other organizations to enhance the activities of the institutions that work on issues relating to the country's good land governance.
https://areu.org.af/archives/publication/1608

AREU Report. The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has published a new report entitled Subnational Governance in Afghanistan. This 68-page report was published in July 2017 and covers the state of affairs in Afghanistan and the future of district and village representation.
www.refworld.org/docid/5948e86e4.html

Election Dates Announced. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced the dates for parliamentary and district council elections. The date is set for July 7, 2018. Read more in "IEC Announces Election Date: July Next Year", Tolo News, June 23, 2017.

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Governance News

NUG in Disarray. The National Unity Government (NUG) is proving to be very ineffective. There is a lot of conflict between the camps of President Ghani and CEO Abdullah. in addition, there is a significant amount of infighting within each camp. Factors such as patronage, corruption, ethnic sectarianism, and a diverse array of interests and political parties add to the destabilization of the Afghan government at the national level, the provincial level, and down to the district level. In addition, the instability of the Afghan government has had an extremely adverse effect on the security ministries and security forces.  The outlook appears bleak with no noticeable signs of improvement on the horizon.

Re-Upping the Quadrilateral Coordination Group. President Ghani and Prime Minister Sharif (Pakistan) have agreed to bring back the QCG in attempt to stem terrorism and keep open line of communication in order to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. This recent coordination took place during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit recently held in Astana, Kazakhstan. Read a press release by the Office of the President of Afghanistan, June 10, 2017. http://president.gov.af/en/News/0090

Amrullah Saleh Resigns. The state minister for security reforms has resigned. Saleh previously served as head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS). See "Amrullah Saleh Resigns as State Minister for Security Reforms", Tolo News, June 13,2017. The presidential palace indicated they were not informed officially about the resignation. Other observers have noted that the post was symbolic in nature and no real power to provide reforms was given to Saleh. Read "ARG Calls on Saleh to Clarify Reasons for Resigning", Tolo News, June 14, 2017. Certainly, this is not good for reforming the security ministries, diminishing corruption, or inspiring confidence in the Afghan government.

China to Mediate? The foreign minister of China is scheduled to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan to try to improve relations between the Kabul and Islamabad. See "China to Mediate Between Pakistan and Afghanistan", Gandhara, June 14, 2017.

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First Vice President Dostum in the News Again

Afghan Vice President Increases Rhetoric. Dostum - the First Vice President has stepped up his criticism of the National Unity Government (NUG). He says that the senior military and police leaders of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) are not performing well and are ignoring insurgent threats in certain parts of northern Afghanistan. Dostum has a fairly robust militia that he controls in the north of Afghanistan. His base of support is the Uzbek population. He has been a powerbroker (warlord) in that part of Afghanistan for decades. At various times he has aligned himself with the Northern Alliance, the Taliban, the Soviet Union, and other political and military organizations. Ghani picked him as a running mate during the presidential elections in order to secure the Uzbek vote. Read more in a report by The New York Times, October 26, 2016.

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Afghan Governance News

The two-year anniversary of the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG) is approaching and many of the expected actions (political and electoral reforms, scheduling of parliamentary elections, convening of Loya Jirga, etc.) that were supposed to take place have been put on hold. This raises the question of the legitimacy of the NUG and may likely cause some increased political turmoil in Afghanistan. The constitutional crisis and political deadlock is being carefully watched by donor nations and those countries providing troops for the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. Read more in "The Coming Political Crisis In Afghanistan - Analysis", Eurasia Review, September 27, 2016.

SIGAR Report - Lessons Learned. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has issued a report entitled "Conference Report - Lessons from the Coalition: International Experiences from the Afghanistan Reconstruction", September 2016.
www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-16-59-LL.pdf

Fighting Corruption? Not so much. "Out of 83 senior officials in the past two Afghan governments, only one - the current president, Ashraf Ghani - fully complied with financial disclosure laws . . ." Read more in "U.S.-Backed Effort to Fight Afghan Corruption Is a Near-Total Failure, Audit Finds", The New York Times, September 27, 2016.

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Governance News

Dar-ul-Aman Palace, Kabul, Afghanistan

MoU Signed with Indonesia. The Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and Afghanistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on diplomatic training cooperation recently. Read a press release by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mach 6, 2016.

Old Palace Renovations. President Ghani has indicated that the old Afghan palace located outside of Kabul - Dar-ul-Aman - will be renovated. Certainly it is a big part of Afghanistan's history. I have seen that palace up close. It will require lots of money and work to bring it back to life.

Afghan Justice System. Anyone familiar with the Afghan justice system knows that it is under-funded, under-staffed, and very corrupt. If you have money then you can have justice; otherwise you are in for a long wait and the short end of the stick. The Human Rights Watch organization has come out (once again) against the judicial branch of the Afghan government. This time the outrage is over the reduction of sentences for those convicted of killing an Afghan women who was falsely accused of burning the Koran. Read "HRW Slams Afghan Justice System", Radio Free Europe,  March 13, 2016.

EU Anti-Corruption Campaign. The European Union will be launching yet another anti-corruption endeavor to help Afghan citizens fight corruption and seek to mobilize support for stronger government action against corruption. Yep. I am sure the campaign will be "a great success". Read more in a press release by the EU, 12 March 2016.

Cooperation Needed. President Ghani has stressed the need for cooperation between the cabinet members and the parliamentarians in a bid to help resolve national-level issues facing Afghanistan. Read "NUG Leaders Urge Cooperation Between Cabinet and Parliament", Tolo News, March 5, 2016.

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Governance News

Obama & Ghani Chat. Two presidents recently had a video conference where they exchange pleasantries and complimented each other on "a job well done". Read a press release entitled "Readout of the President's Video Conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani", The White House, March 4, 2016.

China Visit to Afghanistan. The military chief of China recently visited Kabul and talked to the Afghan leadership about a four-nation regional alliance against terrorism. The four countries would include China, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. Of course, this new initiative is for China's benefit as these three of the countries border China's Xinjiang province where the population (to some extent) is supportive of the Muslim Uighur East Turkestan Islamic Movement or ETIM. Read more in "Afghanistan Welcomes Chinese Anti-terror Proposal", Voice of America, March 1, 2016.

Weapons from China? There are indications that China might increase its military aid to Afghanistan. Read more in "Afghanistan to give China military equipment wish list", Khaama Press, March 4, 2016.

Corruption - Lots of It! A high-ranking official at the Ministry of Interior has expressed deep concern over the alleged interference of influential figures and high ranking officials in high profile cases. Read more in "MoI Concerned Over Interference in Criminal Cases", Tolo News, March 5, 2016.

Russian Debt. Russia has agreed to turn debts payable by Afghanistan into non-refundable grants. This will certainly help to strengthen and expand trade, economic, and social relations between the two countries. Read more in a report by Khaama Press, March 3, 2016.

Afghan Parliament. The organization known as Democracy International has published a paper entitled A Survey of the Afghan Parliament, Wave Three. It is part of the Afghanistan Electoral Reform and Civic Advocacy Project (AERCA) and the document was issued in March 2016.

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Governance

MEC Logo

2014 Presidential Election Results Announced. Better late than never! The Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced the results of the controversial 2014 presidential election - 16 months after the establishment of the National Unity Government (NUG) led by President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. Democracy at work! Read more in "IEC Announces 2014 Presidential Election Results", Tolo News, February 24, 2016.

New Minister of Interior. Noor-ul-Haq Oloomi has been replaced with Taj Mohammad Jahid as Afghanistan's interior minister according to the presidential palace. Oloomi will move on to be the Afghanistan Ambassador to the Netherlands. Jahid, age 51, has been a former commander of the 207th and 209th Army Corps. The newly appointed Senior Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs is General Abdul Rahman Rahman. The nominations will need to be introduced to parliament and pass a vote of confidence.

New Attorney General. Afghanistan has a new Attorney General. The past one was appointed by former President Karzai in 2008. Farid Hamadi has been nominated as the new Attorney General. Hamadi is a former Human Rights Commissioner.

Encouraging News - Increased Revenue. Afghanistan experienced an impressive revenue turnaround in 2015. This report examines the sources of the revenue increase and the actions that helped spur it, and discusses lesson learned and future challenges. Read Afghanistan's Revenue Turnaround in 2015, United States Institute of Peace (ISIP), February 24, 2016.

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Governance

Replacement Player. Fazl Ahmad Faqiryaar has been appointed as legal advisor to President Ashraf Ghani. He succeeds Mohammadi who was fired because of his involvement in the "Smart City Scandal". The Smart City scandal was tied up with the "Kabul Bank Scandal". One of the convicted participants of the bank scandal had reached a deal with the government to mitigate his jail sentence in exchange to helping out with the "Smart City".

Dostum Back in the Swing of Things. Vice President of Afghanistan Abdul Rashid Dostum had taken a break from participating in the National Unity Government (NUG) for a short while but now he is back in the fold. His advancement of private militias in northern Afghanistan had put him at odds with the NUG. There are more than one former mujahideen leaders calling for a greater role for private militias to participate in the fight against the Taliban - especially in light of the ANDSF ineffectiveness on the battlefield.

MSC 2016. President Ghani attended the Munich Security Conference where he stated that the conflict in Afghanistan is not a civil, internal war but a regional and international war. Most of the attention of the attendees (and press) was on the Syria situation and the Ukraine. Afghanistan was not a highlighted event and one wonders how much Ghani was able to accomplish. You can watch his 13-minute long speech in a video posted by the Afghan UN representative on YouTube on Feb 13, 2016. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XplzKBVJIE

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Governance

MoI Minister Resignation? Rumors continue to circulate that the Ministry of Interior head - Noor ul Haq Uloomi - is going to resign. (Reuters, Feb 6, 2016).

NUG in Dispute on Helmand PGov. President Ghani and CEO Abdullah are reportedly at odds in who should be the new governor of Helmand province. This, of course, has been the major stumbling block in the National Unity Government (NUG) - the inability to reach a compromise on who will be provincial governors and lead critical ministries (MoI, MoD, etc.). Of course, the Afghan parliament has been less than helpful in this regard as well. Read "Government leaders dispute appointment of major for Helmand", Khaama Press, February 8, 2016.

USAID's ALBA Program. USAID's Assistance to Legislative Bodies of Afghanistan (ALBA) has been active in building governance capacity in the National Assembly (Parliament) of Afghanistan. However, the achievements have been minimal due in part to a 6-month gap that occurred between the predecessor program (I don't know the name) and the start of ALBA. But also (the minimal achievements) due to systemic issues with the Afghan government. The link below provides a document about ALBA for those interested in governance.
Mid-Term Evaluation (March 2013-June 2015), Assistance to Legislative Bodies of Afghanistan (ALBA), USAID - Afghanistan, June 2015.

Munich. President Ghani recently addressed the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany - as did other state leaders. He thanked NATO and other Coalition nations for their continued support, acknowledged that Afghans have a lot of work to do to get their government running right, and said that the security situation may improve in time. His attendance was overshadowed by the recent events in Syria (a possible pause to the fighting?).

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Governance

Vice President Dostum

Dostum on the Outs? It appears that Abdul Rashid Dostum is not happy with the National Unity Government (NUG). His nominations for selected personnel to be posted to the government have been ignored by President Ghani. Dostum's security plans for the creation of special units to fight insurgents has not received much attention either. He has been a constant factor in Afghan politics over the past three decades with great support from areas of northern Afghanistan. During the past 30 years Dostum switch sides in the conflict a number of times to include the Afghan civil war between the communist regime and muhjaheen - and also during the subsequent civil war after the fall of the communist regime and withdrawal of Soviet forces. Read more in "Afghan Vice President in Quiet Government Boycott Over Power Sharing", Gandhara Blog, February 1, 2016.

Rumored Resignation of MoI Minister? Twitter was raging yesterday (Sat) about speculation that the minister for the Ministry of Interior would soon resign. So the three most important Afghan Security Institutions (ASI) - MoD, NDS, and MoI could soon see 'acting' leaders is not encouraging. (Reuters, Feb 6, 2016).

Fist Fights in Kandahar. One of President Ghani's top aides got into a physical altercation with a leading tribal member of Kandahar province recently. The aide has been fired but there remains some hurt feelings that could be a major problem in the future if not smoothed over. Read more in "Afghan government rocked by Kandahar fistfight", Reuters, February 5, 2016.

Guide to Afghan Parliament. The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) folks have put together an in-depth paper on the Afghan parliament. India just completed construction of a new parliament building ($200 million) and the two houses of parliament have plenty of seating in large halls. Read "New Building, Old MPs: A guide to the Afghan parliament", February 4, 2016.

No Elections? Afghanistan electoral institutions and processes are highly corrupt, inefficient, and ineffective. The recent history of the last presidential election resulting in the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG) shows just how bad the situation is. The deteriorating security and economic environment is not going to make things much better for the future parliamentary elections. Read more in "In Afghanistan, No Leadership Means No Elections", The South Asia Channel - Foreign Policy, January 29, 2016.

Corruption. The European Union issued a press release saying that the Afghan government needs to address the corruption found within government and police organizations. "Corruption remains endemic in Afghanistan", EU, February 2, 2016.

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Governance

RoL and Terrorist Detention Decree. "A recent decree by President Ghani on how to deal with terrorist crimes has introduced the prospect of detaining, without trial, Afghans (and foreigners in Afghanistan) suspected of planning acts of terrorism". Read "Casting a Very Wide Net: Did Ghani just authorise interning Afghans without trial?", by Lenny Linke and Kate Clark, Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), January 21, 2016.

Parliamentary Elections - October 2016. "Afghanistan's top election official says the country's long-delayed parliamentary elections have been scheduled for October 15." The Afghan legislature's 5 year term ended in June 2015 but elections were postponed because of security concerns and the rampart corruption of the 2015 presidential elections. Read more in "Afghan Election Officials Schedule Parliamentary Ballot for October 15", Radio Free Europe, January 18, 2016.

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Governance

Report - Provincial Governors in Afghan Politics. When the current government of Afghanistan got its start post 9/11 the European powers put into place (with the agreement of some representatives of segments of Afghan society) a strong central government structure. This provided the executive branch - the President of Afghanistan - with the ability to appoint the 34 provincial governors. The presidency of Hamid Karzai was expected to usher in a new age of democracy and governance to Afghanistan - but it fell short. One of the areas where it failed was in sub-national governance and much of this failure is placed on the selection of the provincial governors of the Karzai period of rule. Read more in Provincial Governors in Afghan Politics, by Dipali Mukhopadha, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), January 8, 2016.

Ghazni Jailbreak of Sep 15 & Govt Failure. In September 2015 Taleban fighters broke into a jail in the province of Ghazni and feed hundreds of inmates. It was thoroughly planned and and lots of fighters participating. Read how it happened in "Ghazni Jailbreak: Where the government failed and its enemy succeeded", Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), January 15, 2016.

Education in Afghanistan. Many observers and critics of the Afghan conflict wonder if the effort in lives and money has been worth it. U.S. government and military officials tend to provide information that would indicate the sacrifice has not been in vain. Many times they point to advances in medical services, the economy, and education as proof that things are much better than the years prior to 2002 under the Taliban regime. However, the news is not as rosy as we would be led to believe - especially in education. "An estimated 40 percent of Afghanistan's children are not in school." Read more in "Measuring Afghanistan's Education Problem", The Diplomat, January 13, 2016.

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Governance News

Corruption, Kabul Bank Fraud, and the NUG. I am convinced that corruption is ingrained into Afghan society and that it will take centuries to bring it to a manageable level. In an odd arrangement, one of the prime perpetrators of the Kabul Bank fraud is going to be in charge of a multi-million dollar project to build housing in Kabul. Tell me again why we should spend another dollar in Afghanistan? I keep forgetting. "Afghan Businessman Convicted in Kabul Bank Fraud Is Still Free to Make Money", The New York Times, November 4, 2015.

Oversight and Coordination Body (OCB) Hosted by MoF. The Afghan Ministry of Finance hosted the fifth meeting of the OCB on November 2. High ranking members of the Afghan government and Coalition attended to review progress on transparency, accountability, and affordability initiatives within the Afghan Security Institutions (ASIs). (DVIDS, Nov 3, 2015).

'Motley's Law' - Reviewed. A new film about a lawyer providing services to folks in Kabul is out. Read an account of this film in "Film Review: 'Motley's Law'", Variety,  November 3, 2015.

The NUG and the Constitution. CEO Abdullah Abdullah says that the Loya Jirga will be responsible for amending the country's constitution. (Tolo News, Nov 4, 2015).

Weak Governance Hinders Security. President Ghani is all about eradicating corruption . . . but in doing so he neglects the delicate balance of the Afghan patronage network. As a result - his government has ground to a halt. Read more in "Weak Governance Bolsters the Taliban", by Shawn Snow, Small Wars Journal, November 6, 2015.

A Leaderless Country. The NUG is just not working out. Afghans want a government that functions and the current one is not quite there. Read more in "Afghans Searching for a Leader", by Mohammad Shafiq Hamdam, The World Post, November 6, 2015.

A Young Democracy in Peril. The Afghan government's leaders have failed the Afghan people. Read more in an editorial in "Protecting Young Democracy", Outlook Afghanistan, November 7, 2015.

New HPC Chief. Former Afghan Parliament Speaker and Vice President Younus Qanoni has been appointed as the chief of the Afghanistan High Peace Council (HPC).

Afghan War Widows. Being a woman in Afghanistan is hard enough. It is even more difficult if your husband has died and your means of financial survival is now gone. After decades of conflict many Afghan women struggle to survive on their own. War widows are supposed to receive a pension of 7,500 afghanis a month (about $120) but many do not due to an inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy. Read more in "Afghanistan's War Widows", Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2015.

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Governance News

Corruption. Sarah Chayes, a long-time resident of Afghanistan, is interviewed about her thoughts of corruption and how it ties to insurgencies and instability. Chayes entered Afghanistan shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan by the U.S. as a journalist. She soon transitioned to assisting Afghan women in starting up small enterprises in the Kandahar region. She became quickly became one of the more knowledgeable westerners in Afghanistan and ended up as an advisor to more than one U.S. general officer. One of her constant themes is how the U.S. didn't get a handle on the corruption in Afghanistan. Read more in "Interview - Sarah Chayes", E-International Relations, September 30, 2015.

NUG - One Year On. The National Unity Government (NUG) had its one-year anniversary this past week. While many observers point to success others point out the many failures. The taking of Kunduz City - the capital of Kunduz province - by the Taliban was not an indicator of the ability of the NUG to provide for better security. However, one observers seems to think the glass is half full. Read Tamim Asey in "NUG One Year On: Success", Foreign Policy, September 29, 2015.

Electoral Reform. Chayanika Saxena provides us with background on the continuing drama of reforming Afghanistan's electoral process in "The Promise of Ballot: Electoral Reforms in Afghanistan", Eurasia Review, October 2, 2015.

An Afghan Hotline for Corruption. A recently established hotline set up by the Afghan civil society organization Integrity Watch Afghanistan aims to combat Afghanistan's status as the fourth most corrupt country in the world. The hotline, known as the Whistleblower,  has received 7,000 calls since its inception three months ago. Over 750 of the complaints have been published anonymously on the organizations website. Read more in "Afghans Fight Corruption with a Hotline", Gandhara Blog, October 2, 2015.

Governance News

Karzai and the Durand Line. The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke out recently about the problems Afghanistan is having with Pakistan over the Durand Line. The border area is very porous and poorly marked. Some areas of the border are claimed by both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Read more in "Karzai: Afghan people will not give up their rights on Durand Line", Khaama Press, September 8, 2015.

Electoral Reform? The Electoral Reform Commission reports that President Ghani has approved seven out of eleven key reform proposals. Read a report by Tolo News, September 7, 2015.

National ID Card. Not yet. It is delay after delay. The national electronic identity card (e-NIC) may be just too hard to do in a society that didn't have paved roads, railroads, or phones just 15 years ago. So far over $30 million has been spent on the project. It is hard to say how much went to the e-NIC effort and how much is sitting in someones bank account in Dubai. Was anyone watching where the money went? (Tolo News, Sep 12, 2015).

Pakistan ID Cards for Militants. Foreign Islamic militants have been able to secure Pakistani national identity cards for years in exchange for bribes as low as $100. That will never happen once the Afghans get their system up and running - because . . . the Afghans just hate corruption and Afghan officials can't be bought!  Read more in "Pakistan Corruption Lets Militants Get National ID Cards", ABC News, September 2, 2015.

Diplomatic Training. The United States and China have been running a training program for young Afghan diplomats. Learn more in a 20-min video posted by the U.S. Department of State (Sep 9, 2015).

RECCA and SOM. Two conferences held in Kabul this past week saw delegates from about 60 countries and numerous donor organizations in attendance. The conferences were concerned with the Afghan economy. Numerous resolutions were adopted that will assure continued donor nation support. Naturally Afghanistan will expend great effort in eliminating corruption! Of course. Read more in "Govt Vows to Keep Promises Ahead of Brussels Summit", Tolo News, September 7, 2015.

Governance News (and corruption, of course)

Not Working Out - New Kabul Bank. According to some economic analysts the New Kabul Bank faces a loss of millions annually and some critics say it would be beneficial to sell it or terminate its operations. In the last six years the bank has lost $65 million USD. Read more in "Analysts Push for Action on New Kabul Bank", Tolo News, August 30, 2015.

The Female Governor of Ghor Province. The mountainous and remote western province of Ghor has a female governor - one of a few provincial governors ever in Afghanistan. A former aid worker and local resident of Ghor - Mawlavi Mohammad - has a difficult job. Ghor's educational system is in shambles and suffers from ghost teachers and vast corruption. The security situation is dire - with insurgents, drug traffickers and warlords all competing for scarce resources in an agricultural area. The province is cut off from the rest of the world during the winter for up to six months. Read more in "Struggling to pave the way for future female leaders in Afghanistan", Los Angeles Times, August 31, 2015.

Ghor Couple Recieves 100 Lashes. An Afghan man and women both were subjected to 100 lashes in the Western province of Ghor after being found guilty of adultery. It was the first time since the end of Taliban rule that such a sentence was supported by provincial authorities. Watch the beating in a video posted on Gandara Blog, September 5, 2015. Read about Amnesty International's take on the event in a news report by Gandhara Blog, September 2, 2015.

Governance News

Afghan-Turkmenistan Accords. President Ashraf Ghani met with his Turkmenistan counterpart on Thursday, August 27th to discuss a number of issues and witness the signing of bilateral agreements ranging from education to energy supply. Read more in "Afghan-Turkmenistan Accords Signed in Kabul", Tolo News, August 27, 2015.

Troubles for the Hazaras. Kidnapping, infertile land, and poor aid distribution are only some of the troubles the Hazaras face in Afghanistan. They face threats by militants, the Taliban and (in the future if they make gains) the Islamic State. The Hazarajat is where the ethnic Hazara live - in central and mountainous Afghanistan. Read more in "Peril and Persecution in Afghanistan", Foreign Policy, August 27, 2015.

Council of Jihadi Party. Afghanistan's former president Sebghatullah Mojaddedi announced the establishment of a new political party - the Council of Jihadi. The aim of the new organization is to put pressure on the National Unit Government (NUG) to bring about reform. Read more in "Council of Jihadi Party Launched in Kabul", Tolo News, August 27, 2015.

Governance News

Afghans Celebrate Independence Day. On Wednesday, August 19th Afghanistan celebrated its 96th anniversary of independence from Britain. Our Secretary of State, John Kerry, provides us with a statement - Afghan Independence Day, August 19, 2015.

Kabul Revenue Failings. In a country as cash-poor as Afghanistan the raising of revenue is critical. Especially in a time where international aid is being cut dramatically along with the reduction of foreign forces (and the significant decrease of money that brings). So it is troubling to learn that Afghanistan's capital city is having difficulty collecting funds owed. Read more in "Kabul Municipality Fails to Collect City Revenue", Tolo News, August 19, 2015.

Report: Countering Corruption & Revenue Loss. A recent report containing transparency recommendations is entitled Policy Recommendations to Counter Corruption and Revenue Loss in Afghanistan, available on the SOLLIMS website, dated June 18, 2015.
www.pksoi.org/index.cfm?disp=cdrview.cfm&cdrid=1392

NIC Update. The Afghan government has been slow to roll out their National Identity Card. The international community is threatening funding cuts because of the delays. Read more in "e-NIC Chief Urges Govt to Act on Roll Out", Tolo News, August 20, 2015.

Human Freedom Index. The Human Freedom Index (HFI) measures a broad range of human freedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. It uses 76 distinct indicators of personal and economic freedom in the following areas: Rule of law, security and safety, movement, religion, civil society, expression, relationships, size of government, legal system and property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation of credit, labor, and business. The index ranked 152 countries. The top 10 freest countries were (in order): Hong Kong, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Ireland, United Kingdom, and Sweden. The United States is ranked 20th. The ten countries with the lowest score were Chad, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Algeria, Central African Republic, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Iran. The word "Afghanistan" is no where to be found in the document. You can read the index online at The Human Freedom Index, Fraser Institute (CATO Institute, IED, Visio, and others), 2015.

UN Radio Series for Young Afghans. A United Nations radio series on youth in politics is expected to reach an audience of 800,000 Afghans across four northeastern provinces in the coming weeks. The series will encourage young people to participate in politics. Read more in a news update from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), August 16, 2015.

IDLG Assessing Provincial Councils. The Independent Directorate of Local Governance announced that the organization will be assessing the working procedures, performance, and authority of the provincial councils. See a news report by Tolo News, August 16, 2015.

Governance News

NUG with an Expiration Date? The combined leadership of Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah is failing - and the Afghan parliament is not helpful. The former president, Hamid Karzai, is on the political circuit - no doubt undermining the current regime and positioning for his return to the palace or paving the way for one of his hand-picked cronies. What's a man to do? General Campbell thinks you should cover all the bases by meeting with some of the opposition leaders. Read "Gary Owen's" take on the NATO commander meeting with former warlords in "NATO Ready to See Other Presidents?: General Campbell Meets the Opposition", Sunny in Kabul Blog, August 1, 2015.

National ID Card Update. The Afghan Council of Ministers has approved a scheduled roll-out of the national digital identity card system. The roll-out will be phased starting in the Kabul area. The launch date is August 19th. The Ministry of Interior is responsible for the program's ID card distribution. The ethnicity of the individual will not be noted on the card but a description of the individuals will be included in a database at the Ministry of Interior. USAID has cut aid to the program because of persistent delays and the European Union (EU) was also threatening to cut aid. (Tolo News, Aug 3, 2015).

Governance News

Green Trend Signs MOU with Others. The Green Trend party, headed by Amrullah Saleh (a former head of the National Directorate of Security or NDS), has signed an agreement with two other political parties pledging support to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Tolo News,  July 27, 2015.

No Pay for Presidential Palace Workers. Tolo News reports that as many as 2,000 employees of the presidential palace have not received pay for the past six months. (July 28, 2015).

NUG and the Way Out of Crisis. A commentator, Mohammad Shafiq Hamdam, writes about the failures of the National Unity Government (NUG) and offers a way out of Afghanistan's crisis. He proposes that the people of the Afghan nation appeal to the United Nations to mediate an immediate cease-fire by all parties, the convening of a real and inclusive Loya Jirga, and the establishment of a transitional government. (The Huffington Post Blog, July 29, 2015).