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| This water will be used to generate power... |
The Counter-Narcotics Trust Fund (CNTF), established by the UNDP to support the Government of Afghanistan in its efforts to fight poppy production and the drug trade, has come to life with the approval of the first batch of projects aimed at constructing micro hydropower stations in Badakhshan province.
The management board of the fund, which includes representatives of the Afghan Government, major bilateral and international donors and the UNDP, gave the nod to the US $3.2 million project, which will fund the construction of a 100 KW hydropower station in Chatta village, an 85 KW station in Sangab village and a 350 KW one in Jurm village.
Some 4000 households will benefit from the project, which aims mainly to lay the groundwork, by providing a steady power supply for the rural population so they can develop alternative ways of earning their livelihoods based on the advantages of having electricity.
The most important contribution of the project to the counter-narcotics effort is seen as the potential of the electricity supply to enable small scale food processing facilities to be created, which in turn could allow the agricultural produce to be taken to the market with some added value, thereby bringing more income and encouraging production of more legal crops as compared to poppy.
Other envisaged benefits include the positive impact of the running of the household, by allowing women to spend considerably less energy in cooking, washing and cleaning; increased access to information through the mass media; reduction of migration to urban centres; creation of increased business opportunities (i.e. machinery repair, welding, wood work, stone processing).
On the environmental front, the project introduces a major “renewable energy” concept thereby allowing substantial cuts in the use of wood for various daily life purposes.
It is hoped that by the end of the three year project, the micro hydropower stations will be managed by a local workforce, thereby contributing to the capacity development cause.
The construction of the hydropower stations will cost some US $ 2.1 million with the rest of the funds being spent on training and other technical assistance lines. The local population will also make “in kind” contributions to the project implementation to the tune of US $140,000.
Established officially on October 29 2005, the CNTF is designed in a way that the Government of Afghanistan retains the overall responsibility for the programme, with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) as the executing entity and the Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN) as the programme directorate and also as one of the implementing entities. The line ministries are other implementing partners for projects funded through the CNTF. The fund supports counter narcotics related projects and activities outlined in the eight pillars of the National Drug Control Strategy (NDCS), which include: Alternative Livelihoods, Building Institutions, an Information Campaign, Drug Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice, Eradication, Drug Demand Reduction and Treatment of Drug Addicts, and Regional Cooperation.
The CNTF has received contributions from Australia, New Zealand, the European Commission, and Estonia, with pledges from UK-DfID and the UK-Afghan Drug Inter-Departmental Unit. Other donors such as South Korea, USA, CIDA, and Sweden have made commitments to the fund.
For more information, please contact:
Mustafa Eric
Sr. Public Information Officer
United Nations Development Programme
mustafa.eric@undp.org
+93 (0)70 157 494
