Kabul, Barikab, 11 March 2009— “It is two months now that I am working in this tailoring course. I can now support my family by earning 150 Afghani per day” said Patuni, 13, a returnee girl while speaking about her wish to become a professional tailor in the future.
Patuni is one of the 25 trainees of a tailoring course in Barikab of Qarabagh district in the north of Kabul province where some 1,100 houses are under construction for the returnees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) through a UNDP project called AliceGhan.
The name of this project is a combination of names “Alice Spring” – a place in Australia which has a strong linkage with the Afghan migrants to Australia- and “Afghanistan”, symbolizing the partnership and commitment of these two countries to jointly help Afghan returnees. AliceGhan was started in 2006 as an initiative of the Afghans living in Australia to support their fellow compatriots to reintegrate into their society by starting their new life in the AliceGhan Township while the Australian Government contributed USD 7.8 million to supportimplementation of this project.
The AliceGhan project aims to create a new model for returnees and IDPs reintegration schemes by introducing long-term development perspective to the provision of housing and community support. Specifically, the AliceGhan project aims to build a sustainable community for landless returnees though the construction of houses and essential community infrastructure, establishing community consultation mechanisms and providing employment and training opportunities.
More than 5 million refugees and IDPs have returned to their places of origin over the last six years when lack of access to shelter, land, drinking water, and income generation activities still remain as their main concerns. Above all, having a house to live in and start a new life in a new place is the most urgent need of the returnee community. Most of the AliceGhan beneficiaries have lost their houses during war time and have to start from the zero point which is a good reason for UNDP to help them to kick start with constructing new houses through this project.
During a field visit to the project site to assess its progress, several meetings were held to discuss on beneficiary selection process, construction work of the houses, school, healthcare clinic and road construction progress as well as water supply component and transportation.
The project progress is on track. More than 500 houses and a road are constructed while more than 95 per cent of the construction process of the local school is also completed. UNDP will also purchase a bus to solve the transportation problem.
“We are very happy with construction of the school, road, bakeries, shops, Hamam [public bathroom] and the temporary water reservoir but we want UNDP to support the community in functionalizing the school.” said Ghulam Mohammad one of the beneficiaries emphasizing that around 500 students have already moved to AliceGhan while this number will increase with more families joining this year.
There are other partners who have shown interest in supporting this project like the Provincial Rehabilitation Team (PRT) of France that has agreed to establish a police station in the township. The beneficiaries also try to contribute in completion of the project. They themselves have purchased a strong generator which can supply electricity to 120 families to overcome the electricity shortage.
In addition, AliceGhan provides income generation training courses, job opportunities and sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable families including microfinance and poultry projects for women headed households to enable them support their families. A tailoring course for some 25 women and 5 men and a carpet weaving course for 21 women and 9 men are the examples of such courses.
“I teach and correct the students while they are weaving carpets and guide them what colors they should use to produce a high quality carpet.” said Masoda, the teacher of the carpet weaving course. “This program is a good example of how jobs can be created in our own backyard.” Masoda added.
