Thematic Area: Democratic Governance
Letter of Agreement for the provision of Country Office support services
LOTFA Phase V Project Document (black and white)
LOTFA Phase V Project Document (colour)
Annual Report 1387 (01-04-2008 to 31-03-2009)
Progress Report Quarter 1 1387 (April - June 2008)
Progress Report Quarter 2 1387 (July - September 2008)
Progress Report Quarter 3 1387 (October - December 2008)
Progress Report Quarter 1 1386 (April - June 2007)
Progress Report Quarter 2 1386 (July - September 2007)
Progress Report Quarter 3 1386 (October - December 2007)
Annual Report 1386 (April 2006 - March 2007)
Annual Work Plan 1386
Annual Report 1385 (March 2006 - March 2007)
Annual Report 1384 (April 2005 - March 2006)
[Last Updated December 2008]
Project Start Date: May 2002
Project End Date: August 2010
Project Location: Main Office at the Ministry of Interior, Kabul
Status of the Project: Active
Responsible Partners: Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Finance
Implementation Modality: National Implementation (NIM)
The Afghan people and international community consider improved security a very high priority for Afghanistan and an essential prerequisite for reconstruction, economic development and private investment, as well as for aid effectiveness. The re-establishment of law and order has been called for after decades of conflict that included terrorist activities, feuding warlords, illegal trade in narcotics and weapons and only minimal rights protection for its citizens.
The re-establishment of a national civilian police force is an essential element for security and the rule of law in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and National Development Budget envision a professional and disciplined police force that is loyal to the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and widely visible to the public, creating a sense of comfort among the population. Afghan National Police have the potential to contribute to regional and global security and to serve as a symbol of national identity.
UNDP has played an important role in enabling MoI to begin the process of rebuilding the civilian police. In May 2002 UNDP established a Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA) to enable police to return to operation throughout the country, with the following priorities: (i) Nationwide payment of police staff remuneration; (ii) Acquisition of non-lethal equipment; (iii) Rehabilitation of police facilities; (iv) Gender Mainstreaming and (v) Institutional development.
Phase IV of the project that was started in April 2006 was completed in March 2008. Hence, a project document was prepared for signing between Government of Afghanistan and UNDP. However, due to some administrative issues, the project document could not be signed. In order to ensure that project remain active, a bridging extension was requested by the Ministry of Interior till end of August 2008 that was granted accordingly.
Upon the completion of the extension period, the project document for phase V was signed with the Government of Afghanistan (Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Finance). The phase V covers the period between September 2008 and August 2010. The payment of remuneration of Central Prisons Guard has newly been added to LOTFA while the Institutional Development is moved to be priority II of the project.
Achievements:
Priority 1: Nationwide payment of police staff salaries
The main focus of results has been to ensure disbursement of salaries and food allowances for the Afghan National Police. Since 2002 USD 481.8 million (up to mid December 2008) has been disbursed to MoF for the expenditure under this priority in all 34 provinces. This has resulted in timely payment of salaries of police all around the country.
Priority 2: Institutional development
In light of the approved Support to Law and Order project document Phase III, a Management Support Unit (MSU) was upgraded and staffed including an international project manager was recruited for the unit. The unit continues to provide support to MoI in implementation of LOTFA activities. The MSU has been playing pivotal role in overall management and implementation of LOTFA activities.
Training of MoI staff has been in progress on utilization of EPS and other computer applications. Regular refresher trainings have been organized on periodic basis on usage of Electronic Payroll System. In addition to the formal trainings, regular support on ad hoc basis has been provided to MoI staff on EPS and computer utilization. The implementation of Electronic Funds Transfer has also been in progress. More than 35,000 individuals are now receiving their monthly salary in their individual bank accounts. The implementation of EPS and EFT has contributed to the increase in transparency in payment of police salaries.
As part of institutional development of MoI, a total of 13 advisors, recruited by MoI, are paid through LOTFA. The advisors are responsible for performing different advisory and administrative tasks in MoI.
Priority 3: Acquisition of non-lethal equipment
The following items have been procured and were handed over to MoI: 1,100 UAZ 4x4 vehicles, 490 Codan communication systems; two Toyota pick-up vehicles; computers and other electronic equipments to 34 provinces in support of Electronic Payroll System (EPS) to produce the monthly payroll electronically for accountability and transparency and more efficient administration. Consequently, there has been significant progress in regard to operationalization of EPS that has resulted in increased transparency in the payment of police salaries.
Priority 4: Rehabilitation of police facilities
Construction of 63 highway police check posts on Turkham-Kabul-Herat highway, 9 police stations in selected provinces and one building for Border Police in Torkham in order to facilitate police operation in terms of increasing the efficiency and improve the responsiveness and visibility. In addition, a multi purpose gymnasium for police is planned to be constructed in Kabul. The feasibility study and technical survey of the gymnasium has already been completed. Currently, the construction work on the gymnasium is in progress.
Priority 5: Gender orientation
The sub-project under LOTFA, Gender Mainstreaming in police, has been fully funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), targeting: recruitment of female police; establishment of a gender unit at MoI; and replication of the pilot family violence unit in Kabul and 5 provinces with a view to contributing to the security of women in their public and private lives.
The female recruitment campaign has been in progress and has resulted in attracting more women to join police. The MoI data on 34 provinces and on the central office indicates that there are a total of 483 female police in ANP. A number of the newly recruited women are under training in different police training centers. LOTFA covers the payment of incentives of under training women police.
LOTFA, with other international actors, also advocated for the establishment of a Gender Mainstreaming Unit within MoI structure. The unit has now been established and a team of female police has been deployed in the unit. Previously, two women were identified by the Ministry for Gender Mainstreaming Unit. The women were trained on computer utilization, English language and other gender related documents. They were also provided on the job support by LOTFA team on Gender issues.
As part of gender orientation and awareness rising, different reading materials have been translated in local languages and distributed to the MoI. The documents include Gender Sensitive Police Reform in Post-conflict Societies, UN Security Council resolution 1325 and a document containing gender terminologies. The distribution of Gender related documents as well as sessions on UN Security Council resolution resulted in increase in awareness of MoI and more importantly awareness of MoI leadership.
Priority 6: Payment of remuneration of uniformed personnel employed by the Central Prisons Department
The activity was added to LOTFA in phase V Project Document of LOTFA. There have been negotiations with different stakeholders and donors to secure funding for the activity. A number of donors have pledged to contribute to the priority in near future.
Future Priorities:
LOTFA will apply undesignated contributions to the reimbursement of police remunerations until annual costs are covered; Continued support to MoI staff on utilization of EPS will be provided so that they are fully capacitated in using computer system. Moreover, capacity development of MoI will be given special consideration in phase V of LOTFA as it is moved to be priority number two of the project. Moreover, the payment of salaries of Central Prison Department’s uniformed personnel will also be made through LOTFA. In addition, a Monitoring Agent team will be hired to perform financial monitoring of police salary payment. Besides, the team would also be responsible of capacity development of MoI in financial management and monitoring.
Challenges and Risks:
• Funding shortage during project implementation, which would immediately impact on the ability of the project to produce required output, is one of the major challenges being faced by the project. However, with current commitments of donors, the costs for current year might be met.
• Security constraints hinders monitoring activities and EPS coordination at provincial level;
Partnerships and Resources:
Phases I (1 November 2003 – 31 March 2004) and II (1 April 2004-31 March 2005)
The estimated budget was US$ 275,846,292. The received and delivered amount is USS 119,995,564 with a US$ 136,746,820 shortfall. Some planned components were not implemented due to the shortage of funds.
Phase III (1 April 2005 – 31 March 2006)
The total target budget for phase III was US$ 159,340,000, including PPSS. During the mid-year revision of the budget the total budget was revised to US $ 164,550,000. The Trust Fund has received Euro 30,000,000 from EC for LOTFA Stage III. USA had also committed US $ 40,000,000 for the police remuneration and the amount was received by the Trust Fund. In addition, US$1,652,893 came from CIDA/Canada.
Phase IV (1 April 2006 – 31 August 2008)
An amount of US$ 297 million were contributed to LOTFA during phase IV of the project. The contributions helped the project meet its expenditures over the life time of the phase.
Phase V (1 September 2008-31 August 2010)
The total estimated budget of LOTFA for two year period is 454,500,158. Of the total budget, USD 117,925,945 has already been contributed by the different donors. In addition, there are a number of contribution pledges by the donors that would help LOTFA smoothly progress towards the delivery of outputs.
Donors: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Commission, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, UNDP, United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Latvia, Iceland, Italy and UK Department for International Development (DFID).
Contacts:
Sandeep Kumar, Project Manager
Mushtaq Rahim, Programme Officer (mushtaq.rahim2@undp.org)
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