Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Afghanistan Development (GAO Document)

The formal title of this document is "Afghanistan Development: U.S. Efforts to Support Afghan Water Sector Increasing, But Improvements Needed in Planning and Coordination". The report was completed on November 15, 2010. The full report is about 75 pages long.

 The document begins by describing water as a substance "critical to the stability of Afghanistan" and as an "essential part" of the reconstruction of Afghanistan.  Since 2002, the second year of the war in Afghanistan, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Defense gave given out $250 million for the funding of water projects in Afghanistan. The goal of supporting Afghanistan's fledgling water sector  is both shared and supported by the US and and the Afghan government. Strategies' to improve Afghanistan's water system have included improving access to safe drinking water, improved irrigation, and development in the water sector. The 2010 Inter-Agency Water Strategy by the US government identifies short, medium, and long-term goals that the US wishes to see completed between 2010 and 2014. The US government apparently expects to increase water sector development between 2010 and 2014 and estimates that to fund such projects will require about $2.1 billion.

Another important feature in the report is the emphasis on greater inter-agency cooperation. This emphasis comes from the Government Performance and Results Act and several other strategic documents relating to the US mission in Afghanistan. The GAO reports that it has included such importance of inter-agency cooperation in other strategic reports, especially when those agencies are involved in counter-terrorism activities.

Sources include the link to the original document off the Government Accountability Office Website
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-138

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