27 October 2009
Elders from across Nawa district in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, came together this week to elect their first Community Council.
The council will be the first in Helmand to have representatives from across the district and is possible following increased security from military operations in the region.
The elections are a success for the Government’s Afghan Social Outreach Programme (ASOP) - to which DFID has contributed £1.5 million - in narrowing the gap between local communities and central government in Afghanistan.
With full backing from DFID, the council will see 45 representatives elected to form three committees to manage priority projects on behalf of residents and draft a district development plan.
DFID's support for ASOP - via the International Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Helmand - is helping it create councils to represent the development needs of individual communities.
Derek Griffiths, from the PRT in Lashkar Gah, is supporting the elders of Nawa district.
He said: “In recent years there has been very little dialogue between rural districts and the Government.
This programme not only reduces the distance between the government and rural communities, it also provides communities a chance to have a real stake in their own future, so they get to decide what the priorities are for their own community."
The newly elected councillors will form three committees – Security, Social and Economic Development, and Justice.
DFID is encouraging fledgling democracy at village level just as it is supporting the Presidential elections and the provincial council elections in August of this year.
DFID is backing the setting up of local community councils - such as Nawa - at grass roots level so that the people's basic needs are being addressed.
With the PRT’s help, Nawa is the 4th district to establish a council in Helmand this year, after Garmsir, Gereshk and Nad Ali.
The UK’s support to developing Community Councils is part of a broader programme of work to introduce significant reforms in governance at the national, provincial, district and municipal levels.
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Elders in Nawa district, Helmand province, will vote for their community council.
