The Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan launched
the NEEP in 2002 as one of four National Priority Programs designed to provide targeted
social protection for vulnerable groups throughout the country and to rebuild the
rural road infrastructure.
The NRAP, earlier known as NEEP, is the Government’s
comprehensive and most important rural access program. NRAP covers all 34 provinces
of the country. It is a multi-donor program executed jointly by the MRRD and the
MPW. Based on the new project (NERAP) of NRAP it was decided to include line ministries
or beneficiary ministries as well as ministry of finance in the steering committee
of this program the steering committee will chair by the Ministry of Finance and
will coordinated by NCU with the support from both PIUs of MRRD and MPW. UNOPS,
as IC provides technical support for project implementation. Works are carried out
by local contractors and communities.
In addition to NRAP, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation
and Development itself implements rural access activities with funding from the
EC and the CNTF, and, for
Helmand Province, from the UK Department for International Development. Many other actors are also
working for rural road rehabilitation and construction such as PRT, IRD through
USAID fund, USAID and some other International NGOs on an autonomous basis that
complements the peacekeeping operations in
Afghanistan
.
NRAP has funding mainly from IDA grants, the JSDF,
and donor contributions that are channeled through the ARTF. The government has
provided funds from the World Bank funded Programmatic Support for
Institution
Building
project. Donors contribute to NRAP because of its proven delivery record, its ability
to reach all provinces, and its flexibility, through the implementing agencies,
to respond to donors’ geographical preferences.
Donors include AUSAID, CIDA, DFID, and USAID, EC; their
funding all follows the same arrangements—which facilitates donor coordination and
allows implementation efficiencies.
In 2007 the core team of PDCU/NRAP together with the
World Bank team designed a new project which NERAP and during the preparation of
NERAP the program was assessed by the World Bank team and restructured the program
and enlarged the Steering Committee which should be chaired by Ministry of Finance
and other line ministries as beneficiary ministries should participate in the Steering
Committee.
NRAP is the priority program of Government of Afghanistan
executed by two ministries of MRRD and MPW with technical assistance from UNOPS
and chairing by the Ministry of Finance and working in 34 provinces of the country
focusing on rural access infrastructure through labor based approach, and the works
are carried out by private companies and communities.
To date the program rehabilitated more than 10,000 km of rural road which
created more than 13 millions workdays.
The estimated total cost of the project is US$162.3
million. The IDA grant allocation of this project is US$112 million equivalent and
the Government has committed itself to finance the remaining US$50.3 million from
ARTF. This 36-month project would finance
about 32 percent of the total estimated cost of the NRAP in the next five years.
The lending instrument proposed is the Emergency Recovery
Grant (OP 8.50) which, under the ISN, has been used for World Bank initiatives in
Afghanistan
. Although IDA’s new operational policy on rapid response (OP 8.00) is in effect,
since the project the Project Concept Review meeting took place before March 1,
2007, the previous OP 8.50 is applied to ensure continuity in project processing.
The project builds on the successful design and implementation
of the previous IDA-funded projects. So far, project implementation has largely
been the responsibility of the Implementation Partner. At this point there is no
feasible alternative to this approach, but the NERAP project will explicitly aim
to reduce the ministries’ dependence on technical assistance, as detailed in the
Project Implementation section below. Before the project’s mid-term review, the
Bank team will reassess the capacity of ministry staff with a view to increasing
their responsibility for implementation. Additionally, the NERAP project will aim
to involve local communities by liaising with social inclusion officers in the different
stages of sub-project design and implementation, in order to leverage their local
knowledge, improve delivery, enhance security, and avoid delays due to land disputes.
Improvement of secondary roads (US$92.35 million including
contingencies and taxes of which IDA will finance US$53.2 million equivalent). This
component implementing by MPW with major part of rehabilitation and reconstruction
of about 1,075 kilometers of secondary rural roads (about 770 km under IDA financing
and some 305 km under ARTF financing).
Improvement
of tertiary roads (US$63.25 million including contingencies and taxes of which IDA
will contribute US$52.1 million equivalent). This component to be implementing by
MRRD with major part of rehabilitation and reconstruction of about 925 kilometers
of tertiary rural roads. The project
will aim at promoting the development of a professional labor-based contracting
industry which is particularly suited for tertiary road improvements.
Institutional strengthening, project management and
program development (US$6.7 million including contingencies and taxes of which IDA
will contribute US$6.7 million equivalent).
This component, to be implemented by MRRD in coordination with MPW, has three sub-components:
(i) Rural roads management system including support for: (a) the development of
a rural access strategy and its implementation through a national prioritized investment
program for the next five years to be presented to the donors by Mid Term Review;
this will include an assessment as to how NERAP may be able to maximizes the Counter
Narcotics Outcomes of its interventions; and (b) the setting up of maintenance mechanism,
maintenance programming for the short and medium term and support for its first
year of implementation, and routine and emergency maintenance works. In addition
and in conformity with the road management strategy, this sub-component will also
finance (ii) capacity building activities for staff who will be tasked to manage
the rural road sector, e.g. road network management (identification of a core rural
road network, definition of appropriate service levels, data collection and analysis,
and appropriate economic appraisal techniques), public procurement, financial management,
upgrading of engineering skills, reporting, and geographic information systems.
The project will finance internships for at least 100 engineering students and ten
community development/social inclusion students annually.
It is also planned to develop a program for managerial level staff who would
receive on-the-job training in roads agencies in other countries.
This sub-component will also include capacity building for contractors (national
works contractors and engineering firms) which would target on-the-job training
and business skills (bidding, contract management and community contract management,
conflict resolution, works organization, and technical aspects); and (iii) Project
management, monitoring and evaluation and analysis of data for reporting purposes.
An inter-ministerial SC, chaired by the Minister of
Finance (or his representatives) and comprising ministers (or their delegates) of
MPW, MRRD, and other line ministries involved as the main beneficiary ministries
in the project (agriculture, basic education, health, counter narcotics etc.), will
be responsible for the overall policy, strategic planning and project oversight
and for integration with other rural development programs. Donors will be permanent
members of the SC. Other observers
such as local authorities, donors, and experts may be invited to attend the SC meetings
as required. The SC will meet twice a year and on an ad hoc basis when required.
To facilitate the work of the SC, the National Coordination Unit (see below) will
function as the secretariat.
The following institutional arrangements have been
agreed upon, taking account of the emergency nature and strategic importance of
the project and the still limited capacity of the ministries for fiduciary, technical
and monitoring aspects. These arrangements
are expected to ensure that funds disburse quickly, multi-sector objectives are
reached, and transparency is maintained.
A small and efficient NCU is being set up by ministerial
decree in the Ministry of Finance and will be responsible for the overall coordination
of NRAP, including the proposed IDA-funded project. In particular, the NCU will
ensure donor coordination, which will be a key element of a sustainable multi-year
programmatic approach. It will also work in coordination with the program implementation
units and other relevant ministries and agencies involved in rural development.
The unit will be headed by the National Coordinator—a full-time project administrator
(a senior project management specialist, to be recruited on a competitive basis)
who will be responsible for day-to-day coordination of the project. The unit will
(i) monitor and evaluate the overall project implementation and provide regular
consolidated reports on progress to the SC; (ii) assure steady progress in accordance
with an implementation schedule reviewed and approved by the World Bank; (iii) monitor
the contract obligations of the IC and the Capacity Building Consultant to ensure
adequate and smooth transfer of skills to national staff, and (iv) ensure the maintenance
of a high ethical standard and transparency. The NCU will also serve as the secretariat
of the SC.
To assist with coordination, a working group chaired
by the National Coordinator and composed of the focal points of beneficiary ministries
and implementing bodies (PIUs and IC) will be established. This working group will
meet regularly, and at least monthly, to ensure adequate technical coordination
and communication between ministries and implementing entities at the implementation
level.
At this stage and based on the assessment of ministries
capacities, it is proposed that: (i) MPW will implement Component A. For the civil
works part, it will delegate most of the implementation responsibilities to the
IC which will be in charge of implementing the investments under the overall responsibility
of MPW. Non-works activities will also be implemented by the IC until the MTR, while
MPW is building its capacities with the support of the required expertise (initially
recruited under PPF financing) and training of the newly recruited fiduciary staff;
(ii) MRRD will implement activities under; (i) Component B; and (ii) in coordination
with MPW, Component C. For the civil works part, it will delegate most of the technical
and fiduciary responsibilities to the IC which will be in charge for the implementation
of the investments under the overall responsibility of MRRD. Non-works activities
will be managed by the PIU/MRRD and implemented by the functional departments of
MRRD with the support of the required expertise (initially recruited under PPF financing)
and training of the newly recruited fiduciary staff. The agreed upon responsibilities
of the IC are detailed in Appendix 5 of Technical Annex (Implementation Arrangements). Prior to the mid-term review the Bank’s
team will reassess the capacity of the ministry’s staff and, if possible, the role
of the Implementation Consultant will be reduced.
Total required fund proposed for five years US$ 500
million (1387-1391)
Total commitment by IDA/WB
US$ 112 million (1387-1389)
Total commitment through ARTF US$ 50.3 million (1388-1389)
Total shortfall for five years US$ 337.7 million (1387-1391)
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