Herat, Afghanistan (November 24) –Government representatives from Kabul and across western Afghanistan met today at Camp Arena, Herat province to discuss issues related to health care and education in western provinces.
The RC-West Development and Governance Working Group (DGWG) was established by ISAF Regional Command-West to create a common forum to optimize efforts to effectively execute development projects in western Afghanistan. This was the 4th annual edition.
NOwrooz Haqmal, representative for the Minister of Public Health, and Omar Azize, representing the Minister of Education, met with provincial government representatives from all four western provinces.
The meeting lasted from 9 a.m. until about 12:30 p.m. and then representatives from Herat and Ghor separated from those representing Badghis and Farah to discuss needs, problems and strategies focusing more on specific regions. A representative from each Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) made up of Italian (Herat), Spain (Badghis), United States of America (Farah) and Lithuanian (Ghor) attended the working groups.
“A lot has already been done but strategies and paperwork are no longer enough”, said Ahman Yusuf Nuristani, Herat’s governor. “Now we need to make these strategies into working plans and actual results locally on our streets”.
Mohammad Youris Rosouli, Farah’s deputy governor, later explained the problems his province faces.
“Hundreds of schools in Farah do not have electricity and access to drinkable water”, said Rosouli. “Our children cannot receive a proper education with these shortcomings”
According to Azize, as a nation, the education system in Afghanistan has come a long way in the past decade.
Nine years ago fewer than 1 million boys were enrolled in a total of 3,400 public schools. There were only 20,700 teachers nation-wide.
“The population system was not responsive to the needs of the population”, said Azize.
Currently there are more than 7 million children enrolled in 12,000 general schools. Of those, 2, 5 million are girls-a sight that was very rare a decade ago. In addition to a seven-fold increase in enrollment, the number of teachers expanded eight fold, bringing the number of educators into the public school system to about 170,000. 30 percent of those teachers are female.
Nearly 65,000 students are also studying in 24 higher-education institutions, also a rare sight in years gone by.
“What’s astonishing is that more than 90,000 students graduate from the 12th
Grade in 2009”, said Azize. “Twenty-seven percent of those were female”.
With continuing cooperation between local governments and Kabul, backed by unwavering dedication from PRT,s the situation in western Afghanistan continues to improve for the families of today, and generations of tomorrow.
“Sometimes there is a slight disconnect between local governments and the central government in Kabul. That is why meetings like this are so important”, said Colonel Vito Cracas, the commander who oversees PRT,s in all RC-West.
“We need to get all levels of government together to discuss needs and capacities”, continued Cracas. “This is how we can best serve the Afghan people”.
Economic development, job programs, education, basic services, and the rule of law are key components of the contra insurgency (COIN) strategy to increase Afghan governmental capacity, and to promote long-term stability. Some of the most important development efforts are those that complement ongoing COIN operations in key areas where we have shifted to hold phase of operations.
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