Development Cooperation Report 2012 - UNDP Afghanistan

CONTEXT
5
Afghanistan has come a long way. The first decade of development partnership (2001-
2011) between Afghans and the international community produced remarkable
achievements in the areas of governance, education, health, infrastructure and
economic growth. The Bonn Conference in December 2001 marked a new beginning
for Afghans to build a democratic and stable state. Drafting a new constitution,
running presidential elections and creating a legislature were some of the early
political benchmarks that were jointly achieved by Afghans and their development
partners. Since 2003, real per capita GDP has been growing at an average rate of 9
percent, and domestic revenues have increased significantly from US$ 130 million in
2002 to approximately US$ 2 billion in 2011. Almost 8000 kilometers of national and
regional highways have been either reconstructed or newly built. Around 8 million
children are going to school, of which 38 percent are girls. Close to 60 percent of
the Afghan population have access to basic health services. Overall, the first decade
of development partnership has brought significant improvements in lives of many
Afghans.
At the national level, there has been significant progress in terms of governance
reforms, creation of state institutions and increased delivery of basic services in various
sectors of the economy. Creation of a credible public financial management system
has enabled the government to achieve significant revenue generation since 2002
and absorb more funding through the national budget. While the trend for revenue
mobilization is expected to experience modest growth during the transition period,
the long term financial prospects are promising as the extractive industries begin to
generate higher revenues throughout the transformation decade and beyond. In
terms of fiscal and budget transparency, Afghanistan has made great strides over the
last couple of years. Allowing the public to access budget information, and providing
them with the opportunity to participate in the budget process at the national level,
Afghanistan was able to progress from a score of 8 in 2008 to a score of 21 in 2010.
And there is an indication from the current review that the score will increase to 50
or above in the near future.
Despite considerable achievements, there are various development challenges ahead
as Afghanistan enters a new phase of development. Conflict and poverty will remain
as major challenges of the next decade. Aid dependency will continue throughout
transition (2012-2014) and the transformation decade (2015-2025). The withdrawal
of foreign troops by end 2014 may prompt possible declines in aid that could leave
the country facing hard budget constraints and low economic activity in the years to
DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION REPORT