Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Enhanced Integrated Framework ...

dress the security, governance, and developmentneeds of Afghanistan, the governmenthas developed the ANDS. The ANDS reflectsthe government’s vision, principles and goalsfor Afghanistan which builds on its commitmentto achieve the Millennium DevelopmentGoals by 2020 and the implementation of theAfghanistan Compact benchmarks. The strategyis based upon an assessment of currentsocial and economic conditions; offers clearintermediate objectives; and identifies the actionsthat must be taken to achieve these nationalgoals. The ANDS largely focuses on thenext five years, but reflects Afghanistan’s longtermgoals which include the elimination ofpoverty through the emergence of a vibrantmiddle class, an efficient and stable democraticpolitical environment and security throughoutthe country.Despite the full commitment of the Governmentand the considerable assistance beingprovided by the international community, itwill not be possible to fully achieve all of theseobjectives during the next five years. Thereforeit is essential that well defined priorities be establishedthat reflect the relative contributionsof potential policies, programs and projectstowards reaching these goals. This is a difficultprocess. The contribution of any project to increasingeconomic growth is uncertain and isinevitably contingent on progress in other areas.It also requires a careful analysis of benefitsversus costs with alternative allocations ofresources. As a result, the prioritization of activitiesshould be seen as an ongoing processthat adapts to changing circumstances and theresults of program and project appraisal workon alternative use of resources. In meeting thischallenge, the ANDS aims to establish institutionalmechanisms that will include the Afghanpeople, the Government, civil society and theinternational community in identifying prioritiesin an evolving environment.A comprehensive ‘bottom-up’ approach wasused in the development of the ANDS that hastaken into account all aspects of social and economiclife as well as fully reflecting the diversityof people in all parts of the country. Considerableefforts were made to ensure that subnationalconsultations (i.e., outside of the centralgovernment in the capital Kabul) identifiedthe priorities of the Afghan people living ineach of the 34 provinces. 6 In addition, a comprehensiveseries of sector and ministry strategieswere developed that address all aspects ofsocial and economic development. The resultof this inclusive process is a national strategythat is fully reflective of the aspirations of theAfghan people. The ANDS is the product ofextensive consultations at the national, provincialand local levels. The Government is committedto programs and projects that directlytarget the poorest and most vulnerable groupsfor assistance. Well targeted poverty reductionsprograms are emphasized both in the strategyfor social protection and integrated into thedesign of strategies across the other sectors ofthe economy.The remainder of the ANDS is organized asfollows:• Chapter 1: provides an overview of theANDS• Chapter 2: explains ANDS extensive participatoryprocess to ensure ownership• Chapter 3: presents the poverty profile ofthe country, a key foundation for ANDS’spolicy based on evidence approach• Chapter 4: presents the macroeconomicframework for the economy. It discussesthe policies intended to maintain economicstability, the initial planning on resource allocationsfor the ANDS period and the totalresources available for the implementationof public sector programs and projectsthrough the external and core budgets.• Chapter 5: presents the strategies and prioritiesrelating to Security pillar• Chapter 6: presents the strategies and prioritiesrelating to Governance, Rule of Law,Justice and Human Rights pillar.• Chapter 7: presents the sector strategiesand priorities relating to Economic and SocialDevelopment pillar. This addressesprivate sector development, energy, transport,mining, education, culture, youth andmedia, agriculture and rural development,public health, social protection and refu-6 The Provincial Development Plans (PDPs) that were developedas part of this process are presented in ANDS Volume III.6Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS)