1. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Independent Directorate of Local Governance A Comprehensive Analysis of District-Level Governance in Afghanistan Presentation July 2009

2. PRESENTATION CONTENT Background Profile of the District Governors Profile of the Districts Regional-Level Analysis of the Districts Provincial-Level Analysis of the Districts

3. IDLG is developing a comprehensive analysis of governance at the district-level, using data collected during its “Good Governance” workshops as a starting point ANALYSIS BACKGROUND IDLG conducted orientation and evaluation workshops for all of the District Governors, between October 2008 and May 2009 During these workshops, IDLG evaluated the capacity of the District Governors, and also asked the Governors to conduct a self-assessment and an evaluation of conditions in their districts Using the data provided by the District Governors and the Capacity- Evaluation, IDLG has developed an analysis of governance in Afghanistan, at district, provincial and regional level IDLG is working on broadening this analysis, by enriching the data captured with other data, for example on provincial investment levels, or district-level poppy cultivation

4. Due to security problems and other factors, 41 District Governors were not able to attend, but overall the coverage of the country was impressive PERCENTAGE OF DISTRICTS COVERED PER PROVINCE TOTAL COVERAGE = 323/364 DISTRICTS

5. PRESENTATION CONTENT Background Profile of the District Governors Profile of the Districts Regional-Level Analysis of the Districts Provincial-Level Analysis of the Districts

6. Around two-thirds of District Governors have a high-school level qualification, almost 100 have degrees, and only 22 are educated to primary school level or below GOVERNOR EDUCATION LEVELS

7. The majority of district governors have more than 5 years of experience, and only 59 have been in their job for 2 years or less. GOVERNOR EXPERIENCE LEVELS Experienced is defined in terms of tenure- the length of time for which the DG has held his/her position

8. Almost three quarters of District Governors categorize their confidence and motivation level as “Good” or “Very Good”. GOVERNOR CONFIDENCE & MOTIVATION LEVELS

9. Only 28 of the DGs consider their grasp of administrative issues be “weak”, and nearly two- thirds consider it to be “good” or “very good”. GOVERNOR AWARENESS OF ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

10. Only 25 District Governors scored 50 or below in the IDLG capacity evaluation, and 68 scored more than 75 out of 100 IDLG GOVERNOR EVALUATIONS

11. 190 District Governors do not have the use of a vehicle, and 251 do not have a source of electrical power in their work place GOVERNOR ACCESS TO POWER AND VEHICLES ACCESS TO POWER SOURCEUSE OF VEHICLE

12. Only 180 out of 364 districts have formal Offices for the District Governor, and District Council Buildings exist in only 47 of the Districts DGO COMPLEX INFRASTRUCTURE DISTRICT GOVERNORS’ OFFICEDISTRICT COUNCIL BUILDING Source: Afghanistan Stabilization Programme

13. PRESENTATION CONTENT Background Profile of the District Governors Profile of the Districts Regional-Level Analysis of the Districts Provincial-Level Analysis of the Districts

14. Security and Education were named the district main challenges most frequently, and administrative issues and gender were named least frequently. DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

15. 202 District Governors said that security conditions in their district were good, and only 49 said that they were “Bad” or “Worsening”. GOVERNOR APPRAISAL OF SECURITY LEVEL

16. According to the District Governors, illegal armed groups such as militias and private armies are present in only 50 of the Districts. PRESENCE OF ILLEGAL ARMED GROUPS

17. Only 32 District Governors reported that the level of policing in the District was sufficient, and 90 Governors reported that cooperation from the police was weak or negative ANALYSIS OF DISTRICT POLICING SUFFICIENCY OF POLICEPOLICE-DGO COOPERATION

18. Even fewer District Governors (30) reported that the presence of national security forces was sufficient, and 94 reported that cooperation was weak or non-existent NATIONAL SECURITY PRESENCE IN DISTRICTS SUFFICIENCY OF NATIONAL SECURITYNAT. SECURITY-DGO COOPERATION

19. The critical district-level officers are known to be present in around three-quarters of all districts. CRITICAL DISTRICT OFFICERS: COVERAGE LEVELS

20. Although 228 districts have all 4 critical officers, there are 48 districts that have 2 out of 4 or less, and 12 districts that have none of the 4. CRITICAL OFFICERS- DISTRICT STAFFING LEVELS 48 districts

21. Only 74 District Governors described the level of women’s activities as “Good” or “Very Good”, and 107 described the level of women’s activities as “Very Weak”. LEVEL OF WOMEN’S ACTIVITIES

22. PRESENTATION CONTENT Background Profile of the District Governors Profile of the Districts Regional-Level Analysis of the Districts Provincial-Level Analysis of the Districts

23. Unsurprisingly, District Governors in insecure provinces focus more on security. Unfortunately, very few Governors at all identify gender as a challenge. AVERAGE DG-IDENTIFIED CHALLENGES BY PROVINCES

24. The most educated District Governors are in the North and North-East- the least educated are in the South. AVERAGE GOVERNOR EDUCATION LEVELS BY REGION Uneducated Primary Only Baccalaureate Undergraduate Masters Post-graduate

25. There is very little difference at all between the average tenure of District Governors by region. AVERAGE GOVERNOR EXPERIENCE LEVELS BY REGION None Under 6 months Between 6 months and 2 years 2 years to 5 years More than 5 years Experienced is defined in terms of tenure- the length of time for which the DG has held his/her position

26. The District Governors from the north seem to have the highest capacity, while those from the South have the lowest AVERAGE GOVERNOR CAPACITY SCORING BY REGION

27. The North, North-East and Centre have the best security ratings, and also the highest quality of security resources, while the South has the opposite relationship. ANALYSIS OF SECURITY BY REGION Bad Improving Good Worsening Failure AVERAGE SECURITY LEVEL AVERAGE SECURITY RESOURCE QUALITY* * Compound index based on presence of police, presence of national security, and cooperation between DGO and security forces

28. Districts in the North and North-East almost all have the 4 key public officials; the districts in the South and the South East are missing many or most of them AVERAGE NO. OF 4 KEY PUBLIC OFFICIALS PER DISTRICT BY REGION

29. PRESENTATION CONTENT Background Profile of the District Governors Profile of the Districts Regional-Level Analysis of the Districts Provincial-Level Analysis of the Districts

30. Unsurprisingly, District Governors in insecure regions focus more on security. Unfortunately, very few Governors at all identify gender as a challenge. AVERAGE DG-IDENTIFIED CHALLENGES BY REGION

31. The District Governors in some of the insecure Southern and Western provinces have the lowest education levels. AVERAGE DISTRICT GOVERNOR EDUCATION LEVELS BY PROVINCE Uneducated Primary Only Baccalaureate Undergraduate Masters Post-graduate

32. We see that a lot of the insecure provinces have District Governors who are somewhat less experienced in their positions AVERAGE GOVERNOR EXPERIENCE LEVELS BY PROVINCE None Under 6 months Between 6 months and 2 years 2 years to 5 years More than 5 years Experienced is defined in terms of tenure- the length of time for which the DG has held his/her position

33. The northern provinces have the highest average DG capacity, while Badghis, Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul have the lowest AVERAGE DISTRICT GOVERNOR CAPACITY BY PROVINCE

34. It is no surprise to see that many of the least secure provinces have a low number of key government officials per district AVERAGE NO. OF 4 KEY PUBLIC OFFICIALS PER DISTRICT BY PROVINCE

35. There is a striking correlation between the capacity of the District Governors and the level of security in their provinces CONNECTION BETWEEN GOVERNOR CAPACITY AND SECURITY Bad Improving Good Worsening Failure AVERAGE GOVERNOR CAPACITY AVERAGE SECURITY LEVEL 52.8% Correlation

36. There is also a strong correlation between the security level and the quality of security resources- their quantity and how well they coordinate with the District Governors ANALYSIS OF SECURITY BY PROVINCES Bad Improving Good Worsening Failure AVERAGE SECURITY LEVEL AVERAGE SECURITY RESOURCE QUALITY* * Compound index based on presence of police, presence of national security, and cooperation between DGO and security forces Approx. line of best fit, 52.5% Correlation

37. There is also a strong correlation between security conditions and the presence of the 4 key government officers in the districts CONNECTION BETWEEN SECURITY AND GOVERNMENT PRESENCE Bad Improving Good Worsening Failure AVERAGE SECURITY LEVEL AVERAGE NO. OF KEY GOVERNMENT OFFICERS Approx. line of best fit, 73% Correlation

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