Kabul City Initiative (KCI) Monthly Report: October 1–31, 2010

The initiative's primary objectives are to create effective, responsive, democratic, transparent, and accountable municipal governance in Kabul City. To achieve this, KCI will increase the capacity of city officials, improve the delivery of municipal services to citizens, and increase municipal capacity to generate revenues and account for expenditures and revenues. The KCI program is implemented by Tetra Tech ARD, in collaboration with the Kabul City government, and is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The program's scope includes a central administration and 22 administrative districts within Kabul City. The initiative's goals are to increase institutional capacity, provide resources for delivering visible services, improve infrastructure, and increase city revenues. The program's progress is monitored through a monthly report, which provides an update on progress toward fulfilling project results, identifies implementation issues and obstacles, and outlines the KCI response to these issues. The report also forecasts next month's activities. During the last month, several key events and achievements were noted. On November 2, ARD submitted a proposed continuation plan, and on November 14, USAID lifted the suspension of KCI mobilization. By the end of November, KCI had mobilized 9 expat staff and 6 local staff members. The team also participated in the Kabul Municipality Donor Coordination Meeting and met with the newly-appointed Deputy Mayor for Services, Ulomi. In terms of achievements, the start-up team positioned the project to move quickly once mobilization resumed, and the Service Delivery team members met with the Deputy Mayor for Services. The Afghan Urban Consulting Company (AUCC) established new offices in District 4 of Kabul Municipality and conducted equipment inventories and preliminary surveys of 28 potential project sites for Solid Waste Management and parks and greenery. Regarding Capacity Building of Kabul City Officials (CLIN 1), work began on preparing for the deliverables, including the Municipal Management and Capacity Building Plan. The Team Leader for Capacity Building met with the Deputy Mayor for Administration and Finance to prepare for the joint work planning workshop. The team also submitted an Organizational Assessment instrument for peer review and planned training for KCI staff on implementing the assessment. The Mayor emphasized the need for practical, results-driven training and prioritized work on Standard Operating Procedures that most directly affect citizens. The Capacity Building Manager joined KCI on November 30, and the team agreed to a full two-day, off-site work planning workshop for December 1 and 2.