RAMP UP North 2012-12 Success Story - Faizabad Budgeting

This support was aimed at enhancing the municipality's capacity in budget preparation. The Khash Municipality aimed to become self-sufficient in drafting and submitting the annual budget in the future. Mohammad Qurban, Khash District Mayor, acknowledged the challenges faced by his team while preparing and adjusting the annual budget. He stated that the team received useful and practical support from the Faizabad Municipality and RAMP UP North for the first time. As a result, the Khash District Officials received technical assistance and practical on-the-job training on how to organize and model the budget from Faizabad Municipal Officials and USAID-funded RAMP UP North Embedded Advisors. The joint support from Faizabad Municipal Officials and RAMP UP North enabled the Khash District Officials to draft the municipality's 1391 annual budget and submit it for approval to the Independent Directorate for Local Governance (IDLG) on November 17, 2012. The draft budget was initially rejected by IDLG, prompting the Khash District Mayor to request RAMP UP North's support. RAMP UP North responded by providing strategic support to the Khash Municipal Office, including assistance from the Faizabad Municipality, through daily on-the-job training to strengthen municipal capacity. The draft budget was signed by the Government Administration Committee (GAC) in Faizabad on December 18, 2012, and will be circulated through relevant governmental offices soon. RAMP UP NORTH is committed to enabling and supporting sustained economic growth across the nine Northern provincial municipalities where it operates. As a result of this support and capacity building, the Faizabad Provincial Municipality was able to assist RAMP UP North in passing this knowledge and support on to the Khash District Municipality. Mohamad Aslam, Khash District Municipality Administrative Manager, stated that the technical support from the Faizabad Municipality and RAMP UP North has helped the Khash District Municipality to become self-sufficient in drafting and submitting the annual budget in the future. This capacity building and coordination will help to provide better service delivery in the area.