NSP Success Story Good News about Life in Zeri Community Development Councils are quickly becoming the grass-roots level of local governance through which Afghanistan is rebuilding its villages and uniting its people. The Zeri District in the province of Kandahar is one of these.
The province is being transformed by redevelopment activities and efforts to replace opium growing with the cultivation wheat and corn. Evidence of rebuilding can be seen in the construction of apartments, the grape and pomegranate orchards that line this city’s roadsides, and district road projects.
In Zeri District, until a Community Development Council (CDC) was established, the eight local villages were not connected by a useable road. As one district resident said: "Before when we had no road, we were forced to carry sick or injured people on our shoulders to a clinic or health center, and often they died on the way.”
Through the village CDC and with the help and guidance of the National Solidarity Program, villagers proposed the project, gathered the local resources needed, and provided employment opportunities for locals.
As another village resident said: "Before this project was completed we had to go to Iran or Pakistan to find work. But now the NSP has established its coverage and the CDC in the village has started a road construction project, at a cost 800,000 Afs ($US 16000) we are working in our own village, and able to afford bread for our children.”
The National Solidarity Program (NSP) was created by the Government of Afghanistan to develop the ability of Afghan communities to identify, plan, manage and monitor their own development projects. NSP empowers communities to make decisions and manage resources during all stages of the project cycle. The program lays the foundation for a sustainable form of inclusive local governance, rural reconstruction, and poverty alleviation.
For more information about the National Solidarity Program, visit www.nspafghanistan.org or email info@nspafghanistan.org
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