11 OCTOBER 2010 | BAKWA DISTRICT, FARAH PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

 

Bakwa District, one of Afghanistan’s most insecure areas, has seen little development aid since 2002.  The district has become a passageway for insurgents pushing into southern Afghanistan and has been identified as an area in need of stability initiatives.  In the late spring of 2010, USAID’s Local Governance and Community Development (LGCD) project facilitated a shura between the District Governor, the District Development Assembly, and community members to identify priority projects throughout Bakwa.  Community leaders identified the lack of access to healthcare, education, markets, and employment opportunities as their most pressing concerns.

 

To address this need, LGCD project completed nine community stabilization grants for road construction to communities in the troubled district of Farah Province.

 

Summing up the impact of these new roads, Mullah Habibullah, head of the Kanaka community development committee, said, “Before these roads were finished, we had trouble getting to the city and reaching health services.  Now we are better connected to the main road to Farah and other towns around us.”

 

Facilitating access to main roads means the local producers and businesses will have an easier time getting their goods to market, paving the way for economic development as well as enhancing their access to commerce, education, and healthcare.

 

The roads are the first step to develop Bakwa District, and they have provided the people with tangible evidence of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s (GIRoA) ability to react to their needs; the roads have also given these rural communities a vital connection to the rest of the region.

 

These grants are part of a larger portfolio of projects aimed at linking communities with local GIRoA elements in a collaborative process that puts community development in the hands of community members with strong, tangible GIRoA assistance.  LGCD works in partnership with GIRoA, local communities, and their leaders, and U.S. Government partners at the provincial and district levels.