VZCZCXRO8567
OO RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0498/01 0581243
ZNY EEEEE ZZH
O 271243Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3049
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS E F T O SECTION 01 OF 04 KABUL 000498 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICCENT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2018 
TAGS: EAID KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: LOCAL GOVERNANCE DIRECTORATE UNVEILS SOCIAL 
OUTREACH PROGRAM 
 
REF: A. 07 KABUL 3714 
     ¶B. KABUL 262 
     ¶C. KABUL 398 
 
Classified By: DCM Christopher Dell for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU/NF) The Independent Directorate for Local 
Governance (IDLG) unveiled on February 14 the Afghanistan 
Social Outreach Program, which aims to establish functional 
district governance by appointing community councils and 
work with them to develop memoranda of understanding 
committing local communities to responsible action in 
exchange for development and support packages from the 
government.  The new plan is a reworked and expanded 
version of the original Community Self-Defense Program, 
expunged of the controversial Community Defense Volunteers 
concept (Refs A & B).  Senior Afghan officials reacted 
positively, saying the plan is what has been missing in 
Afghanistan's governance efforts.  The IDLG and UK Embassy 
insist that the program is an important national initiative 
not linked to local self-defense forces, but the British 
may yet harbor hopes of supplementing the IDLG's efforts 
with a local security component in Helmand.  The IDLG will 
need donor support ($26 million for its first 18 months), 
the support of key ministries to implement the program 
(particularly the Ministry of Interior), and the support of 
the Parliament, which plans to address the IDLG's proposed 
Law on Local Administration in the coming weeks.  The plan 
also touches on the IDLG's politically sensitive efforts to 
empower governors, a key feature of their planned reforms 
that will be more fully articulated in its five-year 
Strategic Work Plan.  This strategy is consistent with 
Assistant Secretary Boucher's plans to focus attention and 
resources on improving governance at the district level. 
 
IDLG Presents Plan to Strengthen Local Governance 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) At the February 14 meeting of the Policy Action 
Group (PAG), Independent Directorate for Local Governance 
(IDLG) Deputy Director Barna Karimi presented the 
Afghanistan Social Outreach Program plan, aimed at 
improving district governance.  The plan is a reworked and 
expanded version of the original Community Self-Defense 
Program, expunged of the controversial security component 
that had sought to link appointed councils to local 
Community Defense Volunteers (Refs A & B).  The new Social 
Outreach Program aims to establish functional district 
governance through appointed councils and linking them to 
the central government through provincial governors. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Social Outreach Program's objectives are to 
(1) improve sub-national oversight and management; (2) 
develop provincial profiles and data; (3) replace corrupt 
personnel; (4) establish and work with appointed "community 
councils" (ref C); and (5) work with local communities to 
compile district development packages based on district 
development plans.  The IDLG plans to pursue these 
objectives through provincial-level interagency "Technical 
Working Group Teams" chaired by provincial governors, and 
to implement them through district-level "Program 
Implementation Units" led by district administrators in 
consultation with the community councils.  These groups 
will develop a memorandum of understanding with each local 
community committing it to responsible action (including on 
security and counter-narcotics) in exchange for a 
development and support package from the government, 
coordinated with donors.  The plan makes coordination with 
CSTC-A's Focused District Development (FDD) program a 
priority.  The plan includes a list of indicators that 
illustrate the effect they are trying to achieve, such as 
"requests for visits of government officials" and "the 
number of anti-government elements arrested." 
 
KABUL 00000498  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) The IDLG will launch the program in 11 provinces 
facing the most acute security challenges:  Badghis, Farah, 
Faryab, Ghazni, Helmand, Logar, Kapisa, Wardak, Kandahar, 
Uruzgan, and Zabul.  The IDLG plans to expand the program 
nationally in the next three years.  The program's budget 
for the eleven provinces for its first 18 months is just 
under $26 million, modest compared to other governance 
support programs. 
 
Plan Garners Broad Afghan, International Support 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Senior Afghan officials and international donors 
voiced support for the program at the February 14 PAG 
meeting.  Minister of Defense Wardak said the intention is 
very good -- what everyone has been trying to do.  He noted 
that "historically it has been the communities that have 
defended the country, not the army," and that citizen and 
public buy-in is as important today as it has ever been. 
His only criticism was with the 3-5 year timeline for 
implementation, exhorting the IDLG to "go to everyprovince 
now."  National Director for Securty Saleh questioned the 
idea of signing MOUs ith the communities individually, 
ironically following his sharp criticism earlier in the 
same meeting of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and 
Development's failure to demand good behavior from 
communities in exchange for receiving funds from its 
National Solidarity Program (Ref C).  Karimi responded by 
emphasizing the benefits of government interaction 
individually tailored to each community, but based on the 
same core principles of reciprocal obligations.  Minister 
of Education Atmar said the idea behind the MOUs drew from 
Afghan tradition, and that IDLG's plan addresses the major 
flaw in all our programs since the Bonn Conference. 
 
¶6. (SBU) International officials also praised the program. 
UK Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles made a strong statement 
in favor of the proposal.  Acting UNAMA SRSG Chris 
Alexander agreed, underlining the needs for equitable 
treatment of communities, for service delivery to give it 
all credibility, and for action as soon as possible. 
COMISAF General Dan McNeill cautioned that six of the 11 
priority provinces have divisive fault lines making work 
with the communities difficult.  Karimi responded that IDLG 
is prepared to address the challenges these tribal 
divisions imply. 
 
IDLG, UK Insist No Link to Local Security Forces 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The IDLG is sensitive to international criticism 
following its ill-considered albeit well-intentioned 
Community Defense Volunteers concept  Karimi acknowledged 
that the security component of the original plan was a 
tactical mistake that set back the IDLG's initial 
engagement with the international community.  Once bitte, 
they now feel the need for clear donor support and 
validation before proceeding.  (Karimi struggled with what 
to name the new program to make absolutely clear that the 
IDLG had abandoned its direct security role.) 
 
¶8. (SBU/NF) Karimi and UK diplomats confirmed that the UK 
Embassy has been working closely with the IDLG on the 
Social Outreach Program and is providing about $8 million 
in support.  UK diplomats have said that they have watered 
down their 'arbaki' traditional local defense force 
proposal to a vigorous community watch program, which is 
yet to be clearly defined.  They seem to see the IDLG's 
Social Outreach Program as a useful governance program 
nation-wide, but they may yet retain the hope of 
piggy-backing their latest toned-down version of the local 
security concept on the IDLG's efforts in Helmand. 
 
Implementation Requires Ministries and Parliament 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
KABUL 00000498  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Armed with a sound concept, the IDLG needs to 
engage key ministries to fully implement the plan, 
particularly the Ministry of Interior (MOI).  In its pilot 
program in Wardak province, the IDLG worked with the MOI to 
replace the Chief of Police, deploy several hundred more 
police to the province, increase local police recruitment, 
and identify and arrest key trouble-makers in collaboration 
with the communities; only then did local leaders agree to 
participate in formal district councils.  The IDLG's 
success will depend on its ability to work with the MOI 
(and other ministries) to make this kind of coordinated 
effort succeed.  Popal has President Karzai's support, but 
getting the ministries to follow his lead will be a 
challenge. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Parliament may yet have a say as well.  After six 
months of promising work on strategy development, consensus 
building among the ministries, the Wardak pilot program, 
and personnel changes (especially of governors), the IDLG 
plans to release its comprehensive Strategic Work Plan 
within weeks, which will clarify its strategy and link it 
to concrete goals.  (The Social Outreach Program is one 
component of this broader strategy.)  On the cusp of going 
operational, Karimi said Parliament plans to formally 
consider the IDLG's mandate within two weeks when it takes 
up the Law on Local Administration, proposed by the IDLG 
and recently approved by the Cabinet.  (President Karzai 
had legal authority to create the new independent 
directorate under the executive branch.  Since the 
responsibilities of the ministries are defined by law, some 
have questioned whether Karzai had the legal authority to 
transfer the MOI's civil administration division to the new 
IDLG without consulting Parliament.)  Karimi was sanguine 
about achieving rapid approval.  However, Parliament 
remains bogged down in negotiations over the budget, is 
faced with contentious decisions about the election law and 
calendar, and has made defense of legislative prerogatives 
a centerpiece of its activities. 
 
Toward Empowering Governors 
---------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The IDLG's ideas about empowering governors, 
addressed in passing toward the end of the Social Outreach 
Plan, are important.  Having installed better governors, 
the IDLG plans to build up their coordination role, 
ultimately to give them a more robust role in provincial 
planning, budgeting, and spending.  (Governors currently 
have veto power over spending by the line ministries, but 
no proactive authority to plan, budget, or shift spending 
priorities.)  This expanded role for governors would help 
increase the coherence, coordination, and effectiveness of 
provincial government.  It would also require line 
ministries to cede some degree of control over provincial 
finances and operations, which is likely to be a tough sell 
politically.  Empowering governors is a central feature of 
the draft five-year IDLG Strategic Work Plan, which is to 
be presented officially within weeks (Embassy has received 
an advance draft text). 
 
¶12. (SBU) The Social Outreach Plan is at least partially 
intended to build up the governors' authorities. 
The plan is designed to recreate the pre-1979 governance 
mechanisms in Afghanistan by encouraging a loose social 
compact in which the respective roles, responsibilities, 
obligations, rewards, and punishments of the government, 
tribes, and communities were well understood, facilitating 
a loose weave between the state and traditional 
structures to function more or less to the satisfaction of 
all parties.  Governors were the key to this system and 
re-creating it will no doubt give them greater political 
stature.  Finally, the IDLG's focus on district level 
governance accords nicely with the U.S. objective, as 
articulated by Assistant Secretary Boucher, to make the 
districts the focus of our governance efforts in 2008. 
 
KABUL 00000498  004 OF 004 
 
 
WOOD