Disability and Governance in Afghanistan

Background issues

Traditional debates on governance focused mainly on the state and the improvement of its institutional capacity (Campbell, 2000; Kingston, 2002). The concept of 'governance' is often presented as involving the use of political authority and exercise of control in a society in relation to the management of its resources for development (World Bank, 1992; 1997). This is a classical view of governance and encompasses the role of public authorities in regulating the relationship between the ruler and the ruled. Good governance however, implies a process by which people take an active and influential part in shaping decisions that affect their lives (Schmitter, 1997). Governance is being understood here to involve other actors including civil society organizations in making and implementation of decisions, or in this discussion, the involvement of disability civil society organizations.

The most common form of disabled people's involvement in decision-making often comes through their feedback regarding service provisions and how they can be improved. As service users, disabled people have much to say about service provisions if they are consulted. A further step to enable participation in decision-making is the equal and genuine representation of disabled people on boards of service providers (Turmusani, Vreede and Wirz, 2002). This can increase the governance capacity of disabled people and give an opportunity to hear their voices at the planning and management levels. Both forms of participation are being noted in the context of CBR in Afghanistan as explained shortly.

The notion of governance with regard to disabled people in Afghanistan concerns the actual and potential involvement of disabled people in various decision-making mechanisms. In particular, it concerns the involvement of disabled Afghans in the management of related organizations. Disabled Afghans have been able to set up and independently run their own DPO's, even if on a limited scale. This provides them the opportunity to be the planner, the implementer, and the decision-maker of a given project, and has notably increased their governance capacity.

However, disabled Afghans were largely absent from classical governance processes managed by government even when government decisions concerned disability issues. The only exception is their representation on the National Disability Commission (NDC) which is a semi-governmental body. One reason for the inactive status of NDC is in fact the limited ownership of disabled people over this commission and their nominal participation in its planning and decision making processes.

The National Disability Policy has emphasized the participation of disabled people in governance process and in decisions pertaining to their lives. The National Constitution Commission has recognized this important issue and its final draft of Constitution in 2004 gives the right for two disabled people to be represented on the Loya Jirga - Afghan National Assembly (National Constitution, 2004).

The capacity of disabled people to govern over the recently completed disability policy has been evident as will be discussed below. Disabled people have actively been involved in all stages of policy development. They have also led two national workshops towards the finalization of disability policy. Following completion of the policy work, they also took part in the Loya Jirga discussion and advocated their right for governance of this policy.

Governance and the NDC

The National Disability Commission has been the only national umbrella forum where disabled people had opportunity to express their views and participate in decision-making process. Although NDC has no executive power, the representation of senior officials including officials from the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled (MMD) gave it some form of authority. NDC nevertheless can best be described as a coordination forum for the disability sector where all concerned actors are brought around one table. This included representatives from disabled people who are blind, deaf, and physically impaired as well as representatives from NGOs and relevant government departments and the UN. NDC holds its meetings on an ad hoc basis and as necessary. However, there is no clear existing work plan to direct this body.

The unclear status of NDC and its relative ineffectiveness led partners who are members of NDC to think of temporary measures for coordination in disability sector. As a result a coordination committee sprang up out of NDC to provide immediate coordination assistance. The composition of this committee is similar to that of the NDC, but it holds meetings on a regular basis and it has a working plan.

The mandate of this coordination committee is focused mainly on issues concerning disability service provisions. In this sense, it acts as a provider of technical assistance and expertise to the MMD and other disability partners, to help develop and support quality programs and services through its actions and recommendations. Three areas have been identified as priorities for the committee: 1) technical advice ensuring quality standards of existing services; 2) technical advice concerning new services; and 3) providing donor information and support. Various needs assessments and research methods were to be used for data collection, analysis and presentation for decision-making. An approach of capacity building for targeted organizations and communities was proposed to be at the centre of this committee together with accessible information dissemination and awareness raising on disability issues - there is currently no information available on the work of this committee.

Despite the fact that the NDC has been mostly ineffective and lacking clear structure and vision, NDC has played an important role in the development of disability policy as indicated earlier. Since the inception of the Task Force on Disability, NDC had actively provided an umbrella for the policy development process. NDC has also lobbied for the endorsement of this policy by government at the Loya Jirga meeting late last year as mentioned above.

The recently completed disability policy proposed specific roles and responsibilities for NDC including that of advocate for future legislation on disability. The disability community, represented by various disability groups, plays a crucial role in NDC's future success. Until now, lack of independent funding for NDC meant that its agenda is often formulated in accordance with donors who happen to be large INGOs working in the country for specific disability focused projects - often medical rehabilitation projects.

Historic opportunity in 2005 election

There is an historic opportunity for disabled people in Afghanistan to stand for parliament in the first democratic general election scheduled in April 2005. In this case, disabled people representative/s will take part in different levels of governance and decision making processes. For this to happen, it is important to note accessibility standards throughout the election process including accessibility in polling stations, information and transportation systems so that the disabled population is able to elect fairly their representatives, should there be any.

Currently, there are no officially reported disabled candidates standing for the Presidential election of October 2004. The strongest rival of President Karzai in the coming election however, is said to have a physical disability caused by war - he previously served as minister of education in the Karzai transitional government. Moreover, there is one independent woman candidate in this election among the 18 registered candidates. It is being proposed that 5% of total workforce employed in running the election process will be people with disability. This is likely to include mildly physically disabled people though. There is no further information available on accessibility standards to assist disabled people in the election process whether they are workers or voters.

Governance and CBR approach

In Afghanistan, disabled people have participated in the management of CBR often as service users. However the fact is that many staff members employed by these projects are themselves disabled or they are parents of disabled children receiving CBR services, and this allowed them greater level of participation in governance process. Planning and executive decisions nonetheless remain often at the hand of central managers with limited consultation with CBR field staff. This has been evident in the management structure and operation of the United Nations Comprehensive Disabled Afghan Program (CDAP) which utilizes a CBR methodology for serving disabled Afghans.

After the evaluation of United Nations CDAP, the MMD proposed that various emerging DPOs get involved in direct management of CBR projects run by the UN CDAP. In this sense, such a process would allow greater governance for disabled people as well as greater capacity building of DPOs to be developed. This proposal has not materialized, as the UN was in favor of capable and accountable INGOs to run CDAP in the future should they cease its operation as evaluation results did recommend.

The issue of governance in Afghanistan has long been identified by the UN as a prerequisite for the development of the country. The joint Assessment for Recovery and Reconstruction of Afghanistan (2002) conducted by the Asia Development Bank, UNDP, and the World Bank, has rightly emphasized governance and good governance as crucial aspects for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The UNDP with its various projects has taken a proactive recovery approach to restore the capacity of government and communities to rebuilding themselves. In the process, UNDP has focused on supporting the administration, planning and governance system for Afghanistan reconstruction; strengthening the regional cooperation with neighboring countries, and enhancing the UN's own coordination, while delivering the above services and products.

The UNDP strategy in Afghanistan is based on PEACE initiative (Poverty Elimination and Community Empowerment) that includes a rapid response to crises, rural and urban rehabilitation, sustainable livelihood generation programming, and tools for drought mitigation. The PEACE initiative supports disabled people under its project targeting the reintegration of refugees and displaced people. The PEACE initiative is aimed at widening, for disadvantaged people in general and the disabled, widows and orphans in particular, real opportunities and real choices for personal welfare, in particular by ensuring that as much as possible through a community-driven effort, they benefit from mainstream development (UNDP, 1997). However, PEACE as well as other UN initiatives have hardly recognized the importance of governance in disability sector, namely with regard to disabled people's organizations.

Conclusion

Many challenges continue to confront the UN PEACE initiative as well as the wider disability sector while targeting disabled people, especially regarding the limited capacity of the government to lead a disability program in the country. In order to improve the situation of over 2 million disabled Afghans, serious investment has to be made by all parties, notably the Afghans themselves, and be supported by the international community. The potentials of disabled people and their organizations are so promising, yet they lack the opportunity to develop governance skills which are necessary for their integration and inclusion into society's mainstream development. An investigation into this under-researched area of governance and disability is therefore, necessary in terms of existing needs, assets, and gaps using appropriate disability research approaches.

References

Afghan Constitution (2004) The Constitution of Afghanistan, 2004. URL: http://www.embassyofafghanistan.org/pdf%27s/
Documents/AdoptedConstitutionEnglish.pdf

Asia Development Bank/UNDP/World Bank (2002) Afghanistan: Preliminary Needs Assessment for Recovery and Reconstruction. Joint report conducted by Asia Development Bank, UNDP, and World Bank, January 2002.

Campbell, B (2000) An Overview of Governance. Commissioned paper for the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). URL: http://www.ceim.uqam.ca/textes/Final-OverviewofGovernance.htm

Coleridge, P. (2002) Community Based Rehabilitation in a Complex Emergency: Study of Afghanistan. In M. Thomas, and M.J. Thomas (eds.), Selected Readings in CBR - Series 2: Disability and Rehabilitation Issues in South Asia, National Printing Press, Bangalore, pp. 35-49.

Kingston, P (2002) Understanding Governnace in Lebanon: The Case of Disability Policy-Making. The Leanese Centre for Policy Studies. URL: http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/civsoc/final/lebanon/leb4.doc

MMD (2003) The Comprehensive National Disability Policy. URL: http://www.disabilityafghanistan.org

NCC (2003) The Constitution Making Process. National Constitution Commission, Kabul.

Schmitter, P (1997) Enabling Environments for CSO Formation and Growth. Draft Interim Report of the International Conference on Governance for Sustainable Growth and Equity: Part 5. Civil Society Organization Dialogue. United Nations, New York, 28-30 July 1997. URL: http://magnet.undp.org/icg97/part5.htm

Turmusani, M, Vreede, A and Wirz, S (2002) Some Ethical Issues in CBR in Developing Countries. Disability and Rehabilitation, 24, 10.

Wardak, A, Faiz IM, and Turmusani, M (2003) Disability policy development in Afghanistan: towards barriers free society. Expert Meeting towards a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. June 2-4, ESCAP, Bangkok. www.worldenable.net/bangkok2003/paperafghanistan.htm

World Bank (1992) Governance and Development. The World Bank, Washington D.C.

The National Disability Commission (NDC) was initiated as an independent body by the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled and was embraced by other disability partners. The idea was for NDC to provide technical advice on disability issues to government as well as to oversee future disability policies in the country including coordination issues.

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