Following
the dissolution of AACA in October 2003
the government of the Transitional Islamic
Republic of Afghanistan established Afghanistan
Reconstruction and Development Services
(ARDS). Set up under the supervision of
the Ministry for Reconstruction &
Rural Development, and the Steering Committee,
the aim of ARDS is to facilitate implementation
of development projects and programs.
Functional
units of AACA were transferred
into line ministries:
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Transferring these units into line
ministries has encouraged integration
into mainstream government business
processes together with skill transfer
to ministry staff. |
Afghanistan
Reconstruction & Development Services
(ARDS):
ARDS is composed of two units--Technical
Assistance and Feasibility Studies Unit
(TAFSU), and Procurement Unit (PU) which
was retained from AACA. The Afghanistan
Reconstruction Trust fund (ARTF), financed
by various donors and administered by
the World Bank, approved a grant to
ARDS to finance priority technical assistance
and feasibility studies for line ministries.
TAFSU was thus established in order
to provide technical assistance to line
ministries to design programs and projects
suitable for funding by key development
partners or private sources, and to
facilitate feasibility studies for critical
infrastructure projects. At the same
time, the World Bank EPAP-funded Procurement
Unit was retained from the AACA to continue
to provide central procurement services
for the government, including assisting
ministries with the procurement of goods
and services funded by donors, drafting
a procurement law and providing training
in procurement for ministry staff. Other
principal activities of ARDS, on behalf
of the government, are hosting the secretariat
of the Cabinet Coordination Sub-Committee
(CC) and conduct evaluation of proposals
on its behalf, as well as provide management
and administration of the Open Society
Institute (OSI) Program for the Return
of Qualified Afghans.
In
June 2004, ARDS came under new management
and has since worked to further enhance
the original objective of the organization
and comply with International and World
Bank standards. Major achievements have
included restructuring of administration
and financial management, applying I-GAAP
norms and standard rates and procedures
for consultant payments, establishing
rigorous internal controls and checks
and balances as well as launching a regular
financial statement reporting mechanism.
World Bank standards have been applied
to human resources polices with more selective
recruitment guidelines, new deflated compensation
and expenses policy, and also greater
emphasis on consultant outputs.
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