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 Minister for Reconstruction and Steering
Committee, the aim of ARDS is to facilitate
implementation of development projects
and programs.
Functional
units of AACA were transferred
into line ministries:
|
|
|
|
Transferring these units into line
ministries has encouraged integration
into mainstream government buisiness
processes together with skill transfer
to ministry staff. |
Aid Coordination Unit
Ministry of Finance Development Budget
and External Relations Unit (DBER)
- IT and Distance Learning Centre Ministry
of Communications
- Publicity Unit Office of the President
- Capacity-Building Group Unit IARCSC
Functional units of AACA were transferred
into line ministries:Transferring these
units into line ministries has encouraged
integration into mainstream government
business processes together with skill
transfer to ministry staff.
ARDS is composed of two
focal units:
A Technical Assistance and Feasibility
Studies Unit (TAFSU) and a 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 form 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 are, on
be half of the government, to host the
secretariat of the Cabinet Coordination
Sub-Committee (CC) and conduct evaluation
of proposals on its be half, 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 in hence
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. World Bank
standards have been applied to human resources
polices with more selective recruitment
guidelines, new deflated compensation
and expenses policy, and also given greater
emphasis on consultants outputs.
|
