NSP Kabul:
When the Mirbachakot District of Kabul province was inaugurated in 1958, a one-hector piece of land was designated as a site for health facilities to be constructed (a district hospital and a maternity home). The construction of these health facilities had been included in the district development plan since then, but nothing actually materialized until early 2007.
37 female community development councils (CDCs), created by the National Solidarity Program (NSP) in Mirbachakot district, came together to discuss the construction of a twenty-bed maternity hospital in the center of the district. The women were very excited about the potential of their dream project being actualized.
After a number of meetings, all the CDCs unanimously agreed to earmark 10% of the block grant allocated to each female CDC for the construction of the hospital. The women very happy about this and they expressed their satisfaction with the decision they had made.
A woman from Bala Aab village said, "I am very happy about this project. I will not have to travel to Kabul city for my health problems." While another woman from Sarai Khawaja community said "Our dream project is now being completed. I gave birth to four children and every time my husband had to spend a big amount of money for travel and other costs in the time of my delivery in Kabul hospitals."
A group of women in Bala Deh said, "We had a choice to spend 10% of the money coming to our village under the NSP on projects that we thought served our purpose the best. Thus, what else could be better than a hospital."
Thank you to the NSP for providing the opportunity for the people to achieve their dreams.
This case example is among more than a thousand projects planned, designed and implemented by communities in 11 districts of Kabul province.
The NSP is one of the community development and local governance programs of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) of Afghanistan. This program started in 2003 to develop the ability of Afghan communities to identify, plan, manage and monitor their own development projects. CDC's provide the forums for communities to participate in their district and provincial development activities.
SDO as one of the facilitating partners of this program continued the implementation of the NSP in 2007/2008 in Dehsabz, Mirbachakot, Shakardara, Qarabagh, Istalif, Chaharasiab, Guldara, Farza, Kalakan, Bagrami and Paghman.
