Work on Court building starts in Faryab province

Kabul: Faryab Governor Abdulah Shafaq in his opening speech emphasized the crucial importance of the maintenance and improvement of the security that enable such projects to take place and the vital role that the Latvian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) plays in the province. Governor Shafaq also thanked Mr. Bremanis for Latvia’s development support and involvement in this capacity building project.

The project is implemented by the Agency for Technical Co-operation and Development (ACTED), in cooperation with the PRT. Under the Support to Provincial Governance (SPG) programme administered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), ACTED received a EUR 500,000 grant - EUR 100,000 from Latvia and EUR 400,000 from the EU - on 16 July 2008, in order to strengthen the justice sector in Faryab province by constructing new, two-story court buildings in each of the province’s three administrative districts – Qaysar, Gurziwan and Shirin Tagab.

Work in Shirin Tagab and Qaysar has already begun and will begin in Gurziwan in the coming weeks. Training courses will also be organized for some 60 judges and prosecutors to increase their capacity to deliver justice services in the districts.

The EU funds the SPG programme, which aims to help the Government of Afghanistan strengthen the capacity of provincial security related governance institutions and the provincial political dialog thereof. Moreover projects are carried out to support the provincial councils and law enforcement agencies such as the police, judiciary and prison bodies.

The programme adheres to the Provincial Development Plans as the Governmental priorities. It is implemented through the PRTs and their implementing partners and managed by IOM, is designed to provide support to the civilian activities of the PRTs, which are led or supported by EU Member States.
IOM administers the SPG programme by facilitating project implementation cycle.

This includes information sharing, needs assessment, applications review, contracting, funds disbursement and monitoring. All approved projects are implemented in line with the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS).