ASSIGNMENT TWO: An Analysis and critique of a Development Project Option #3

IDSAO1 PROF: Leslie Chan Tut: 3006 Due Date: Dec.1.2010 By: Chris Sanchez Submitted :Dec.6.2010

I. Introduction

The developmental project of focus in this case study is the Girls Education Support Program (GESP) in Afghanistan. The purpose of the project is to increase the recipient communities and the government capacity to provide a quality education to children from preschool to high school with an emphasis on enhancing the education of girls, through a series of diverse and comprehensive projects which have identified and targeted various sociological, political and economic processes that are perceived as requiring intervention for the project to succeed. I have chosen the project because of my curiosity surrounding the geo-political motives and consequences, intended or unintended of the actors engaged in the advocating and implementing of the project. That women have historically been sociologically, politically and economically marginalized has been largely documented and I believe that they deserve equal access to the means of a better life. In Afghanistan under the Taliban, women were unable to get an education among being constrained in many other aspects of their private and public life. The GESP project is an attempt to reverse the damage that has been done to female agency in the country, but there are many obstacles. Afghanistan has a decentralized education system and poor infrastructure of education system and the AKF cogently argues that communities play a vital role in supporting girls education, particularly regarding enrolment and retention.(AKFC,2010,P.24) In Afghanistan, under the Taliban regime (with which the American led NATO forces have been engaged with since 2001 and whose political power they are trying to subvert) women were oppressed by violence and misogynous policies that hindered their social, political and economic agency. But it wasnt always like that. Afghanistan history of the last 50 years is a tumultuous political minefield whose present was shaped in many ways by their entanglement with the United States, the

former U.S.S.R. and other regional geopolitical powers during the Cold War. An important historical note is that the gender rights and freedoms that the west is advocating recognition of today were being institutionalized in the late 70by a Marxist government under the rule of Mohammed Taraki.(Ryan, 2001) Their development and institutionalization were subsequently undermined by the US, USSR, Pakistan and Saudi Arabian intervention. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia opposed the government because of its progressive socio-political and religious orientation (Sunni -Shia divide) and the US because of the potential for Soviet geopolitical power aggrandizement. The US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia colluded to destabilize the region, resulting in US backed mujahedeen attacks on the Marxist government and the subsequent mobilization of Soviet troops on Afghan land that swept the nation into conflict and a power vacuum, resulting in the Taliban governed Afghanistan of yesteryear. Today, Afghanistan is undergoing a politico-economic reorientation as various actors; domestic and international vie for increased influence in the region through the dual use of soft and hard power tactics. The following sections will analyze and qualify the merits and weaknesses of the project, followed by an assessment of the potential consequences, intended and unintended of the GESP project. II. About the project The GESP projects key objectives are: Increased girls access to learning opportunities and sustained progression into higher levels of education system Improved quality of teaching and learning practices to create a secure and supportive learning environment for girls Enhanced capacity and commitment among stakeholders to further girls education (AKFC,2010, p.5)

The Millennium Development Goals being specifically addressed and pursued by the project are: Achieve universal primary education and promote gender equality and empower women. The projects as a whole however also addresses several other MDGs such as: Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty; Ensure environmental sustainability and; Develop a global partnership for development. The funding for the GESP project was set at $CAN 9,302,328. A bulk of the funding is being provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) which is providing $8,000,000 and by the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC) which is providing $1,302,328.(AKFC,2010,p.5) CIDA; a federal agency (publicly funded) was established in 1968 to administer the bulk of Canadas official development assistance program (ODA) by supporting the development assistance activities of other organizations or institutions where their work is judged to contribute to the goals and objectives of Canadian ODA, (CIDA,2010,p.45) which are namely and more recently, those of the MDGs, established by the United Nations in 2000. The Aga Khan Foundation is a grant-making agency for social development within the Shia muslim community.(AKDN,2010) The Founder, His Highness the Aga Khan is the spiritual leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. (A point of considerable importance that will be addressed later). As well as being a major contributor himself, other funding sources include income from investments and grants from government, institutional and private sector partners- as well as donations from individuals around the world. (AKDN,2010) The main intended beneficiaries of the project are the predominantly

Shia (religious) Hazara and Tajik (ethnicity) people of the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan and Bamyan. III. Analysis GESP has had a marked effect on the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan and Bamyan, the three locations chosen for project implementation. Even though the projects timeline, beginning in 2008 extends until 2013, there are progress indicators, respective of the projects key objectives with which to assess the projects cumulative effects thus far. The indicators quantitatively illustrate and juxtapose intended targets against current achievements. They are provided in a GESP annual report, prepared by the AKFC for CIDA. Many of the targets set up by the AKF are more than half unfulfilled and a smaller proportion has reached the half way mark. Given that the project is in its second year and the tumultuous environment in which it is operating out of, the fact that the project has become established and is moving along at a pace that looks as though it might achieve its objectives is laudable. Obstacles to the project vary in degree, with security by far being the one with the potential to derail the whole project. The problem of illiteracy which is 95% in most areas ( AKFC,2010, p.10 ) has hindered the ability of community participants to understand the developmental processes of which they are to be engaged in facilitating and has hindered the implementation of programs according to schedule. There has also been concerns that despite initiatives such as Gender and Child Rights and Gender Fair Teaching training, the second key objective is not adequately materializing. Unfortunately, there is no fixed timetable for assessing the length of time it takes a society to undergo a qualitative shift in thinking pertaining to their cultures values, ideals and beliefs.

A concern for the longevity and sustainability of GESP, identified by the projects facilitators has been with the lack of concrete linkages and collaboration with the Ministry of Education centered on capacity building and skill transfer. (AKFC,2010,p.27) The biggest concern, security, has prevented the successful implementation of projects in the districts of the Baghlan region.(AKFC,2010,p.20) Requisite personnel were unable to reach the areas that required their specific expertise. That no markedly violent episodes were identified in the report is reassuring, but begs the question, why not? I believe that the funding bodies have both a positive and negative effect. The project has wisely aligned its stated goals in conformity with the objectives and values consensually agreed upon by CIDA and codified by the United Nations, such as: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the MDGs and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).(AKFC,2010, p.8) The conflation of its goals with that of the UN values and conventions helps to lend the project a high degree of international legitimacy. However, the project appears a political one none the less, can be discerned as so by looking at the agency implementing the project and in a war focused on winning over the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, perception is important. The Aga Khan Foundation is headed by a Shia, His Holiness the Aga Khan, and as mentioned before is dedicated to the social development of the Shia community. The Middle Eastern; Sunni and Shia diaspora have been in conflict for centuries, the former advocating strict adherence to Sharia law or sacred law while the former advocates the use of reason and logic in interpreting Islamic law. The three regions in which the projects are taking place: Badakhshan, Baghlan, Bamyan are inhabited predominantly by non-Pashtuns , specifically the Tajik and Hazara ethnic groups which make up 9% and 27% of the

Afghan population respectively and 36% combined (CIA Factbook,2010) (see Map 1 & Map 2). The Pashtuns are the historically dominant class who make up 47% of the Afghani population, most of the Taliban and is the ethnicity of which the Afghan president Harmid Karzai belongs to. Canada, once renowned for its humanitarian aid has been more recently associated as acting in concert with American foreign policy. Given the historical animosity had towards the minority Shia community in Afghanistan by the predominantly Sunni Taliban, the funding body of the project makes the project a target for Taliban insurgent forces dedicated to maintaining their political influence by preventing the project from strengthening the autonomous capacity of the recipients socio-political and economic agency. A strengthening of Hazara and Tajik socio-political and economic agency could have an effect on the internal balance of power in Afghanistan, with the effect of curtailing and marginalizing the socio-political and economic dominance of the Pashtun people who currently make up most of the Taliban ranks and the countrys first government since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.Given the current announced date of withdrawal by Canadian and American forces for 2014, the resurgence of the Taliban dominance could make the villages a target for violent reprisals as a US-based Human Rights Watch has stated, saying that women living in areas where the Taliban have regained strength have suffered intimidation, violence and even death threats. (BBC, 2010) However, if the campaign against the Taliban is successful in undermining their grip on the nation, the GESP project has every chance of sustaining itself and of being replicable elsewhere. The project focuses intensively on instilling within the varying program participants, the requisite skills and capacity to facilitate the continued advancement of a shift in cultural thinking that is conducive to the

emergence of an environment with the infrastructural and psychological foundations to enhance the education and social status of girls/women to one of equity. IV. CONCLUSIONS That the project has been able to accomplish what it has, without direct violence is surprising considering that its main beneficiaries are those of the Shia diaspora. One could argue that a more inclusive project, integrating Sunnis and Shia would help militate against the potentiality of sectarian violence as both sides might perceive their interests as inter-related, but it could also make the viability of progress more precarious. A small, standing military security force could help protect the projects facilitators and recipients, but it would also present itself as a military target. However, if the recipients of the GESP project were both Sunni and Shia and insurgents attacked the community and/or hypothetical protective military force, it might help to foster disillusionment with the Taliban. What the project demonstrates is the difficulty that confronts developmental agencies who wish to extract themselves from the political realm. Albeit their good intentions, they can invariably be construed as a politically purposeful.

Bibliography Aga Khan Development Network (2007). About Us: His Highness the Aga Khan. Retrieved from http://www.akdn.org/about_agakhan.asp Aga Khan Foundation Canada (2010, May 31). Girls Education Support Program: Annual Report for GESP, April 1, 2009-March 31, 2010. Retrieved from https://portal.utoronto.ca/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=

%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fcontent%2FcontentWrapper.jsp%3Fattachment %3Dtrue%26navItem%3Dcontent%26content_id%3D_2187950_1%26course_id %3D_570893_1%26displayName%3Daga%2Bkhan.pdf%26href%3D%2F %2540%2540%2F795EA1CDDE6CA8268BBED8EFED6DA1A2%2Fcourses %2F1%2FFall-2010-IDSA01H3-F-LEC30%2Fcontent%2F_2187950_1%2Faga %252520khan.pdf BBC (July 13 2010). Watchdog warns Taliban talks may harm Afghan women. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10609767 Canadian International Development Agency ( September 2010). CIDAs Business Process Roadmap: Version 4.3. Retrieved from http://www.acdicida.gc.ca/INET/IMAGES.NSF/vLUImages/RoadMap %202010/$file/2010_RoadMap_Update_Program_Internet_Version_September1_2010_ English.pdf CIA World Factbook. (2010) Afghanistan: People: ethnic groups [Data file]. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/af.html Ryan, John (2001) Afghanistan: A Forgotten Chapter. Retrieved from http://wsarch.ucr.edu/wsnmail/2001/msg01806.html National Democratic Institute. (2010)[Map illustrating composition of major ethnic groups in Afghanistan 1964]. Afghanistan election data. Retrieved from http://afghanistanelectiondata.org/open/maps/tiles/afghanistan-ethnic-groups United States Army. (2003) [Map illustrating ethnolinguistic groups in Afghanistan 2001]. The United States Army in Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom. Retrieved from http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/Afghanistan/Operation%20Enduring %20Freedom.htm

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