Kick-Off Workshop on Good Urban Governance

On December 14, 2016, Govern4Afg conducted a kick-off workshop for the discussion and research process on Good Urban Governance in the AREU Library, Kabul. Govern4Afg aims to develop a concept for defining good cities, Nahias and Gozars. The workshop intended to introduce the thematic scope of the envisaged research and to present to and discuss the methodological approach with the participants. There were 20 representatives from IDLG, Kabul Municipality, UN-Habitat and GIZ who attended the workshop.

The Deputy Minister of Municipalities and Acting Director of Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), Abdul Baqi Popal attended the activity and highlighted the significance of the topic as a critical contribution for the success of the Citizen Charter Programme. Furthermore, he stressed the importance to involve citizens and to allow them voice out their views, as this would build trust between citizens and municipalities.

After brief introduction of the topic by Dr. Birte Brugmann, Prof Kammeier presented the international best practices of structuring urban areas with the objective to establish a functional hierarchy of local government units and sub-units. In the subsequent discussion, participants highlighted the major challenge: that is, to determine suitable sizes (area, population) for new Nahias and Gozars, which currently differ enormously from city to city. Finally, Zabihullah Issa outlined the way to move forward.

In the upcoming weeks, the experts will develop appropriate tools and methods for adjusting Nahia and Gozar boundaries, and allocating public facilities at these levels.