In Afghanistan, widespread drought led to the displacement of more than 371,000 people in 2018 alone. Improving water management and irrigation is therefore a key priority for the government, with more than 19 billion AFS (US $247.3 million) allocated to the sector in the last three years. However, as CoST Afghanistan’s Second Assurance Report highlighted,
As 2020 draws to a close, we reflect on what has been a tumultuous year – but one in which we have also seen renewed calls for social justice and the desire to ‘’build back better’’ after the life-changing events of recent months. CoST teams globally have worked to hold governments to account as the
Engaging journalists on issues in infrastructure is a key part of the CoST approach: it increases accountability amongst decision makers, by ensuring the public are informed of the developments which impact them. Over the last few months, CoST programmes been working to engage the media on critical issues at a national and regional level. Afghanistan
CoST members continued to contribute to the Covid-19 response this week, as CoST Afghanistan brought together key stakeholders for a webinar to assess the country's newly built health infrastructure. Voices from civil society and the private sector were particularly vocal around a lack of transparency on Covid-19 projects, for which they claim key information is yet
CoST Afghanistan has brought together figures from the construction industry, along with civil society, academia and the government, for a webinar on the challenges of doing business with the government. The webinar drew on the experience of the construction industry to explore how procurement could improve more broadly, and how the main factors restricting competition
Today, CoST publishes a new impact story which explores how implementing the CoST approach in Afghanistan has contributed to a saving of AFN 646 million (US$8.3 million), through the creation of an independent, pre-contract oversight body called the Design Review Unit. The Unit responds to the significant challenges Afghanistan faces as it implements infrastructure projects
