This case study carefully documents the changes in land relations and land governance since the signing of the Bonn Agreement in December 2001. The decade began and ended with rhetoric against land grabbing. However, it now seems too entrenched, too tacitly supported politically, and too expedient for private wealth creation by elites, to be halted.

Dr Antonio Giustozzi’s newest paper, The Resilient Oligopoloy: A Political-Economy of Northern Afghanistan, 2001 and Onwards¸ explores the political and social dynamics of Northern Afghanistan. While much has been written on the region, little till date has focused on the political landscape of the provinces of Faryab, Jowzjan, Sar-I Pul, Balkh, and Samangan. Through extensive field research, including in-depth interviews with a wide range of actors and observers based in the region, The Resilient Oligopoly, attempts to fill this gap in research.

Andrew Reynolds and John Carey

Arguments and Options for Reform

Summary

Water Reform in Afghanistan: Facing the Implementation Gap

PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT

In 2009, Afghanistan’s Water Law formally introduced a series of “good” water governance concepts as part of a wider attempt to reform the country’s water sector. These included integrated water resource management, river basin management and participation in decentralised decision-making via Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs).

This case study is part of a larger project that explores women’s participation in different development programmes and projects in Afghanistan. The research specifically explores women’s participation in the National Solidarity Programme (NSP)'s Community Development Councils (CDCs) as well as non-government organisation (NGO)-initiated groups for microfinance under the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA). It examines the effects these forms of women’s participation are having on gender roles and relations within the family and the local community.

The establishment of a democratic system under Afghanistan’s 2004 constitution has without doubt led to an unprecedented expansion of political participation for its women. In the years that have followed, millions of women have turned out to vote in successive rounds of presidential, legislative and provincial elections. Thousands more have competed for positions in parliament and the provincial councils.

Ten years after the first Bonn conference attempted to lay the foundations for Afghanistan’s reconstruction, Afghan and international actors at Bonn II will meet to discuss the post-2014 handover of security responsibility to the Afghan government and the nature of the international community’s ongoing commitment to the country.

Opium Trends in Nangarhar and Helmand

This paper presents findings from an urban district of Kabul City and a rural community in Shakardara District. The research aims to deepen understanding of the impact of past and present war crimes and human rights violations on Afghan communities and of what community members want in terms of “justice,” “peace” and “reconciliation.”