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Regional Afghan Municipalities

Program for Urban Populations

(RAMPUP) – South

Kandahar City Focus Groups Report

Contract Number: 306-C-00-10-00527-00

Regional Afghan

Municipalities Program for

Urban Populations (RAMPUP)

– South

Kandahar City Focus Groups Report

Contract Number: 306-C-00-10-00527-00

February 28, 2011

This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was

prepared by Chemonics International.

February 28, 2011

The author‘s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States

Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

CONTENTS

ACRONYMS .................................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................ 1

RAMP UP - SOUTH RESEARCH PROGRAM ......................................................................................... 1

The Kandahar City Focus Groups ................................................................................................................................................... 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 3

FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS ...................................................................................................................... 6

1.0 Positive Issues ............................................................................................................................................................................... 6

2.0 Negative Issues ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8

3.0 Municipal Governance.............................................................................................................................................................10

4.0 Street Leader > Sub-District Administrators ..................................................................................................................11

5.0 Getting City & Neighborhood News .................................................................................................................................15

6.0 Garbage Pick-Up........................................................................................................................................................................16

8.0 Drinking Water ...........................................................................................................................................................................19

10.0 Traffic Control .............................................................................................................................................................................23

11.0 Street Names & Numbers......................................................................................................................................................25

12.0 Economics - Jobs .......................................................................................................................................................................26

13.0 Job Training .................................................................................................................................................................................28

14.0 Markets & Prices........................................................................................................................................................................29

15.0 Municipal Finances ...................................................................................................................................................................30

16.0 Taxes & Revenue Generation ...............................................................................................................................................30

17.0 Corruption ....................................................................................................................................................................................32

18.0 Women‘s Issues..........................................................................................................................................................................33

19.0 A Women‘s Market ...................................................................................................................................................................35

20.0 Religious Community...............................................................................................................................................................37

APPENDIX 1 – ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY .................................................................................... 39

Comments from the Recruiters / Moderators about Focus Groups ..............................................................................39

APPENDIX 2 – FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS ....................................................................................... 40

APPENDIX 3 – RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................. 40

RAMPUP-South Kandahar City Focus Groups Report Page: 1 of 35

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The purpose of the Regional Afghan Municipalities Program for Urban Populations (RAMPUP) –

South is to create effective, responsive, democratic, transparent, accountable, and gender sensitive

municipal governance in targeted municipalities throughout the country. RAMPUP-South is

working to: (1) increase the capacity of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan‘s

(GIRoA) municipal officials; (2) improve the delivery of municipal services to citizens in target

municipalities; and (3) increase municipal capacity to enable, support, and sustain economic

growth. As a result of RAMPUP-South, Afghan citizens will receive better services, understand the

responsibilities of municipal leaders, play an active role in the municipal decision-making process,

and see local governance structures as legitimate. The main GIRoA counterpart for RAMPUP-South

is the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG). RAMPUP-South is supporting IDLG and

the relevant sub-national entities (i.e., mayors and municipal officials) to increase institutional

capacity to implement policy, provide resources that allow municipalities to deliver services, and

increase revenue. All RAMPUP-South activities support the GIRoA by building institutional capacity

and systems within the Afghan Government.

RAMP UP - SOUTH RESEARCH PROGRAM

RAMP UP - South has begun a series of focus groups and polls across the southern cities of

Afghanistan to get both quantifiable and qualifiable data on municipal issues. The focus group

results provide guidance in the drafting of knowledge, attitude, and perception research survey in

five southern cities, which further supports the work municipal agendas and proposals.

The research provides data points to apply to municipal project design, service improvements, and

income generation as well as strategic communications efforts targeted at specific populations.

Many of the survey questions that RAMP UP - South asks have not been included in previous

research; in many cases, the public response will help municipal leadership in their decision-

making.

Focus groups probe reactions to municipal proposals, assist in message creation, and provide an

external scorecard for the municipality. Without focus groups and polls, the municipal public

relations team would have to make their best guess in identifying priorities, gathering citizen input,

or creating materials for the media or citizens.Serving as an external scorecard for the

municipalities and the programs that support them, focus groups and surveys not only benchmark

local progress, but also give voice to citizen satisfaction of municipal services, level of access to

decision-makers, and priorities in local services.

The results of this public opinion research will be applied to program design and public relations.

They will be shared with mayors‘ relevant municipal staff and partners to ensure that the findings

can refine program design and to increase staff understanding of citizen viewpoints

The final reports will have results that are actionable across all municipal departments. The mayor,

municipal leaders, and appropriate staff will be briefed and assisted by program staff in

incorporating key findings into their work.

The Kandahar City Focus Groups

This series of focus groups was conducted by AIR Consulting, a polling and research firm with a

long history of research in Afghanistan, which was selected through a competitive bidding process.

These 15 focus groups were the first step for a process that will culminate in a benchmark survey

comprising a sample of 1,275 Kandahar City residents on local issues that was conducted in

January and February, 2011. The focus groups had 6-12 participants and ran for around two hours.

The 15 focus groups included:

· two teenage groups = 1 x male and 1 x female (age: 11 to 15);

· four young adult groups = 2 x male and 2 x female (age: 18 to 35);

· four elder groups = 2 x male and 2 x female (age: 35 plus);

· two religious groups including Mullahs and Islamic scholars; and

· three business groups = 1 x shopkeepers, 1 x small business owners and 1 x large

business owners.

For the focus group recruitment, a cross-section of average Kandahar citizens was requested. The

firm was asked to locate typical citizens who were not previously involved in jirgas or found

through government bodies.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Kandahar residents are thoughtful, politically astute, and community-minded when talking about

local issues and political concerns. The transcripts are an engaging conversation among citizens.

Residents care deeply about their living conditions and neighborhood welfare, and they look to

government and their community to continue to improve the city.

Woman, 29, Sub-District 1: ―If we people don’t come together, the city will not be

rehabilitated. When all the local leaders get together, the city will develop and if it

continues like this, hundreds of mayors and foreign organizations will not be able to

clean the city from wastes and disease so people must cooperate with the government”.

Male, 16, Sub-Sub-District 6: “Cleaning of the city is not only the job of municipality,

but it is the duty of every citizen to clean the city. If the municipality plants trees in

bazaars, the people must cooperate and irrigate these trees on time.”

Citizens voice expectations that things will continue to improve, but the government is not seen as

the only driver of improvement. Private citizens, organizations, and the business community are

also seen as having a role in the development and building of the city and neighborhoods.

Collective responsibility is assigned to most problems. For example, many participants said they

believe government must do their ―duty‖ for garbage pick-up and traffic control, but also state that

citizens also have a role in city life to keep their streets clean and to obey traffic laws.

The participants are generally optimistic, and despite setbacks and lack of services, participants

have not given up on their city. That said, there is a long list of problems citizens would like the

government to address, including: electricity, jobs, water, garbage pick-up, and traffic control.

When asked about positive efforts in the city, all group participants mention the overall level of

construction and road building. Government is seen as asphalting roads, expanding the city, and

building schools. Education, healthcare, and markets are included in this list to a lesser extent,

though education is the main focus of discussion among school-age participants.

Electrician, 37, Sub-District 9: “In the city works are in progress - roads are asphalted,

ditches are constructed. Before the roads and squares were blocked, but by asphalting of

the Gange roads, the streets became wider and now people can move freely.”

Much of the credit for constructing modern Kandahar is given to Gul Agha Sherzai, the former

Governor of Kandahar (2001-2003) who is mentioned in glowing terms in all groups except for

teenagers (11-15 year olds). Most often mentioned is Sherzai‘s construction in roads and buildings,

improvement of shrines and parks, and the changes to the overall character of the city.

Ulema Member, 45, Sub-District 9: ―We give the credit to Gul Agha Sherzai for all these

rehabilitations. He has built this city, worked hard in this city and there has been no one

else like him who has constructed anything in the city.”

Citizens also give credit to the ―government‖ for positive work in recent history. The government is

not specified by level, but the Mayor was given credit for citywide efforts to clean canals and

ditches using municipal workers. This is a popular program, and citizens want to see more workers

and expanded coverage to their neighborhoods.

The most important leaders in the life of the city are the informally appointed street leaders or

elders who mediate neighborhood disputes. If they cannot solve problems, they approach the

Sub-Sub-District Administrator himself or with a delegation to fix the problem.

Sub-Sub-District Administrators are the most important municipal face for citizens. The

Administrators have mixed results with regard to getting the work done, but are generally the first

and only stop for citizens. (Participants have generally not met the Mayor, but have heard his

announcements in the media and newspapers.)

The most difficult aspect of living in the city is the lack of electricity. This is the top-of-mind

response (it was ranked higher priority than security) for all focus group participants when asked

about problems and priorities. Citizens understand that electricity has ―downstream‖ impacts in

water collection (from electric pumps), pollution (from generators) and investment/job creation

(attracting factories and businesses to the city).

Shopkeeper, 40, Sub-District 3: “Everything depends on electricity. Currently, the

factories at the industrial parks have been stopped. We see that factories have been

shifted to Herat and Kunduz where there is proper electricity. We have been frequently

hearing that business people say that there is no electricity.”

Unexpectedly, traffic control is widely viewed as a serious problem in the city. People express

anger that traffic is out of control and dangerous, and citizens are frustrated that no government or

police agency appears to be doing anything about traffic enforcement. People are particularly

angry about child drivers, fast or irresponsible drivers, unregistered cars without plate numbers,

narrow streets, and sharing roads with oversized trucks and military vehicles. There is consensus

that traffic problems can be solved with a combination of traffic control signs, traffic police

enforcement, and public education about the rules of the road.

Participants say they are swimming in garbage and want bins and regular household pick-up. They

blame both the city for not doing its job, and their fellow citizens for not disposing of garbage in

the designated neighborhood places like informally dedicated places including: canals, abandoned

properties, and street corners. Garbage pick-up is the number one reason citizens say they would

pay (or not pay) taxes.

Citizens want regular water to their homes. Most consider potable water important, but water was

not ranked at the same level of priority that electricity or the anger of the traffic control

conversations. Many citizens have proven extremely resourceful in getting water from wells and

have devised solutions if their current source or system of water collection fails.

Participant views on water treatment can be broken down into the following categories:

a) Those who do not trust their water source, and treat their drinking water with chlorine,

filter pots or by boiling.

b) Those who trust science and rely on the depth of their well or have a water sample

tested at the Department of Public Health.

c) Those who trust others to tell them water is safe and rely on their Mullahs, elders, and

family members.

d) Those who trust their own senses based on the water‘s appearance, smell, and taste

Among citizens, municipal economic development is defined as building markets and factories to

provide jobs. Some citizens suggest the city should open a factory, but others attribute the loss of

factories to the lack of electricity and suggest this is the first step to attracting factories.

Woman, 36, Sub-District 5: “I want from the government to build factories and there

should be factories of everything in our country. I hope our sons do not become

unemployed anymore and you should create them working opportunities so they cannot

turn to addictions.”

Business leaders said the marketplace is missing employees or contractors to provide refrigerator

repair, electric well repair and engineering. Citizen participants mentioned the need for trained

healthcare workers, teachers, and repairmen as missing in the city.

Corruption was not discussed in citizen groups as it is a sensitive topic, but was mentioned

throughout the conversation with the business and religious communities. Although corruption

allegations are not directed at the Mayor, there is concern about corruption among municipal

officials who accept bribes in lieu of taxes or who expedite services or paperwork. Government

contractors who have inside connections with powerful government officials are also described in

negative terms. Many small business owners offered examples of paying off tax collectors or

evading door-to-door collection in the business Sub-District.

Conservative men and the religious community generally offer support for women working outside

the home under specific conditions which include: wearing a hijab, employment in women-

centered professions, jobs in women-only locations, and employment for economic necessity.

Female participants say they are more comfortable in women-only venues. There is excitement

about an enclosed women‘s market where women can buy and sell goods in freedom and privacy,

and also have access to other services.

FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS

1.0 Positive Issues

All groups mentioned the construction boom and paved roads that were previously not asphalted

as the biggest positive change in Kandahar City. General reconstruction, ditches, schools, and

general cleanliness were all mentioned as positive changes in the city.

Y Axis is average number of times an individual takes turn and mentions a theme in the groups. If the same individuals

in the same turn mentioned a theme like ―road building‖ three times, it has been counted as one mention. This method

is used only to determine the consensus amongst groups over priorities and issues of concern.

Ulema Council, 45, Sub-District 9: “There are many kinds of changes; there are religious

changes, political changes and country related changes. The city has changed positively;

in the past, we only had some ditches, but now our roads are asphalted, streets are

asphalted and there have been many other constructions. It has benefited much even 10

times.”

When the participants were asked who gets credit in the city for the positive changes, large

number (51) participants gave credit to former Governor Gul Agha Sherzai (2001-2003) while the

general category of the government received 26 mentions. It is important to note that 12

mentions of the government came from one focus group of religious leaders. Technically, it could

be considered an outlier; if accounted for, government would then go to the third position and

international community to the second.

Identify Positives Things in the City (+)

Y Axis is average number of times an individual takes turn and mentions a theme in the groups . Men give more credit

to the general government, and women are more likely to mention the NGO and international community. Women

and younger people specify the Mayor and the President for positive changes more than the other groups.

Woman, 28, Sub-District 2: “The government has done all these works and the projects

of foreign organizations have also been implemented.”

Citizens learn about positive improvements in the city primarily through media, which includes

television, radio and to a lesser extent, newspapers. For neighborhood issues, participants state

that they tend to rely on local neighborhood leaders to learn what is happening in their area.

Citizens also said that they ―use their own eyes‖ to confirm what the government and media say is

happening in the city by going by the project or examining the photos in the media.

2.0 Negative Issues

Electricity remains the biggest priority for citizens as it impacts their family‘s ability to get water

from their electric wells, perform their jobs, and wash or iron clothes. The most common complaint

is that the electricity was only on a few hours each night or in the middle of the night. Participants

give the lack of electricity as a reason for factories and businesses relocating elsewhere or not

wanting to open in Kandahar. A few groups put the blame on the Taliban for their sabotage of

electricity lines, but government is also blamed for not doing enough to provide this service.

Who's Responsible for Positive Developments?

Average

Y Axis is average number of times an individual takes turn and mentions a theme in the groups.

Ulema Member, 50, Sub-District 1: “Electricity is important because all the poor, rich,

laborers and Khans need it for their works. If there is no electricity, the laborers cannot

work, the tailor cannot sew, and the mosque is dark. We have such a big dam of Kajaki

which can supply electricity even to Pakistan, so they must build it.”

Unemployment is an issue, but only the women participants talked about their families and

neighbors struggle with poverty. Male participants and other looked for day-jobs of work as well

as full time employment, but were removed when talking about not having a job and the concerns

families faced.

Woman, 38, Sub-District 10: “My son is unemployed, my husband is unemployed, we

cannot make a living, so how can we solve our problems? I demand from the government

that we are illiterate and uneducated so they should create working opportunities for us. I

swear by Allah we did not have anything to eat last night; my son is unemployed, he was

crying and was sitting at home like a woman.”

Traffic, water and other issues also come up as negative issues in the city. Complaints about

education, the judiciary, and healthcare focus more on the quality of the services rather than the

quantity. Similarly, the skill level of doctors, teachers, and police/judges is an issue for participants,

rather than the physical facilities.

When it comes to who is held responsible for the problems in the city, participants list in the order

of prominence: the government, their fellow citizens, and the Taliban, as well as illiteracy/ignorance.

Participants tend not to differentiate between national and local levels of government on both

positive and negative issues, participants mention ―the government‖ defined as a general entity

rather than focusing specifically on the local, provincial, or national government. It is also important

Identify Negative Issues in the City (-)

Averages

to note that Kandahar citizens also blame each other for negative aspects of life in the city. They

even compared themselves with people of Herat province and said ―the reason there is more

development and increased standard of life in Herat is because people are more responsible in that

province than us‖

Most complaints about the government focus on lack of service delivery or low quality of services

that are delivered. Participants also point out that many projects begun by the government are

never completed.

Women, 17, Sub-District 5: “Another problem is when implementation of a project in a

particular area begins by the government, it stops in the middle. For example they fixed

electricity pillars in our area, but they didn’t installed the street lamps and later on they

came and took the pillars too so they destroyed the half of their work. This creates

problem in the city and people do not believe on them.”

3.0 Municipal Governance

The larger Government is identified as providing both positive change in the city and responsible

for negative problems like electricity, unemployment, water, and traffic. In talking about the

municipality, the citizens mention the most visible municipal projects - road construction and the

street cleaning crews who are popular and supported by citizens.

Woman, 28, Sub-District 1: “Yes, they (the municipality) do care for us. When they build

or clean a ditch, we cooperate with the municipality workers and bring tea or food for

them.”

Who's Responsible for Negative Developments?

Average

When asked where their tax or municipal money is spent, participants indicated uncertainty by

using tentative language and most often mentioned municipal workers, cleaning crews and

construction. The municipality does get credit for sending garbage collection crews to clean up

the town. This is popular among citizens, and they want more of it.

When citizens were asked what qualities they expected from local leaders, they defined a local

leader as someone who: provides services to the community, solves problems, offers equal

treatment to the rich and the poor, and holds religious and education credentials. When street or

neighborhood elders were being discussed later in the focus group, many of these adjectives were

applied to describe their local street leaders and not the municipal government.

4.0 Street Leader > Sub-District Administrators

Citizens seem self-sufficient and solve problems in their neighborhood without reliance on the

government much of the time. There is an informal street leadership that provides problem-

solving and conflict resolution at the neighborhood level. Street leaders or neighborhood elders

have a lot of credibility with the citizens and are the first stop to address neighborhood concerns.

Shopkeeper, 25, Sub-District 7: ―For example, there are 20 or 50 houses in one street;

they have elected someone as their leader [elder]. We also have our own leader [street

chief]. Whenever someone is disturbed by a family, then s/he refers to the street chief. He

then resolves the problem, so this way we have our own village chief/elder.”

Sometimes referred to as the street chief, the village chief or elder, this seems to be the most

essential person in each neighborhood as they are the neighborhood decision-makers and judges

for local disputes. Citizens select street leaders informally; their age, reputation, status, history in

solving problems, along with religious and social standing are all important factors.

Woman, 35, Sub-District 3: “The street representative cares much for us, and he helps us

when we face any problems.”

Carpenter, 50, Sub-District 9: “We share the problems with the municipality; we ask the

chief of the area to solve our problems, and if he couldn’t, we then go to the

municipality.”

When they cannot handle a problem, the street leaders will go individually or with a delegation to

see the Sub-District Administrator‘s office. The Sub-District Administrator are municipal leaders

who have offices in the ten districts and report and are accountable to the Mayor. In some cases

the Sub-District Administrator has additional responsibility or positions in the municipal

government, for example, the Kandahar Revenue Director is also a Sub-District Administrator.

People do not mention meeting, seeing or visiting the Mayor in the same way as their Sub-District

Administrators.

Male, 16, Sub-District 1: “If we contact, we write a petition to the municipality at first and

take it to the municipality to solve our problem. But we have not made any contacts with him

[the Mayor] until now.”

Some participants believed street leaders do not have impact on city-wide decision-making, but

can complain to Sub-District Administrations to get some attention and action on their street

issues.

Some participants believe that the rich and powerful have more access to government. However,

enough of the participants in the focus groups sent a petition or a delegation to their Sub-District

Administrator—sometimes the Mayor—that the desire for an effective, responsive municipality is

quite clearly still present. It is also important to notice the higher frequency of ―no‖ mentioned as

it could be considered as a quasi measure of distance between municipality and the citizens.

Sub-District Administrators are regarded favorably by the business community as being attentive

to their needs. Private Citizens describe Sub-District Administrators as sometimes being able to

solve problems. Women‘s focus groups mentioned that citizens who were family members of the

officials or had money had more chance of getting assistance from municipal offices.

Woman, 51, Sub-District 1: “They aid mostly the poor who are their relatives and friends

and don’t care for others.‖

Contact with the Municipality

Average

Sub-District Administrators are the first stop for street and local leaders to solve problems. The

track record is mixed about whether results are delivered, but the comments from citizens show a

level of interaction with their Sub-District Administrators that is not seen at the mayoral level.

Typically, if there is a problem, neighbors will meet informally and send a representative or their

Street leader to the Sub-District Administrator to complain and ask for a solution.

Woman, 18, Sub-District 4: “All the Sub-District offices are not the same. There are

some Sub-District offices which pay much attention to their people, but they are all not

the same.”

Throughout the groups, participants mentioned local success stories where the citizens requested

something of the municipality and the municipality solved their problem.

Male, 20, Sub-District 6: “The gutters located in the streets make a big problem. Some of

the canals passed through the houses. Last year, due to heavy raining most of the water

overlapped them and threatened us much. Therefore, elders asked the municipality to

close these gutters. They closed the gutters and cemented the street.”

Male, 23, Sub-District 1: "There was a pile of dirt in front of our house so when our

representative along with the elders went to the municipality, the municipality staff came

and carried all the dirt. It resulted well.”

Have not contacted yet Good results No results

Reaction to Contacting the Municipality

Average

The business community has a more detailed view of the city programs, services, and government

performance. Business groups also give themselves credit for building the city, a contribution

acknowledged by some of the participants in the citizen groups.

Shopkeeper, 25, Sub-District 7: “I say that the good name for all these works is given to

the business people, because they have also helped to improve the city. They have

reconstructed many squares and roundabouts (Chawks) and have done other similar

work.”

Recommendations

· More attention needs to be given to Sub-District Offices since this is the first stop for

neighborhood leaders and citizens.

· Elders or street leaders who visit these representatives usually represent the whole street and

are important to identify for outreach programs. They could also be more organized to help

the city build close working relationship with citizens of Kandahar.

· Media campaigns should be supported by outreach to street leaders/elders who are also a

multiplier. Activities in neighborhoods should identify these street leaders first to thoroughly

brief them on details of proposals so they can spread the ―accurate‖ word. It is also

important to note that excessive attention on these street leaders will make them a target for

political actors including some religious leaders who believe public outreach is their job.

Yes No Don't know

District Manager Cares about You

Average

5.0 Getting City & Neighborhood News

TV and radio news programming are popular means for many citizens to obtain local news about

the city. Newspapers were also mentioned although their circulation and reach is certainly less than

television or radio. Photography and people‘s ―own eyes‖ are considered important ways for local

people to ensure that the work is done.

Shopkeeper, 19, Sub-District 9: “I have heard from the Mayor through TV that ’we have

done this work or that work’ and show some photographs, and then we know how much

work is done by municipality.”

Shopkeeper, 18, Sub-District 4: “We get information about how much work they have

done from the news, then we see it when we go to bazaar and check whether the work is

really done or not.”

Neighborhood news comes from trusted neighborhood elders, Imams and Mullahs and from other

neighbors.

Male 35, Sub-District 1: “The village elder gives us information about issues; mostly it is

done in mosques.”

Male, 20, Sub-District 5: “In our mosque, the Mullah talks and informs us about a

particular plan or work, so we get information this way.”

Recommendations

· The government as a general entity is given credit, but the municipality needs to show itself

as an independent government institution, so citizens understand its role for delivery of local

concerns.

· The Mayor needs to be seen as someone who delivers. There is not enough attention to

what he has done and the media is a good place for citizens to learn about this. Public

outreach efforts should make it clear that many municipal programs are driven by the Mayor

and municipality.

· Since citizens learn about citywide initiatives through the media, audio, video and print

releases from the municipality should be given a higher priority.

· Media is important and the municipality needs to feed them information on a more regular

basis. Visual media is useful to validate that the story is real or that the infrastructure exists.

· Mullahs and Mosque-based communications are an important news and information source

for the community that can compliment media.

6.0 Garbage Pick-Up

The vast majority of focus group participants are upset with the amount of garbage in their

neighborhoods and in the city as a whole. Residents cite the impact of garbage on children‘s

health, increased mosquitoes, and smell as important reasons to keep garbage off the streets and

out of canals. Garbage disputes were mentioned in the groups as being a source of neighborhood

strife.

Shopkeeper, 35, Sub-District 1: “I tell you that we have seen people fight over garbage. I

tell you that hands and legs were broken over garbage. One neighbor has stood up and

clashed with another, understand.”

All participants and in particular, women and the religious community, were concerned about the

health of children picking through garbage, playing in polluted canals and in garbage piles.

There is consensus across all groups that garbage is a solvable problem if the municipality can

provide garbage bins and regular pick-up. Among those who have bins, municipal pick-up is

erratic, so there is some mixed feeling about the ability of the municipality to deliver. When asked

about where they put their garbage, most citizens put their garbage in a designated neighborhood

location such as a street corner.

The vast majority of people dump their garbage in a public place that is designated among

neighbors and this seems to be the city-wide practice. People clean their house or business, pack

up their garbage, take it outside (or give it to a child to do so), and seeing that there is no

appropriate place, dump it on a street pile or in a ditch.

Among shopkeepers it is a common practice inside the city to throw garbage in the ditches rather

than a designated place. It was their concern that they cannot walk long distance from their shop

to throw garbage since they cannot leave their shops unattended. The average distance between

bins may need to be closer in the business area than residential area.

The informally designated neighborhood dump site is a place that everyone has access to, like a

street corner, canal ditch or abandoned house or property. Citizens are troubled by disposing of

their garbage in these locations, and blame the municipality for not providing bins and taking it

away. Citizens feel that the municipality is not devoting enough resources or attention to garbage

pick-up programs.

Electrician, 37 from Sub-District 5: “I also think that mayor is guilty, for example the

mayor has hired fifty persons to clean the city, I say he must hire four and five hundred

persons and have three hundred of them to make trash bins. As he says that he has ten

cars, I tell him that you must buy fifty cars; you don’t pay them from your pocket, it is

paid from the governmental budget. The garbage they can only carry them once a week

will be carried once a day then; the city will be cleaned and the people will also be

engaged in work..”

Citizens also blame their fellow Kandahar residents who are careless when they dispose of their

garbage in the right way. Participants see using citizens to advise neighbors and policing them is

seen as the solution to this problem.

Baker, 39, Sub-District 8: ―We also do not have garbage bins near to us. There is a

stream in front of us and we throw them under a wall near to it, but some of the people

have the kids carry them and they are reckless, so they make the roads dirty and throw

them in the stream. The stream is very ruined, and mosquitoes surround this place in the

summer and it creates a big problem for us then.”

A few people use the example of Aino Mino neighborhood and Herat as places to emulate the

garbage household pick- up and clean streets. Youth and business leaders talked about planting

trees in addition to garbage pickup as an overall ―clean streets‖ program.

Participants say they are willing to pay for the pick-up service, particularly through taxes. Stated

amounts vary from 100-400 Afs for the month. Many remained silent during this conversation or

discussed poor neighbors, which is usually a signal that the participant would not or could not pay

for this. Examples were given of neighbors who would not be able to afford pick-up.

Woman’s Conversation:

“It is a good idea that people pay ten Afghanis each and throw their garbage away by a

worker they hire and then, they all will be united and the area will also be clean.”

“If anyone does not have ten Afghanis, what will he do then? There are unemployed

people who even cannot earn five Afghanis per day. The municipality must carry away

the garbage of people who are poor. There is no village where all the people are poor and

surely some rich may also live there.”

Free bins were mentioned as a critical success factor in getting the garbage removed. However,

learning from previous distribution of garbage bins is important. Providing bins without pick-up

means citizens will burn the garbage in the bins.

Shopkeeper, 40, Sub-District 3: “Those garbage bins were damaged, were made from

low quality [metal] sheet. People burn garbage inside it, so we can call it [metal] sheet.

Come, our city has a good environment as they [people] burn garbage inside the city.”

7.0 Citizen Support for Clean-Up

Religious leaders say they are angry about the garbage and want to take a role in garbage removal

and promoting cleanliness as it is a tenet of Islam. They describe their feelings as annoyed, angry

and anxious about the garbage—particularly for the health of children playing in it.

Ulema Member, 27, Sub-District 2: “With your permission, I expressed all my words in

the sermon of the Juma (Friday prayer); when you throw this garbage on the streets, don’t

you think that elders may pass from here, kids may pass from here, and I told them this

action is annoying, but no one cares about it. I told to one of them that you must inform

that person not to throw the garbage in the street so he knocked the door and asked that

guy to throw the garbage in a proper place. I mean saying is easy, writing is easy, but

practicing is not. So when I see this garbage around, I really hate it. “

When talking to their fellow citizens about garbage and dumping issues in their neighborhood, the

citizens feel they needed to intervene and provide direction, and show where the garbage should

be placed. If the neighbor does not follow instructions, the family leader will be contacted by the

neighbor, and if that does not work, the street leader would be approached as the last resort to talk

to the family.

Ulema Member, 35, Sub-District 5: “At first, it can’t be understood who did so, and if it is

understood, I will get him out of his house and will tell him; you have done this, and you

shall not do it again, and if he repeats doing so, we will let the God do whatsoever he

decides about them.”

Garbage collection discussion also led to conversations about tree planting in the city and the air

quality. Many of the younger participants think that the garbage clean up is an opportunity to

plant trees and beautify their surroundings. Still others discussed the overall air quality and the

impact that dust has on the cleanliness of the city and how there needed to be less burning and

ways to keep the dust down.

Recommendations

• There is no mystery about garbage collection; citizens want bins for their household garbage

and regular garbage pick-up.

• Garbage removal is regarded as a solvable problem and regular pick up is seen as the most

important reason to pay taxes. Garbage pick-up should come before tax collection to

demonstrate a clear link between fees and services. (The demands for garbage collection

might have some negative correlation with family income which might be found in the survey

data).

• City garbage collection needs to be coupled with a television and radio campaign about how

citizens should do their part in keeping the city clean (and also give credit to the municipality

for a pick-up program that is popular).

• Mullahs can be contacted when the campaign begins to publicize using the bins and

respecting neighbors and neighborhoods. They should be the first to receive bins so they

can demonstrate good garbage disposal practices in the neighborhood.

8.0 Drinking Water

There is no consensus among citizens about what method should be used to determine water is

safe for drinking. Citizens cite the following when asked how they know water is safe to drink:

appearance, faith in God, smell, water testing, putting in pots, chlorine, drill depth of the well,

movement of water, boiling, and the trust in Mullah, wives, neighbors or elders. However, ―putting

it in pots (Khoza)‖was more frequently mentioned than other methods

Citizens want access to water in their homes, but have become very resourceful in drilling wells and

have devised back-up options should their systems fail. Most citizens consider access to potable

water important, but water does not have the priority of electricity supply, nor does it generate the

strong feelings associated with traffic control.

Electrician, 37, Sub-District 5: ―We have drilled and have bored in the ground and were

filling the tankers with them in the past. But now as we face electricity problems so we

get water sometimes from the mosques or pumps on the roads. When we come home

late night, we faced such problem so we then installed handy pumps.‖

Many participants use well water either from their own well or one shared with a neighbor. In

contrast to garbage issues, which appear to drive neighborhood conflict, the need for water

appears to generate cooperation. (Most probably due to the fact that garbage produces negative

externalities while water collection produces positive externalities).

Male, 17, Sub-District 1: “Our neighbor has an [ordinary] well in their house and we

have drilled a well in our house, so when we do not have water, we get water from our

neighbor.”

Mosques are also a water source for citizens when their own system collapses.

Ulema Member, 45, Sub-District 1: “Some days ago, the electricity was cut for some

days, so the people fought on hand pumps in the mosques in order to get water for them.

And the children stood until midnight in queue because they did not have drinking water

in their houses.”

9.0 Water Treatment

Some participants understand water treatment methods, but others rely on those they trust like

older family members to tell them if the water is safe to drink. Consistent water treatment is also

mentioned when participants talk about local issues. Water is boiled only when there is electricity.

Water is treated only when it does not look clear or is regarded as ‗old‘ when it remains in tankers.

Citizens can be broken down into four groups:

i) Those who have faith in water treatment methods and use chlorine, filtering pots (Khoza) or

boiling regardless of their perceptions of the water.

ii) Those who trust in scientific information and rely on the depth of the well or take samples to

the Department of Water for testing.

iii) Those who trust others to tell them the water is safe, and these trusted sources include

Mullah, elders or wives.

iv) Those who trust the look, smell, and taste to determine if water is safe.

These last two groups who trust family or themselves should raise the concerns of public health

professionals. The circle of trust that works well for societal support systems, works against water

treatment in the public health sector. Citizens rely on religious leaders and male elders to tell them

water is safe. But when asked in groups, these men were not knowledgeable about water treatment

and relied on those who serve them drinks like their wives. In turn, the women in the groups were

not knowledgeable or consistent about water treatment and relied on the elders and religious

community to tell them the water was clean.

Among those who do treat their water, these are the most common methods of treatment as

expressed by specific questions about treatment and storage.

It is important to mention that people referred to Khoza as filtering jug, and believed that Khoza (a

pot made of clay) has the capability of absorbing particles and bacteria in the water, which may or

may not be true. This is a very popular belief amongst most Afghan people across the country. .

Debate among young men in one of the groups:

· “I believe in Doctor, if my doctor says to use chlorine in water, so I do it.”

· “I tell you that when the doctor tells you to drink this kind of water, but if you go to a desert,

there is no doctor then the scholar tells you what to do. So we believe in our Mullah.”

· “We believe in our Scholars [Mullahs], if they say this water is healthy we believe in them.”

· “No, we should hear to what the doctor says, because he knows about hygiene, so we believe in

Doctors.”

· ”To tell you the truth, I just believe in my family members and no one else.”

· “When we are thirsty, so we don't care about the people; we drink whatever we get.”

Those focus group participants, who were asked about the city‘s proposal to distribute water in

jugs to citizens, were doubtful the city could handle a water distribution program because of lack

of municipal capacity. This reflects some skepticism about the ability of the municipality to

implement programs.

Shopkeeper, 40, Sub-District 3: “Every year, there is planting in the city, but the

municipality is not able to irrigate them on time. If they could irrigate them on time, they

wouldn’t have dried, so how they can provide water to humans. “

Shopkeeper, 40, Sub-District 3: “No, it is not possible. If the municipality was supposed

to work, then they would have cleaned the city, then how could the Mayor bring us

Filter Jug Don't know Boiling Chlorine Tanker Barrel Sunshine

Water Treatment Methods

Average

potable water? Presently, the people who live on Mercha hill/mountain face a lot of

problem because of water. How [the municipality] can take water to that place? They

might be able to do it only if a foreign organization assist them, then it will be a little

possible.”

Some participants want pipes laid at their house rather than getting drinking water in jugs. The

assumption of those who want a tap in their home is that it would be safe to drink from the tap

without treatment.

Woman, 50, Sub-District 6: ―Tap water is filtered, clean and it is so beneficial.”

Many citizens seemed resigned to continue with their wells or their systems of cleaning with

chlorine, boiling or filtering and may not necessarily buy or want water from the municipality for

any price.

Man, 15, Sub-District 5: “We use the water from taps and drilled wells which are always

clean.”

Timing is an issue for getting water through a delivery service. People were uncertain whether they

would get water when they needed it if the truck is moving and distributing water throughout the

city. For this reason, people prefer taps.

Woman, 36, Sub-District 3: “People drink one month old water when there is no electricity

and it smells so bad. If there are taps, the water will come without electricity and there won’t

be any sickness and pains. From one side, there is poverty and from the other side there is

sickness so we will be dead by the time we get taps.”

Recommendations

· A health campaign education effort should be targeted to those who do not use any water

treatment methods who may or may not be drinking clean water. A doctor should be

spokesperson for a public health campaign as they are regarded as trusted messengers and

have more information than Mullahs or elders. A component of the campaign should be to

reach out to Mullahs and elders to inform those who are most trusted by others.

· Consistency with water treatment was an issue for citizens, so any campaign needs to address

that treatment is ―always required‖ if the source of water is not tested as safe. Treatment also

needs to address that bacteria and heavy metals are not necessarily seen, tasted or smelled

to be present.

· There are some outstanding issues regarding distribution of clean drinking water jugs that

will be asked in the poll to determine what if any target groups identify this as a priority.

· Numerous participants mentioned that the Water Department can conduct testing for

citizens to determine if their water was safe to drink. This service should be expanded and

publicized. Chlorine and Ewer pot distribution should also be considered.

· When household lines are laid, citizens need to be aware that tap water may or may not be

safe to drink without treatment and this should be a component of the campaign.

10.0 Traffic Control

Citizens feel that city traffic is out of control and nothing is being done about it. There is real anger

surrounding this problem and it ranks at the top of the list when citizens are asked about what is

negative about the city. Focus group participants believe citizens will take justice into their own

hands if the issue is not addressed.

Woman, 38, Sub-District 10: “Our drivers drive their cars fast. Some days ago, a driver

crashed into a boy with a car, and then ran away while he left the boy bleeding. Most of

our drivers are reckless and they don’t have driving licenses as well.”

Among all groups, anger is directed at people without driver‘s licenses / driving knowledge. This

group is primarily identified as child drivers who pay for their license (5,000 Afs to middlemen

according to one participant), but do not know the rules and drive recklessly. People refer to

children of 12 to 14 years old driving cars. People without car license plates are also seen as

dangerous drivers.

Male, 19, Sub-District 6: ―On one hand, there are many cars on the roads and have

made just the traffic so crowded and on the other hand the city has more unlicensed

drivers comparing to the license holders; also, some of them drive the car by one hand

and they speak on the telephone. This shows how reckless they are.‖

Police are part of the enforcement problem and also a problem when dealing with accidents.

Frustration is also based on eyewitness accounts of accidents that leave people injured or dead

where law enforcement is seen to do nothing. According to the participants, there is an accident

and perpetrator drives away or bribes the police to be let go. Local police are also seen as reckless

drivers in their own right.

Shopkeeper, 35, Sub-District 1: ―I tell you, the policemen created a lot of disturbance

for people. I tell you, they drive too fast and people have problem with them. I tell you,

they unnecessarily press their horns which causes disturbance for hospital patients.‖

There is fear among passengers, cyclists and walkers. One shopkeeper had seen several accidents

on the day he attended the focus groups. In many of the conversations, participants, particularly

women, recalled accidents they had seen in detail.

There are also complaints that roads are too narrow and that roads are frequently blocked. This is

a particular concern because people feel that their walking space has narrowed and that they are

out on the road competing with cars. In one focus group of young men, there was equal and

unanimous concern for both driving and walking.

Boy, 13, Sub-District 1: ―I feel frightened while I am on foot or I am in the car. While I

am in the car, I am fearful that our car will have an accident, in which we will be injured

or we will die. While I am walking, I feel that a car will crash into me or a bike would hit

me.”

Some anger is directed at the international military for blocking the road, particularly among the

Mullahs, but overwhelming anger was directed at local drivers.

Woman, 18, Sub-District 9: "There are many accidents everyday and they really hurt

people and if we look at the many bomb blasts in Kandahar and also the many traffic

accidents and compare them; they are both equal. There are many traffic accidents in

Kandahar and there are many causes for them. The first one is that they don’t have

driving licenses and they look to the side when they drive the car; also, the roads are too

narrow and the cars crash when one car passes another.

Additional concerns include beggars on the road, closed roads, large vehicles loading and

unloading, narrow areas, shopkeepers expanding store displays to the road putting pedestrians on

the street.

When asked about traffic control mechanisms, participants most often mention roundabout lights

and traffic control signs, with an active police presence. People believe traffic signs will help if

coupled with traffic enforcement. Citizens also said they thought education about traffic signs

would also help.

Male, 20, Sub-District 4: ―When they want to install the traffic lights, they must start

teaching the traffic lights rules to all the new ones who want to take license I mean they

must be shown when a light becomes red it means to stop or move the car and when it

becomes green etc, so it will bring rule of law.‖

Baker, 39, Sub-District 8: “Lights are so important. We all will get used to them and we

will know which track we should follow. A traffic police must stand near to it, and if

anyone passes it illegally, he must fine them. Many of us do not understand things easily,

but if they are fined, they will learn everything quickly and will not repeat the same

mistakes anymore. “

In addition to the safety questions, citizens are annoyed there are traffic jams and concern about

the lack of productivity staying in the car and being delayed for work. This issue seems to be new

and is taking the residents by surprise.

Ulema Member, 50, Sub-District 3: ‖ People get stuck in the traffic for hours and they

are delayed to their work; some goes to their offices, others go to their work and their

time is wasted for nothing.”

Recommendations

• Traffic and traffic control is a priority issue that people are angry about. These findings

should be shared with the Mayor and other government agencies as a priority that can be

fixed with signs, enforcement and public education.

• An increase in traffic signs needs to be coupled with a public education targeting younger

and new drivers.

• A crackdown on those who illegally sell driver‘s licenses should be considered. Those who

drive erratically should be issued tickets and have their paperwork checked.

• Internationals closing roads should consider temporary signs in Pashto stating that the road

is being closed for the public‘s safety. It was implied in some groups that the internationals

were closing streets for no purpose; temporary signage might help eliminate community

animosity.

• Roads widening and enforcement of sidewalk and public spaces should be a goal of

municipal officials.

11.0 Street Names & Numbers

Street names and numbers have popular support although it is not seen as an urgent priority like

electricity or traffic control. Historic names of important figures like mujahedeen defenders are

mentioned as a priority for major streets. There was also consensus if a historic or common name

existed already, it should continue to be used.

Male, 18, Sub-District 4 “Giving name to the avenues has many benefits; first the people

will be able to find address of their houses or shops easily and there will be no problem.

Also, the names of the people who served our country will remain alive.”

Citizens believe that common names should be used and that neighborhoods should have the

right to decide their own name. There was broad consensus that this should be done

democratically through a neighborhood meeting rather than having the name designated by the

municipality. Some participants mentioned the AWCC signboards, the telecommunications

departments, which were put around the city, were incorrect and the citizens changed them back.

Male, 20, Sub-District 4: “As my friends have mentioned, they must choose proper and

easy names for the roads and street. You saw yourself that roads were named and boards

were installed here, but as they were not good and easy names, so the people painted the

boards back. “

Some issues were mentioned about illiterate people, but participants stated that illiterate people

will ask and others will help them with directions. Some participants also mentioned that choosing

names can easily trigger all sort of tribal and language choice issues.

Recommendations

· Local place and street names are something citizens want to decide in their neighborhood.

Existing street names can be given signs first, and major downtown streets can be given

heroes‘ names. This process can be driven by the city through organization of neighborhood

meetings with a priority for the largest streets first.

· This could become part of the RAMP UP –South GIS, Land Registry and traffic signage

program. Existing names will be identified and then the city can focus on the streets with no

names for neighborhood meetings or consultations.

12.0 Economics - Jobs

Unemployment came up as a major concern along with electricity and traffic, but unlike those

issues, the focus groups provide little direction for the way forward. All age groups are particularly

concerned about unemployed youth. Children working and not going to school are seen as a

problem.

Education is seen as a way to provide opportunities and be a good citizen and participants were

worried about more illiterate/uneducated children working instead of attending schools. Parents

who let their children work are seen as a problem. Female participants were particularly vocal about

parental responsibilities to educate children.

Woman, 19, Sub-District 5: ―Boys do not go to schools. Small boys collect damaged

things in the city and they take them to their houses, but they do not go to schools. Their

parents also don’t care for them and they don’t send them to schools in order to learn

something and the boys just walk on the streets and do nothing. They have their futures

and they must go to schools, but no one cares for them and it is all because of illiteracy.‖

The role of the city in economic development is not clear to citizens. Most suggest creating jobs

through factories or providing more markets so there can be more employment through trade and

selling.

Woman, 25, Sub-District 2: “My husband stands in the Chowk to find a work for himself

and I help him by working here. If I find a work in municipality, I will surely do it because

my husband finds a work one day in a week and I pick up the family burden mostly.”

Some believe that the municipality should open up factories as a way to employ people—this is

seen as a solution among many of the women and the younger groups. Kandahar citizens have

made the connection that electricity is a major deterrent to having the factories move to the city as

they have now seen factories choose to locate in places with electricity.

The development boom does not seem to translate to contracts to smaller firms or individuals.

Shopkeeper, 40, Sub-District 3: ―Another problem, in my opinion is that the mafia

groups and powerbrokers in Kandahar have had a hand in implementing development

and other projects. First, they mostly get the contracts and also take a fee from

construction companies and small organizations that work here. There are people

amongst them who have close relations with the central government. It is said that

these people have big businesses overseas and takeout a big portion of money [from

the country] to overseas.‖

Governement Role in Economic Development

Average

In one women‘s group, Pakistanis were blamed as coming to the city to take jobs. It was

mentioned in another men‘s group that 50,000 Punjabis are working in the city. It is unclear

whether these were returnees, Pakistan citizens, or traders, but resentment of ―outsiders‖ may be a

growing problem. According to the moderators, some participants expressed their unhappiness

with the municipality that they are providing birth certificate to Pakistanis.

Woman, 45, Sub-District 1“We Afghans are not hired. There are hire many Pakistanis to

work and our Afghans do nothing because of them. They wait all day in squares, but they

don’t find anything to do.”

13.0 Job Training

Illiteracy is seen as having a negative impact on women and men in getting jobs, being good

citizens, and in their ability to teach children. This is an important issue for older women as they

see it as an opportunity for them to have access to religious texts and for their daughters to have a

chance for expanded opportunities.

Woman, 25, Sub-District 4: “I am illiterate and I don’t know anything. If I had educated, I

wouldn’t have been so poor; therefore, I want my daughters to get education, learn

computer so that they become educated.”

When computer training was mentioned, older women also supported training for both boys and

girls but talked about this in the third person, implying that they had no interest.

Woman, 30, Sub-District 2: “Why not? (a computer center for women). We can send our

children especially daughters to learn computer there.”

Along with religious studies there is interest in science and computers from young people.

Computers are also an interest for women, second only to literacy.

Woman, 32, Unemployed: “The government does not present us with teachers as we

expect them to. We do not have laboratories in our high schools and if there were

laboratories in one or two schools, we would be fortunate. Also, when our students go to

the university and sit in 1st Semester or 1st Class, they became so bewildered because they

have forgotten all whatever they have learned at schools because they did not have

laboratories in schools to practice all what they studied.”

Shopkeepers list vocational training and schools as well as engineers and repairmen as their most

important needs. Participants from the business community cite the lack of ―professional people‖

as a key issue though this was not defined.

Shopkeepers also see nurses serving as doctors and prescribing people drugs as problematic. The

skill level of healthcare workers was also mentioned as inferior by the women‘s groups on a

separate set of questions.

Younger participants want access to religious studies, computer, healthcare, English and science

14.0 Markets & Prices

Markets were seen as an economic opportunity generator, and more markets would generate more

trade and jobs. Other than this there are not many new ideas for employment. Unlike garbage

and other service issues, participants do not have many ideas on how to tackle job creation.

Markets are seen as an economic opportunity, but also a place for government control in policing

price fixing, fake, or outdated products. An Ulema member mentioned concern for uneducated

citizens who are duped into buying counterfeit and expired products in the market who are not

protected by the government. Expired drugs on the local market are seen as an issue where the

municipality should intervene.

Inflated pricing was mentioned by the older women. Some also implied there was price - fixing

among some vendors in the markets to artificially raise prices, and this made the women angry and

they mentioned that the government is responsible. The women feel the Mayor should do

something about this, as did one of the religious community groups who mentioned the Mayor‘s

responsibility in controlling the market prices and quality.

Woman, 50, Sub-District 6: “The prices must come down. It is so expensive; a loaf of

bread costs fourteen Afghanis. Also, gas and fuel is expensive so how can the poor afford

it! If he buys bread from the bakery, it is expensive and if he buys flour, it is also expensive

for him. On the one hand we face unemployment, and on the other hand, we face high

prices.”

One shopkeeper mentioned this too, but was challenged by other shopkeepers who focused on

the ability to sell goods freely.

Shopkeeper, 20, Sub-District 5: “I say that the prices should be reduced and controlled.

In this matter, the municipality should work a lot; they should regulate the prices as it is

their responsibility. And also people [sellers/shopkeepers] should be fair and must not

add excessive profit over their goods because our people are very poor.”

Recommendations

• Youth unemployment should be given a higher priority through vocational training efforts for

fields that are in demand and identified by the business community. This could include

maintenance and repair of mechanical machines and appliances.

• Employment is a concern with the growth of the city, and unemployment among the younger

generation is a particular worry.

• Citizens need ideas and programs to support job creation. At the moment, there is a general

perception that economic opportunities are limited and that there is little the government

can do to remedy this other than building a factory and getting electricity to attract business.

• The business community has specific service needs that are not filled, such as electric water

well and refrigerator repair. Additional conversations with this community will be used to

identify priorities and a path to address them.

• More markets will mean more jobs, but it would be useful to see if there are underserved

areas of the city before constructing more.

• Additional markets also mean price competition, and would help deter price fixing among

sellers.

• There is price fixing in the markets. This could be counteracted through some publicity

efforts by the market management and tax collectors who are active in the markets to

encourage competitive and not complimentary pricing.

15.0 Municipal Finances

Participants are not very clear where tax or municipal money is spent. Citizens guess that funds are

spent on the visible programs they see being funded like the municipal street cleaners and

construction.

When participants talk about municipal workers they talk about the current town cleaning program

to remove debris from ditches and canals, which is popular and the city. It was also suggested that

more money should be spent on this program and that through night to get more done.

Younger Men Focus Group Conversations

· ―I say that this money is spent in place where it benefits people. You see that the salaries of

teachers, police, army and others are paid through this money.‖

· ―I think it is not municipality‘s job to spend the money, but it is the governor‘s office that

instructs them to spend the money on certain things. ―

· ―I don‘t believe them. They might commit fraud and steal some of the money.‖ ―If this money

is not spent on the activities which benefit people, they would criticize them, so it is for sure

spent for the benefits of people.‖

· ―I do not believe it. It is like snow to me, the more you touch it, the more it melts.‖

16.0 Taxes & Revenue Generation

There seems to be confusion about what constitutes a city tax. Citizens were not asked to define

taxes, but when asked if they paid them, they said yes citing numerous taxes, fees and payments.

Taxes included: city cleaning taxes, the taxes paid when importing and exporting goods, the

electricity payment, water payment, rent payments, zakat (Islamic charity) and the payroll tax.

Business owners say they paid taxes and they most often refer to the cleaning tax. Large

businesses say they paid taxes to the Ministry of Commerce and not to the city.

Male, 24, Sub-District 6: “Presently, I do not think we pay any taxes, but we paid taxes

when we had a shop and we paid the taxes of cleaning done by the municipality and also

the electricity taxes.”

Private citizens mentioned other fees other than municipal taxes. Most did not pay actual municipal

taxes. Neither business nor citizens feel they get services for the taxes they pay, but would gladly

pay taxes if it meant they would get services like city cleaning, water and garbage pick-up.

Services, especially city cleaning and household garbage collection were high on the list of reasons

to pay taxes.

Without city services, the municipality would have a hard time justifying tax collection.

Carpenter, 50, Sub-District 9: “We have not paid taxes till now because the municipality

has not been so active to carry the garbage and also we haven’t paid them.”

Ulema, 25, Sub-District 1: ―The municipality must choose a committee so that to explain

the tax affairs to the public because we don’t know where this tax money goes and what

they do with it; whether it is taken to Kabul or is kept here.”

Some citizens said they were asked when they wanted a problem fixed.

Reason to Pay Taxes

Average

Ulema, 65, Sub-District 3: “Let me tell you about our own neighborhood; the

municipality spends twenty percent here and we spend the rest eighty percent by

ourselves. They get the tax money, but does not do anything for the neighborhood, and

some people have even paid taxes of ten years; when they had some problems with their

house license, and they took them to the municipality in order to solve the problem, the

municipality has asked for the tax money at first. “

17.0 Corruption

Corruption is a sensitive topic among citizens. When it was mentioned among the participants in

the groups it was defined three different ways:

· Payment for service or faster service from municipal staff.

· Avoidance of the tax collector or bribe for a partial payment.

· Perception of ‗stealing‘ money, services or goods for programs that citizens don‘t see by

government officials or contractors.

Corruption is defined by citizens as services, money, and infrastructure that they do not see that is

delivered to citizens. There is a perception that money is taken or that it goes to preferred

contractors.

Corruption for the business community, shopkeepers and those with business offices, is defined as

bribery in lieu of tax or service payments. Evasion includes hiding from the tax collectors or paying

off the collector with a smaller amount of money.

Male 18, Sub-District 4: “When the municipality clerk came to our shops, for three shops,

I secretly paid them thousand Afghanis, and he has written three Afghanis receipt for

each one. And from other shops the taxes were written twenty five thousand Afghanis.”

Some shopkeepers said they knew that the Mayor was not corrupt, but the officials that surround

him were. They are unsure where municipal money is spent. There is a perception that there is fee

to get what is otherwise a free service among the citizens and shopkeepers.

Shopkeepers Conversation:

―The Mayor hasn’t differentiated. When there is work, we go and talk to the municipality

officials; they create us problems because of money. They favor powerful people and

finish their work soon. But when we go, they postpone our work and say “come tomorrow

or the day after”. They do the work when they reach their goal, otherwise they say that

our manager is not here or we have so much work to do or the file is lost… they find ways

for getting bribes; they smile at you and say that we are friends.”

“When you need a license, they tell you that come tomorrow. We don’t go to the Mayor

because our work is done by the officials. And if we don’t give money, then we have to go

several times.” “If I tell you, these officials differentiate [between people], when you go

and ask for a work, they tell you to pay 200 Afghanis, then they would do your work.”

Recommendations

· Transparency in tax collection numbers, budget and bank account can serve to validate that

municipal money is misused. Trustworthy sources to validate this are important.

· There should also be transparency of contracts, and if possible a small business set-aside with

some contractors.

· Signage detailing fees and expected turnaround times for paperwork should be posted at the

Sub-District Administrators office to set expectations and hold municipal officials to some

standard.

· Anti-corruption efforts should focus on the municipal staff and tax collectors who are

identified by citizens as being the problem.

18.0 Women’s Issues

Women support other women at work in the home and outside the home. There are fewer

conditions or restrictions on women by other women for going to work.

Woman, 18, Sub-District 9: “Now we observe there has been much attention given to

women’s rights and they are treated equally to men, and if a man can work in a place, a

woman can also work there beside him.”

For the men of Kandahar, women‘s work is not a yes or no question. There are many conditions

placed on women and the types of occupations, economic situation or religious values all play a

It is important that women are seen to maintain Islamic cultural values in their workplace.

Sometimes this means wearing the hijab and sometimes means working only in women‘s only

fields, or not to mixing with other men in workplaces.

Even among the religious community, regarded as more conservative than the general population,

there is an understanding of the economic necessity and the need for female doctors, teachers and

workers in other women-appropriate fields. When asked open ended questions about women

working, only one of the 16 Ulema members, Islamic Scholars and Mullahs said that women should

not work outside the home.

Ulema Council & Mullah’s Views about Women’s Work

Younger men in the groups were slightly more conservative than older men when it came to

women working. It is unclear whether this was because they were of marriage age and were not

responsible for the economic health of their families. The young men seemed to have an

immediate reaction that women should stay at home, but then would mention the medical field,

nursing, teaching and the family farm where women can work. Additionally, they also mentioned

wearing the hijab and keeping their Islamic values in the workplace.

The religious community also would immediately state that women should work in homes, but then

after that initial statement, they would state that women who needed to work, such as divorcees or

widows should be allowed to do so. Male concerns about women working will be examined in the

poll to determine the hard lines for conditions for women to work at this time in Kandahar.

Work if economic necessity - 5

Work as teacher or doctor - 4

Work only if veiled - 3

General postive comments- 3

No work outside - 1

The levels of permission can be broken down into:

· Yes, in all circumstances.

· Yes, with family permission.

· Yes, women only locations.

· Yes, for economic necessity.

· Yes, women appropriate careers (doctor, teacher).

· No under any circumstances.

19.0 A Women’s Market

The idea of opening a women‘s market is hugely popular among women and many used the word

―free‖ or ―shop freely‖ to describe how they felt about it. Today, many men do the shopping for

food and clothing for home-bound women and children. This often leads to problems and

arguments as husbands do not know what to buy.

Women viewed a woman-only space as one of the few opportunities for home-bound women to

be able to leave their homes. They mentioned these women with sympathy and even shared

stories. For those who were not home-bound they described the safety and freedom they felt in

women‘s only spaces.

Woman, 37, Sub-District 1: “There is Khirqa Shareefa (holy site) in the city where women

go and sometimes it is disrespected. I mean, a place where women can go freely and buy

whatever they want should be built because there are such women who are not allowed

to go out to the bazaar. If a special bazaar is built for the women, they will surely come

out of their houses for it.”

Many female participants said they feel uncomfortable mixing with male shopkeepers. This is

particularly true when shopping for personal items for themselves or their family. The market in

Ramazzana is a mixed market that includes males, so women feel uncomfortable shopping there.

Another key issue for a women‘s only market is the resale of embroidery or food items to get a

competitive price for their piecework or their food items. Women would like to sell their own work

and not rely on others. Selling clothes and home produced food items is a major supporting

economic and social factor for the women.

Woman, 35, Sub-District 3: “We make a necklace in three months, but another man

receives its profits. We say we should be built a place where we could sell our crafts and

get the profits from it.”

Woman, 60, Sub-District 6: “Most of the women know many arts but their husbands do

not let them work outside. Some women can make jam and vinegar and they make them

sometimes in their houses, but their husbands do not let their women sell them in the

(male) bazaar.”

Women say that security is an issue for many men to let their women out of their houses, but this

seemed to be more about walking the streets and moving around town than to be about being a

political target at a market or an all-women‘s location. The level of violence from IEDs and other

devices is an issue that was mentioned more in women‘s groups as a reason for not being allowed

to go to the city when and where they wanted.

Women did say they felt safe at the Department of Women‘s Affairs office, and it was stated that a

women‘s only market would also be safe as it would be without men. There was no mention of

women‘s locations being a political target in any of the focus groups.

Women, 36, Sub-District 3: ―The women‘s affairs department is only for women so our

men allow us to go there. But if we go out somewhere else where there are men, they

will not allow us.‖

In addition to the Women‘s‘ Affairs Department there was also an interest in a Woman‘s Only

Municipal Center where women could work with the municipality and go there to find information

on city services.

Woman, 23, Sub-District 6: “If a specific place is provided for women in municipality,

every family will let their women work there, but if there is not a separate place for

women, they will not be allowed to work.”

Securing the market from the Taliban is not seen as an issue as it was not mentioned when women

talked about security issues for an all-women‘s market. Women say they do not need security for

women-only spaces and said they feel more exposed on the streets. Younger girls mentioned

there were teased by the boys on their way to school, and this was a source of anxiety for them.

Woman, 28, Sub-District 2: “There is the problem of security and no one can go out

because there is blasting everywhere or there are shootings in the city mostly or

somebody may kidnap them. Now, women can never get into cars because there were

many such incidents when women were kidnapped.”

Women expressed concern about electricity, garbage and traffic as their male counterparts did, but

women had a broader agenda and actively spoke about their concerns about illiteracy,

unemployment, prices in the market and the quality of doctors and healthcare. These were often

explained through examples and local stories. Women view the garbage issue as more complex

than just trash as it touches on health, cleanliness, laundry, parental responsibility, civic pride and

disease generation.

Recommendations

· Women want spaces that are designated for them, where they can feel safe and free and the

RAMP UP –South- supported enclosed Women‘s Market in Kandahar and Lashkar Gah are

important to this. This is seen as an economic necessity for those who sell handicraft or food

items and want a competitive price.

· Additionally, a municipal center for women and by women staff would be another ‗safe‘

location for women to have events or gain access to services. This is currently under

discussion.

· Men, even the most conservative and religious, support women working outside the home

with certain conditions such as wearing the hijab or work in women-only professions or

locations. Careful consideration should be given to women working in the municipality to

have a separate office, which is regarded as more appropriate with local standards.

· A market is more important to include in an enclosed park for women than any other

facilities or programs. Markets only for and by women with no men have enthusiastic

support from women who can and cannot leave their houses; they feel they do not need to

be ashamed or fearful when buying or selling products. The market is now given higher

priority than the park and other facilities in the proposed women‘s enclosed parks in RAMP

UP – South projects Kandahar and Lashkar Gah.

20.0 Religious Community

The religious focus groups were quite upset that they did not have a role in municipal programs, or

at least a link to the community. The two groups mentioned that they were ignored by the city.

They also offered anecdotal evidence that citizens who did see the municipality were not treated

politely. This appeared particularly worrisome for the Mullahs, who in addition to their religious

duties serve as community opinion leaders, decision-makers and community mobilizers.

Mosques were mentioned both as a gathering place to get news from neighbors as well as

neighborhood announcements from the Mullah. Mullahs said in the groups that they are prepared

to be consulted and work on raising awareness on issues like garbage, drinking water and other

city-wide concerns.

Shopkeeper, 29, Sub-District 6: “Mostly, we hear about things from the elder of the

mosque in evening or Morning Prayer times.”

Many religious leaders mentioned the importance of reducing the ―gap‖ between the municipality

and Mosques as important for the citizens, community and city.

The religious community was much more detailed in identifying problems and sharing their

thoughts on solutions. They also had a read on citizen views and were less afraid of being critical

of powerful personalities or to talk openly about corruption.

Conversation among Mullahs:

· I think the gaps between the government and mullahs can be removed and the situation will

change positively.

· If the government pays attention to the mullahs, there will surely be no problems in the future.

· I think the scholars can give awareness to people. If scholars are given chance, they will be able

to preach to the people that neatness is a part of Faith so everyone will try their best and throw

away the garbage in their proper places.

· If the government allows the mullahs, they will ask the people to come together and will tell

them what to do and what not to do.

· The scholars can assist with regards to the cleanness, security, justice, and in all other sectors

because they are imams and they have knowledge in every section.

Recommendations

· Mullahs should be brought in on raising awareness and take a key role in the community

outreach campaigns.

· There should be a mechanism for the religious leadership to be updated from the Mayor and

Sub-District Administrators about programs. This could either be a regular program or

printed documents. The religious community and Mayor should determine the mechanism

· Mullahs should be invited to play an advisory role with the Sub-District Administrator plans.

They should also be used to mobilize their neighborhoods and communities on behavior-

change issues like social goals on littering, water treatment and traffic control.

APPENDIX 1 – ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY

Comments from the Recruiters / Moderators about Focus Groups

· There is jirga exhaustion, so people did not want to participate in focus groups because they

believe these discussions do not accomplish anything. This is frustrating for participants who

voice their concerns, and see no outcomes.

· There was a higher level of distrust among citizens to express their opinions than there are in

other areas across the South. The level of citizen suspicion is high and people are fearful of

expressing themselves openly. As a result, recruitment is difficult. Citizens were less likely to

challenge each other‘s comments and for many topics, citizens did not feel free to express

themselves.

· Participants did not believe assurances that no one would be quoted directly in the report.

They said, "Too many people have told us, but then put our lives at risk.‖ They did not

comfortable with any sort of recording and/or reporting on their views. This resulted in

extraordinary bargaining negotiations on the part of the sub-contractor—including

provisions to delete conversations and not attribute comments.

· Participants were not comfortable talking when they didn't know others in the room. ―Seems

like talking in a group also requires their full trust of the identity and intention of other

participants,‖ said the AIR pollster, Ahmad Idrees Rahmani. He estimated that participant

were 30% less likely to challenge comments of other participants than anywhere else in the

South.

· The pollster does not think this will be a problem if we conduct the polling as successful

polling will require anonymity and unlike focus groups it will not involve registration, contact

addresses, or attendance at a venue for a half day to engaged in talks. Individual semi

structured interview might also work much better than group discussion in places like

Kandahar. Some of our staff mentioned that the main reason participants were not

comfortable in group discussion was the high degree of tribal conflict in Kandahar. No one

want to reject another person‘s view as that could be taken as an insult to the whole tribe

that the person is associated with and turn into a major issue.

· Male focus groups were conducted by a well known media personality from a private station,

and this assisted in recruitment, which added a level of trust in the conversation. Two other

well-known journalists were included as record-keepers. Even then, one of the conditions by

the participants was to delete their voices after the transcripts are prepared without

identification of individuals. The most sensitive of all the participants was the group of major

traders in which none of our staff was allowed to observe the process as they were afraid of

being assassinated the next day.

· The groups were as much about what was not said, as what was said. When asked about

who is given credit for the positive changes in the city a former governor was mentioned, but

some remained silent on current local leaders. Participants use the generic word

‗government‘ to describe others involved in local decision-making.

· The group of moderators said they learned more about their city doing this research than in

all their years reporting and were interested in learning more. RAMP UP-South has asked AIR

for a proposal to train journalists on research methods with the journalist-moderators have a

training role.

· In the proposal there was a provision for two additional focus groups to be used if a group

was cancelled. The Afghan moderators decided to use these groups to test the views of

teenagers (age 11-15) because they take out garbage and draw well water. They are also a

group of people who are more affected by the city traffic and services as their parents are

more nervous about their young kids walking in the city than elder kids.

APPENDIX 2 – FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS

General Focus Group Questions

1. When you think about the city and the quality of life here in Kandahar, what do you think has

improved over the last year?

2. Who gets the credit for the positive changes in the city?

3. (Security issues aside) When you think about the city, what has been negative in the city?

4. Who gets the credit for that?

5. What city services impact your life most in the city? Or what is your priority?

6. Is there anything related to city cleanliness that you would want to see changed?

7. Where do you put your household garbage?

8. Who would you blame for having piles of garbage on your street?

9. When it comes to garbage pick-up, what would you suggest about pick-up at your house?

10. What kind of fee would you expect to pay for this?

11. If your neighbors continued to dump their garbage on the street, how would you handle this

or what would you say to them?

12. Are you afraid of traffic accidents when you are in the car or on foot?

13. What is the worst thing about traffic or roads?

14. Do you think more traffic signs would help with traffic?

15. If the neighborhoods and city named the streets and assigned house numbers, would this be

helpful and if so, how?

16. There is interest in a women-only market and park area in the middle of town. What do you

think of this?

17. When it comes to you and your family‘s health, where do you get your health information?

18. What impact do you think drinking water has on your family‘s health?

19. How do you get your drinking water?

20. How can you tell if water is good for drinking?

21. Do you do anything in your home to treat the water?

22. Who do you trust to tell you the water is safe to drink?

23. I am going to share with you an idea and want to hear your reaction to it. Mayor Hamidi is

thinking about distributing clean drinking water. Citizens would be given clean jugs--about

the size of large metal oil. Water would be distributed either in large containers that are

placed in a neighborhood, or by a vehicle moving through the neighborhoods with a bell.

This would cost a small amount –10 Afs—to cover the cost of the payment to workers. The

city would not profit from this as this will be a public and health service. What questions

would you ask about this program?

24. Let‘s talk briefly about women and work. What type of work is appropriate for women

outside of the homes?

25. What taxes and fees does your family pay?

26. What is your strongest motivation to pay taxes?

27. What is the role of the municipality in economic development?

28. How do you think the money from municipal fees and taxes are used?

29. What satisfies you that the municipality is using tax and donor money for the benefit of the

people?

30. When it comes to municipal news, where do you get your information?

31. When it comes to neighborhood questions, who do you ask?

32. What local leaders do you trust?

33. What or who do you think the Mayor and municipality care about?

34. When it comes to problems, do you ever contact the municipal government?

35. How do you contact the municipal government about problems?

36. For those of you who have interacted with the municipality, how was that experience?

37. Is there anything you would like to change about how the municipality handles interactions

with citizens?

38. Do you feel like the Mayor and municipality staff care about people like you? (Youth,

business, women, teenagers).

39. Do you feel like the Sub-District Manager care about people like you? (Youth, business,

women).

40. What radio do you listen to most? What days do you listen? What time?

41. Would you share your stories or opinions on the radio?

42. What kinds of training or learning would you find interesting?

Questions for Religious Focus Groups

43. What do you think is the role of the Mosques in the city?

44. Where is the dividing line between municipal government and Mosque in terms of services?

45. When it comes to municipal issues like water, garbage and traffic safety improvements, what

type of role would you like (Mosques?) to take?

46. When it comes to encouraging people to improve their lives and neighborhood, what are the

priorities for you?

47. In your opinion, are there services that the Mosque currently provides that the city or

government should be assisting with, or doing instead? What are those services?

Questions for Business Groups

48. For those of you who registered their business with the municipality, what was the process

for you? Walk us through steps.

49. What skills important to your business are missing in the workforce? (What recruitment

problem are you having?)

Questions for Girls / Women’s Groups

50. What would you like to see included in this enclosed area / market?

51. If provided, would you use a woman‘s computer and internet training center?

52. Have you ever been to the DOWA building and do you think it is a safe place?

53. Would you ever accept a job with the municipality if there was a separate office for women?

54. Are there any questions or issues that you would like to raise with a women‘s' municipal

office and service desk if it existed?

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