National Solidarity Programme NSP

Background and Names:
Afghanistan’s Community Development Councils (CDCs), which were established under the Islamic Republic by the National Solidarity Programme (NSP) and its successor Citizen’s Charter, have been abolished by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA). Government bodies have been told to coordinate economic projects with ulema councils instead.

Afghanistan, however, has a longstanding tradition of grassroots, collective, decision-making and problem-solving bodies called shuras or village councils that long predate the CDCs. These shuras have played a crucial role in village life, praised, for example, by the late anthropologist Louis Dupree, for carrying “the country safely over its post-1933 internal power crises.”  Even before the ban in May 2024, their shuras had become non or barely functional, ignored by a government which prefers to work with village heads, often ones it has handpicked.

The order abolishing CDCs also indicated that future delivery of aid would have to be coordinated with ulema councils. NGOs, the World Bank and United Nations agencies, which have premised their work on working with CDCs, may now face problems. The relationship between the Emirate and the aid industry was already fraught. Navigating this latest blow to what many aid actors had considered a mechanism for ensuring equitable, local aid distribution will take some careful footwork.

Over the past century, shuras have undergone many changes, but one thing has remained a constant– they have always been a bridge between the community and external players – shielding, negotiating and trying to get resources. The Emirate’s move to abolish the shuras in favour of state-appointed or approved head men or ulema councils points to a redrawing of local-level power dynamics.