Power to the People: How to extend Afghans’ access to electricity More than four billion dollars have, to date, been spent on Afghanistan’s power infrastructure. And yet there are still considerable deficiencies, even in the country’s capital, which has seen most of the investment – and most of the progress. At the same time, the demand for electricity is rapidly growing and the supply-demand gap has […] 3 Feb 2015 Mohsin Amin • Economy, Development, Environment
Winnowing the Cabinet List: MPs vote, nine of 27 ministers endorsed Afghanistan finally has some ministers – nine men; yes, all those who succeeded in getting the lower house’s endorsement were male. Today (26 January 2015), the Wolesi Jirga rejected ten other candidates, while eight other prospective ministers had already fallen by the wayside (because of having a second passport, a criminal conviction, not having a […] 28 Jan 2015 Kate Clark • Political Landscape
Women Suffering, Women Looking for Ways Out: A photo exhibition in Barcelona “A woman who wants to marry the man who raped her. . . . Brides ending up mutilated after their first sexual experience. . . . Women with university training and a career condemned to live with husbands they do not love because, if they divorce, they would lose their children.” These are captions to […] 27 Jan 2015 Thomas Ruttig • Rights and Freedoms
Biographies of the Initial Cabinet List – 2015 The full biographies of the initial cabinet list can be read here. Biographies of the two newly introduced candidates, Hakimi and Salahi, can be read at the end of this AAN report.) 26 Jan 2015 Lists (cabinet, MPs, governors etc.)
Battleground Kankur: Afghan students’ difficult way into higher education For some hundred thousand Afghan high school graduates, the university entry tests, known as kankur, have started. The first to sit the exam, from December onwards, were students in more-remote provinces, for example Badghis, Bamyan, Daikundi, Nuristan, Wardak, Logar and Sar-e Pul. Pictures of rows of students sitting on city squares or mosques taking the […] 23 Jan 2015 Obaid Ali • Economy, Development, Environment
The Cabinet and the Parliament: Afghanistan’s government in trouble before it is formed President Ashraf Ghani has introduced his cabinet to the parliament, which now has to confirm or reject his candidates. But by the time the list was officially presented to the MPs on Tuesday, 20 January 2015, he had already lost three prospective ministers and the position of several others was looking shaky. The choices of […] 20 Jan 2015 Kate Clark • Political Landscape
Going in Circles: The never-ending story of Afghanistan’s unfinished Ring Road Since the presidential campaign and during trips abroad President Ashraf Ghani has been promising to turn Afghanistan into an “Asian roundabout” for regional trade and transit. However, for this, Afghanistan would need to improve its transport systems and build new and better roads. That is probably why, in his first cabinet meeting, on 2 October […] 16 Jan 2015 Qayoom Suroush • Economy, Development, Environment
New Faces Versus Old Structures: Afghanistan’s national unity cabinet (amended) Finally, Afghanistan has a cabinet, pending parliament’s approval of course, three and a half months after Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah were inaugurated as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of a national unity government. Getting an agreed-upon list has been a long, painful process, for both negotiators and for Afghans waiting for a government […] 12 Jan 2015 AAN Team • Political Landscape
The Wrong Mission? New AAN discussion paper looks at NATO’s ‘Resolute Support’ AAN’s first paper of the new year – “Resolute Support Light: NATO’s New Mission versus the Political Economy of the Afghan National Security Forces” by guest author Philipp Münch – looks at NATO’s chances of achieving its goals in Afghanistan with Resolute Support (RS). The mission replaced ISAF on 1 January 2015. NATO’s motto in Afghanistan […] 12 Jan 2015 AAN Team • International Engagement
Resolute Support Light: NATO’s New Mission versus the ANSF Political Economy AAN’s first paper of the new year – “Resolute Support Light: NATO’s New Mission versus the Political Economy of the Afghan National Security Forces” by guest author Philipp Münch – looks at NATO’s chances of achieving its goals in Afghanistan with Resolute Support (RS). The mission replaced ISAF on 1 January 2015. NATO’s motto in Afghanistan has […] 12 Jan 2015 Philipp Münch • Special Reports
