Two years on, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has little progress to show
A steering committee meeting of the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) expressed its annoyance with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government over the implementation of the Post Crisis Needs Assessment (PCNA) policy report, sources familiar with the issue told The Express Tribune.
The PCNA report was publically released in September 2010 and outlined a necessary peace building strategy and reforms required to recover from militancy. Two years later, however, little, if any, progress has been made and officials have been told to show some improvement by the end of the month.
K-P officials were warned in the meeting held in Islamabad that if things remained dormant, foreign donors might lose interest and confidence in the initiative.
The PCNA is a joint initiative by the Asian Development Bank, the European Union, World Bank, United Nations and the K-P government. Its goal is to produce a pragmatic peace-building strategy to fight militancy and promote prosperity and tolerance by providing employment opportunities, health and education facilities, and restoring the trust of citizens.
The World Bank provides the funds to PCNA through EAD, sources said. It has committed to extend $77 million to K-P for PCNA activities, said the coordinator for PCNA’s implementation support unit (ISU), Dr Asad Khan. He also said that this was the 6th meeting of the steering committee.
Defending the PCNA’s record, Khan cited examples of the progress made, including development projects in DI Khan, Tank and Lakki Marwat. He also mentioned the construction of a road from Sharifabad to Kanju in Swat.
However, the only visible progress since the report was published is the establishment of the support unit three months ago. There is a long way to go in achieving anything tangible, said official sources at the Civil Secretariat Peshawar.
The ISU is designed to support and facilitate PCNA’s goals. Its portfolio involves assessing and mapping out the process required to implement reforms. The ISU is also responsible for hiring and training staff, collecting relevant data, managing programme funds and monitoring its progress.
Muhammad Atif, the PCNA-ISU communication specialist in K-P, said that since the ISU was set up, it has been doing quite well on several projects in the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2012.
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PCNA policy report has some real game changing recommendations and solutions, which if further explored may go a long way in establishing peace through sustainable development and social change. It is a shame to know following months of discussions and consultations, all that PCNA has been able to showcase is an implementation unit with World Bank sponsored consultants on hefty salaries delivering powerpoint presentations of what they will be doing rather than what they have done so far. I am hoping against hope that PCNA finally brings some respite to the people of the troubled region through honesty and devotion towards genuine peace building and socioeconomic development.