An official ceremony has taken place to lay the foundation stone
for a court building in Shirin Tagab, Faryab province, as part of a
capacity-building project co-funded by Latvia and the European
Union (EU).

The project is implemented by the French Agency for Technical
Co-operation and Development (ACTED), in cooperation with the
Latvian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).

Under the EU's Support to Provincial Governance (SPG) programme,
which is administered by IOM, ACTED received a EUR 500,000 grant
– EUR 100,000 from Latvia and EUR 400,000 from the EU –
to strengthen the justice sector in Faryab.

The project will construct new, two-story court buildings in
each of the province's three administrative districts –
Qaysar, Gurziwan and Shirin Tagab. Work on the Shirin Tagab and
Qaysar courts has already begun, and work in Gurziwan will begin in
the coming weeks.

The initiative will also provide training for some 60 judges and
prosecutors to increase their capacity to deliver justice services
in the three districts.

The EU funds the SPG programme, which aims to help the Afghan
government to strengthen the capacity of provincial governance
institutions. Projects are carried out to support provincial
councils and law enforcement agencies including the police,
judiciary and prison service.

The programme adheres to the government's priorities outlined in
its provincial development plans. It is implemented through the
PRTs and their implementing partners and managed by IOM. It is
designed to provide support to the civilian activities of the PRTs,
which are led or supported by EU Member States.

IOM administers the SPG programme by facilitating the project
implementation cycle. This includes information sharing, needs
assessment, applications review, contracting, funds disbursement
and monitoring. All approved projects are implemented in line with
the Afghanistan National Development Strategy
(ANDS).    

For further information, please contact:

Enira Krdzalic

IOM Kabul

Tel + 93 (0) 700 275 910

E-mail: "mailto:ekrdzalic@iom.int">ekrdzalic@iom.int

or

Katsui Kaya

Tel. +93 (0) 700 185 961

E-mail: "mailto:kkaya@iom.int">kkaya@iom.int