Download Final Report (MS-Word, 107kb)

Introduction

Information and communications technology (ICT) can be a powerful enabler of development goals because its unique characteristics dramatically improve communication and the exchange of information to strengthen and create new economic and social networks.

Recognizing this fact, a group of senior Afghan government officials representing a cross-section of Afghan government ministries, and H.E. Mohd. Masoom Stanekzai, Minister of Communications for Afghanistan, attended an ICT Policy Development and Implementation Seminar sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through its Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 14-18, 2002. The purpose of the seminar was to identify the challenges, issues and process for developing and implementing a national ICT policy for Afghanistan.

The five-day seminar consisted of a series of presentations from Malaysian government ICT policy and regulatory experts and APDIP personnel, supplemented by ICT policy tutorials and brainstorming sessions led by a skilled facilitator. See Annex 1 for a summary of the main points of discussion at the seminar. Many of these ideas will serve as points of departure for the consultative discussions on the policy issues raised by this report.

While focusing on ICT policy development and implementation, the seminar discussions also kept in mind the three strategy pillars of the draft National Development Framework issued by the Afghan Assistance Coordination Authority in April 2002. The first pillar is to use humanitarian assistance and social policy to lay the foundations for the formation of sustainable human capital. The second is the use of external assistance to build infrastructure that lays the basis for private-sector-led strategy of growth. The third pillar is the creation of sustainable growth where the private sector becomes both the engine of growth and the instrument of social inclusion through the creation of opportunity. Cutting across all these activities are the issues of security, of administrative and financial reform, and of gender.

This report outlines a number of public policy issues that were acknowledged at the seminar as being fundamental to the development of a national ICT policy for Afghanistan. Many of these issues associated with the building of physical communications infrastructure are readily apparent, and have largely been addressed by the National Telecommunications Policy Paper (July 2002) and the Telecommunications Development Strategy (October 2002) issued by the Ministry of Communications. See Annex 2 for a summary of recent telecommunications reform and development accomplishments in Afghanistan.

But many other issues have yet to be fully articulated. These issues are complementary to the physical infrastructure issues and deal with the information component of ICT, i.e. content, knowledge and entertainment. Together, these two sets of issues (physical infrastructure and information) form the basis for a comprehensive ICT policy. Over time, these issues will evolve and change as new ICT networks, products and services are introduced.

The report further seeks to propose a strategy for the development and implementation of a national ICT policy for Afghanistan. The Afghanistan ICT strategy must be flexible to help address and adapt to a complex and rapidly changing environment. Informed participation of all strategy stakeholders and coordinated investment of the collective resources of Afghanistan will be essential if the benefits of ICT are to be realized. Government leadership is required to develop and implement a national strategy.

The national ICT policy should be made in Afghanistan, by Afghans, for Afghans. It should be consistent with Afghanistan’s history, economic realities, the international context, and the country’s unique cultural and social requirements. Recognizing the economic, cultural and social implications of a national ICT policy, seminar participants identified three basic objectives to be pursued by the strategy:

Five principles were advanced to guide the development and implementation of the policy:

It was agreed that the Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan, through the Ministry of Communications, should provide the national leadership needed to mobilize the necessary commitment, resources and participation of all stakeholders. Only by working together will the many economic, social and cultural benefits of ICT be realized by the Afghan people.