Expert Advice Helpdesk Market Development/ Private Sector Development for Afghanistan
Sida was commissioned by the Swedish Government to submit proposals for a new result strategy for Afghanistan. The five years strategy for 2015-2019 amounts to some SEK 4-4.25 billion, a substantial increase from current level. The Government listed five areas for which Sida shall prepare result proposals, as follows:
- Empowerment (human rights, democracy, civil society, peace process, rule of law)
- Education ( improved quality and increased access)
- Employment (increased number of jobs within competitive sectors)
- Enterprise (improved conditions for people, especially in rural areas, to sustain their livelihood and to start and run enterprises)
- Economic integration (increased economic interchange and strengthen integration between urban and rural areas)
Target groups should be poor people in rural areas, especially women and children.
Sida was in the process of considering options for expanding the portfolio for Private Sector Development in Afghanistan and it was expected that assessments of project proposals would take place during the period of assignment. There were also strong indications that the coming strategy for Afghanistan would increase the emphasis of economic development including private sector development, rural development, employment and economic integration as major areas for Swedish support. Thus, the purpose of the assignment was to provide Sida with expert advice both in regard to assessment of project proposals within the area of Market Development and Private Sector Development in Afghanistan, as well as in regard to analysis of opportunities and options for the strategic choices in the broad area of market development in the country.
ORGUT advisors reviewed the project proposals’ and documents’ compliance with Sida’s policies and conducted appraisals of the risks and risks mitigation strategy, as well as the results framework. In total, ORGUT carried out six review assignments under the Afghanistan Helpdesk.