Afghanistan Reconstruction
Progress Made in Constructing Roads, but Assessments for Determining Impact and a Sustainable Maintenance Program Are Needed
GAO-08-689, Jul 8, 2008
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The Afghan government, the United States, and other donors consider road reconstruction a top development priority for Afghanistan. Almost 20 percent of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) $5.9 billion in assistance to Afghanistan has been for roads. The Department of Defense (Defense) has committed about $560 million for roads, of which Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds account for over half. GAO examined (1) the status of road reconstruction and challenges affecting project implementation, (2) U.S. agencies' efforts to evaluate the impact of road projects, and (3) efforts to develop a sustainable road maintenance program. GAO reviewed U.S. and Afghan governments' planning, evaluation, and funding documents and interviewed relevant stakeholders in Afghanistan.
The United States and other donors have completed construction of several regional and national highways since 2002, but the status of other roads is uncertain and various challenges have delayed construction. The Afghan government and international donors planned to complete the high-priority regional highways by the end of 2008, and as of February 2008, about 60 percent of these roads were built. USAID has completed its portion, but completion of other portions is not expected until late 2009. Donors have committed to construct over 30 percent of national highways, which connect provincial capitals to the regional highways, and only USAID has completed portions of these highways. Detailed information on the status of provincial and rural roads is lacking. Although Defense reported committing CERP funds for 1,600 kilometers of roads, data on the roads were incomplete and Defense has not reported information on these roads to USAID, as required. Poor security, project implementer limitations, and starting construction with limited planning have contributed to project delays and cost increases. U.S. agencies have not conducted sound impact evaluations to determine the degree to which projects achieved the objective of economic development. Limitations of USAID's funding, data collection, and frameworks to assess results have impeded its ability to evaluate project impact. Defense has not conducted any impact evaluations and lacks clear guidance on project evaluation. However, agency officials have noted some anecdotal examples of road construction impact, such as reduced travel times and increased commerce. Moreover, no other donor has performed impact evaluations. A sustainable road maintenance program has not been established, although it is a goal of the Afghan government and international donors. The Afghan government's support of this goal has been limited due to factors such as a lack of resources and a fragmented institutional organization. As a result, international donors have agreed to temporarily fund road maintenance to protect their investments. While USAID plans to maintain about 1,500 kilometers of roads it built, it did not meet its 2007 target to maintain 100 kilometers of reconstructed roads.
Status Legend:
Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
- In Process
- Open
- Closed - implemented
- Closed - not implemented
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To improve evaluation as well as efficiency and effectiveness of USAID funded road reconstruction projects, the Administrator of USAID should improve the results framework to ensure that it is based on expected benefits from a cost-benefit analysis with clearly stated goals, indicators, and targets.
Agency Affected: United States Agency for International Development
Status: Open
Comments: USAID agreed with this recommendation. In commenting on the report, stated that it was conducting an assessment of the Kabul-Kandahar-Herat road, which was to have been completed by early fall 2008, and would revise its results framework for road reconstruction projects to include goals, indicators, and targets, and to link it to a cost-benefit analysis. GAO continues to monitor USAID efforts to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: To improve evaluation as well as efficiency and effectiveness of USAID funded road reconstruction projects, the Administrator of USAID should, in coordination with other donors, consider building impact evaluations into project design and perform such evaluations after project implementation.
Agency Affected: United States Agency for International Development
Status: Open
Comments: USAID agreed with this recommendation. In commenting on the report, USAID said it would introduce the issue of impact evaluations to the joint government-donor forum for road sector policy coordination. GAO continues to monitor USAID efforts to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: To ensure the evaluation of CERP-funded roads, the Secretary of Defense should require impact evaluations of these projects where applicable.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: DoD took steps just prior to our report issuance to implement this recommendation by including a requirement for project evaluation upon updating its Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) guidance. Specifically, the June 2008 CERP-guidance required project proposals to include performance metrics and indicators; these indicators were to be used as part of the project close-out process for evaluating projects upon completion.
Recommendation: Until the Afghan government is able to establish a road maintenance program, the Administrator of USAID should work with the Afghan government to take steps to address urgent maintenance needs, such as formulating and enforcing vehicle weight standards, while continuing to take steps to address long-term maintenance needs, such as by developing a maintenance implementation plan.
Agency Affected: United States Agency for International Development
Status: Open
Comments: USAID agreed with this recommendation. In commenting on the report, USAID said that it would offer a technical assistance package to the Afghan government to help draft road regulations needed to maintain Afghanistan's roads, and highlighted plans to follow through with the $33 million it committed in fiscal year 2008 for road maintenance while longer-term solutions for road maintenance were being developed. GAO continues to monitor USAID efforts to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: Until the Afghan government is able to establish a road maintenance program, the Administrator of USAID should require that future agreements for road reconstruction projects include plans detailing options for funding road maintenance.
Agency Affected: United States Agency for International Development
Status: Open
Comments: USAID agreed with this recommendation. In commenting on the report, USAID said that it would offer a technical assistance package to the Afghan government to help draft road regulations needed to maintain Afghanistan's roads, and highlighted plans to follow through with the $33 million it committed in fiscal year 2008 for road maintenance while longer-term solutions for road maintenance were being developed. GAO continues to monitor USAID efforts to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: To ensure that Defense and USAID officials have adequate information to make effective future project management decisions, the Secretary of Defense should require that data for Defense's CERP-funded road projects be reported for inclusion in USAID's database, as required by CERP guidance.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: DoD concurred with GAO's recommendation and issued revised guidance that required the DoD officials to ensure that a project is documented in all required databases at completion.