Citizen Charter

About Dastarkhwan-e Meli Program

www.dastarkhwanmili.org

“Dastarkhwan-e Meli” is a government program that will be benefitting an estimated 4.1 million households with incomes of $2 a day or less and covering 90 percent of households in the country. The COVID-19 Relief Effort for Afghan Communities and Households Project, will benefit some 2.9 million households across Afghanistan. The COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households project will complement a parallel relief effort organized under the Citizens’ Charter Afghanistan Project (CCAP).

The COVID-19 Relief Effort for Afghan Communities and Households Project is implemented through the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), the Independent Directorate for Local Governance (IDLG), and the Kabul Municipality. It will help provide relief to Afghan households through grants to Community Development Councils (CDCs) to purchase food and sanitation packages for households in their respective communities. By directly procuring these goods from local wholesalers and retailers, the communities will also help support small businesses in their localities. The new assistance will help the government enhance community service delivery through CDCs under the Citizens’ Charter program and reduce the immediate impacts of the pandemic on households across the country.

For more information on Dastarkhwan-e Meli, please refer to the Program Appraisal Document link:http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/573321602262690625/pdf/Afghanistan-COVID-19-Relief-Effort-for-Afghan-Communities-and-Households-REACH-Project.pdf.

CCAP COVID

Citizen Charter COVID-19 Relief Efforts are taking place in 12,000+ Rural and 850 Urban Communities through Social Inclusion Grants (SIG)

Rural implemented by MRRD: The relief efforts at the community level is implemented by CDCs, with the help of CCAP’s Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) Division in MRRD. The CDCs will be supported by their VGD Sub-Committees and Youth Committees, as well as by Mullahs/Imams and teachers in the implementation of the relief efforts. Elders will be involved in implementation as long as their ages permit (no older than 55 years of age). Social Organizers will visit each community three to four times to (a) do outreach explaining the relief efforts, (b) update community profiles, review basic health messages during COVID-19 with the public authorities (who may use loudspeakers to transmit these messages), identify those that will not receive the relief package, prepare the relief proposal to be submitted to the Provincial Management Units, (c) plan distribution events to deliver relief packages with social distancing measures, (d) consider all gender sensitive approaches and interventions for communication and distribution as specified under COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households project, and (e) monitor distribution events.

Urban implemented by IDLG: In cities, CDCs will also be the main implementation body, but here where VGD Sub-Committees do not exist, the Youth Sub-Committees will support the CDCs’ various activities, particularly in the door-to-door distribution (see below). Imams/Mullahs and Nahia officials will be involved as well and take part in meetings, if possible.

For more information on CCAP COVID, please refer to the Program Appraisal Document
(http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/397901608001669192/pdf/Afghanistan-Citizens-Charter-Afghanistan-Project-Second-Additional-Financing.pdf)

OBJECTIVES

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in negative economic impacts on the lives of people, especially the poor & daily wage-earners. The Government of Afghanistan has initiated a relief response program implemented in cities & villages; to fight these negative impacts.

Therefore, COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households project objective is to provide emergency support to selected households through communities in project areas during the COVID-19 outbreak.

BENEFICIARIES

The project areas to be covered under COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households comprise approximately two-thirds of the country. The remaining areas will be covered under the CCAP. Communities here refer to a combination of CDCs and Gozar Assemblies/Councils who will be the locus for implementation delivery of the project.

More specifically, the COVID Relief Effort for Afghan Communities and Households project targets all households in Afghanistan with incomes of US$2 per day or lower, twice the national poverty line. This broad coverage, covering an estimated 93 percent of the population, is required to assist households to withstand the impacts of the temporary disruptions to daily economic lives caused by the COVID-19 crisis and to encourage them to follow the social distancing norms.

IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES

1. MINISTRY OF RURAL REHABILITATION AND DEVELOPMENT (MRRD)

COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households Rural - Household support in rural and peri-urban areas ($136 million). Provision of relief support in the forms of food and hygiene products to selected households in rural and peri-urban areas, including nineteen (19) provincial capital cities (PCCs) and those outside the municipal boundaries of Kabul and the other provincial capital cities. This will support an estimated 2.2 million households in 234 districts and 19 PCCs, where CCAP is not currently operating, and where IDLG does not operate as they fall outside of municipal boundaries. They will be added on to the coverage in a subsequent phase of implementation once a plan is finalized for how to safely and effectively implement the program in those areas. The component will be managed by the MRRD through the existing CCAP project implementation unit (PIU) and with support of NGO facilitating partners (FPs) who will help with mobilization, verification of household lists, helping with procurement and monitoring of the whole distribution.

2. INDEPENDENT DIRECTORATE OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE (IDLG)

COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households - Urban: Household Support in Provincial Capital Cities ($56 million). Provision of relief support in the forms of food and hygiene products and/or cash to selected households, including returnees living in settlement camps inside municipal boundaries, through CDCs and/or GAs in fourteen (14) provincial capital cities (PCCs). This will support an estimated 450,000 households (approximately 90 percent of total households) in those PCCs,14 including approximately 1.45 million returnees based on estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Based on the underlying principle of near-universal coverage, approximately top 7 to 10 percent of affluent households will be excluded from the coverage using pre-determined standard exclusion criteria.

3. KABUL MUNICIPALITY (KM)

COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households Kabul: Household Support in Kabul Municipality ($80 million). Provision of relief support in the forms of food and hygiene products and/or cash transfer to selected households in Kabul. This will support approximately 630,000 households (approximately 80 percent of total households) in Kabul Municipality (KM). Following the same modality and exclusion criteria as Component 2, it is expected that nearly 20 percent of affluent households will be excluded from the coverage, as Kabul has higher proportion of better-off households. A relief package worth a total of AFN 8000 (approx. US$100 equivalent) will be distributed to each eligible household in two tranches. Each tranche will be AFN 4000 (approximately US$50 equivalent) per household. The contents of relief packages and tranche distribution timings will be the same as Component 2.

OVERVIEW OF GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM (GRM)

The COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households project uses the existing robust GRM system of the Citizens Charter Afghanistan Project (CCAP), which is available at village /CDC level, Cluster level in cities, district/Nahia level, provincial/municipal level, and at central/HQ level. However, the targeted districts that are not covering under the CCNPP coverages, so the NSP GRC will be reactive as well. Different uptake channels are open for project beneficiaries and other stakeholders to lodge their grievances entertaining different platforms of grievance resolution.

KEY OBJECTIVES OF GRM

Following are the main objectives of the GRM:

To respond to concerns and grievances of project affected parties in an adequate and timely manner;
To ensure transparency and accountability in project decision-making and implementation;
To improve the quality of program implementation by being responsive to concerns and issues raised by project affected parties;
To pre-empt or reduce the potential for future grievances;

CORE PRINCIPLES OF GRM

The GRM entertains all types of complaints, comments, enquiries and suggestions, that relate to the COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households project design and implementation. In order to ensure transparency in handling and processing of grievances, all COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households stakeholders, especially complainants will be kept informed of the handling process and the outcome of the redressal process in a timely manner. Confidentiality is an integral part of fairness, and the identity and personal details of complainants will only be disclosed with those involved in the resolution of the grievance.

Citizens can submit their grievances regarding any element of the COVID-19 Relief Effort f or Afghan Communities and Households without any restriction through a variety of means as listed below:

Grievance Boxes: Will be located in a visible place in each community, District and Provincial Office, and at the Ministries in Kabul.
Personal Visit: Complainants can personally submit his/her grievance to one of the relevant Grievances Redressal Committees or Committee's Member.
Telephone Hotline: The complainant can report his/her grievance verbally to a dedicated telephone hotline 3330

Telephone Message: Complainant can send text massage of his/her grievance to a dedicated phone number.

Petition: Complainant can submit his/her written petition directly to one of the grievance handling committees (CPM/GRC at the village/CDC and cluster/GA levels, DCCMC at district level, PCCMC at the provincial level, MCCMC at the Central level.
Email: Those complainants who have access to the internet can send their grievances to emails address that provided in the Brochures and Posters to grievance@ccnpp.org for rural and urban.grievance.handling@ccnpp.org for Urban
Web Portal: An online web page will be under CC main website.

Anonymous Complaints: This GRM ensures to consider all complainant's (anonymous, or known) complaints irrespective of their nature, size and complexity. Therefore, all grievances, comments and suggestions received will be registered and processed the same. At the same time, feedback to the anonymous complainant is virtually impossible; however, the complainant will be able to notice the change if the Grievances is properly solved.

Timelines/Business Standards: All grievances, irrespective of their nature and size shall be considered and corrective actions must be taken within 10 days at CDC and Cluster Levels, 26 days at District, Provincial and Central levels. All possible efforts will be made to complete the process within the shortest possible time and share the result to the complainant via email, phone and etc.