BAMYAN - A conference aimed at maintaining the Government transparency and accountability as well as increasing community participation opened in Bamyan today.

During the eighth Bamyan provincial Annual Reporting Conference of Government to the People, all provincial Government departments and their partner agencies will report their project activities in Bamyan province for the last 12 months.

“It is important to have an effective Government that is transparent and accountable to the people,” said Dr. Habiba Sarabi, the Bamyan Provincial Governor, in her speech at the opening of the 4-day conference.

During the conference, the participants will give their feedback on the implemented projects.

“The community has appreciated this local government initiative for better transparency and accountability and information sharing activities,” said Ahmadi, the Provincial Government Spokesperson, to UNAMA. “They also become aware of Government activities on different sectors such as rule of law and governance”.

Mohammad Aziz Shafaq, the Head of Provincial Council, in his speech encouraged the conference participants to actively engage by commenting and asking questions to the reports.

“These questions and comments don’t consider as criticism to the government” said Mr. Shafaq.

To the Government, these feedbacks are important as they help the Government to prioritize their activities from district to village levels. “The Government will consider projects according to their demands and needs,” said Mr. Ahmadi.

On the first day, the conference was attended by 260 representatives from different community organizations, Government departments, members of Provincial Council, Ulema (religious scholars) and the media.

By UNAMA Bamyan