HERAT - Improving social and economic conditions for Herat’s residents was the focus of a UN-backed event in the western province this week.

Officials from Herat’s provincial development committee gathered with United Nations representatives to discuss project planning for the province’s roughly 500,000 residents, many of whom live in rural communities lacking electricity and other basic services.

At the opening of the event, Herat Acting Governor Merwais Habibzada spoke about the critical need for effective coordination between national and international partners around improving the livelihood opportunities for Herat’s communities.

Also speaking at the event was Aliaksandr Kuzmin, a governance official working in the Herat regional office of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). He outlined the intended work of the United Nations family in the province.

“Women’s empowerment, local capacity development and support to local peace processes remain priorities for the United Nations in 2017,” said Mr Kuzmin. 

During the event, members of the provincial development committee endorsed a plan of action that is designed to bring meaningful change to the lives of Herat’s residents, including through social programmes, agricultural development and both urban and rural projects.

Herat lies on old trade routes, with roads running from Herat to the bordering countries of Iran to the west and Turkmenistan to the north. The mostly rural and agricultural province is Afghanistan’s primary trade gateway to Iran.

UNAMA is part of the UN family in Afghanistan. More than 20 different UN entities are present in the country, working to support the Afghan government’s priorities through a broad spectrum of development and humanitarian activities, including through support for development planning, resource mobilization, and coordination of international donors and organizations.