Sherman, Lorraine (Coleg Sir Gar / Carmarthenshire College)

Sustainability of U.S. Government Projects in Afghanistan Sherman, Lorraine (Coleg Sir Gar / Carmarthenshire College)

Publisher Marketing: Afghan nationals are not using or maintaining USG-funded development projects in two provinces/PRTs critical to U. S. success. As such, this monograph seeks to answer whether USG development projects in Afghanistan are sustainable. To do so, it analyzes how USG development projects are currently being used by Afghans in Nangarhar and Laghman. These two semi-permissive provinces have alternatively served as sanctuaries for the Taliban and al-Qaeda and as safe havens for USG troops conducting kinetic operations. Next, it assesses the three main reasons Afghans are not using or maintaining projects in these provinces. Then, it examines USG-funded development and sustainability historically, highlighting the differences between development delivery in permissive environments in the Balkans and non-permissive and semi-permissive environments in Afghanistan. Finally, the monograph considers the USG's role in implementing development in Afghanistan and answers whether development in an active war zone can be sustainable and enduring. The primary finding of this monograph is that both non-permissive and semi-permissive provincial security environments pose nearly insurmountable challenges to sustainable development. The basic operating environment must be safe and secure for Afghans to use and maintain USG-funded projects in the long-term. Thus, the presence or influence of insurgents and the level of insurgent activity in those provinces must be minimal to nonexistent. Secondary findings suggest that systemic issues, like the lack of Afghan institutional capacity, endemic corruption, and bureaucratic confusion all work to restrict PRT personnel from incorporating Afghan government officials in long-term project design and planning. This leads to a lack of buy-in by the government which belies sustainability of these services in the long-term. It therefore bodes ill for the overall achievement of USG objectives within Afghanistan. Contributor Bio:  Sherman, Lorraine Lorraine Sherman is a humanistic psychologist, supervisor, therapist, relationship counsellor and youth worker. She is clinical supervisor of school-based counsellors across West Wales. She has extensive experience in counselling and psychotherapeutic practice with young clients and adults. Lorraine designs and teaches courses to train counsellors and therapists to counsel children and young people. She lectures on counselling courses at Trinity St Davids University, Wales and has had many years of experience lecturing on the BACP accredited counselling courses based at Coleg Sir Gar, Ammanford. Lorraine includes mindfulness in her therapeutic work, she offers compassion-based approaches that include self-awareness, poetry and play and enjoys learning from her practice.