CPHD | Center for Policy and Human Development

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Center for Policy &
Human Development

Water Security and Human Development in Afghanistan.

Human development is about putting people at the center of development. It is about people realizing their potential, increasing their choices and enjoying the freedom to lead lives they value. Since 2004, Afghanistan has published two National Human Development Reports, the first called Security with a Human Face, and the second Bridging Modernity and Tradition in 2007.

Afghanistan Human Development Report 2007

Bridging Modernity and Tradition

Rule of Law and the Search for Justice:
distinct traditions, yet firm linkages between the rule of law and human development. This Report highlights key challenges to the expansion of the rule of law in Afghanistan and proposes bold new approaches that bridge modernity and tradition in the search for social justice, including:

A detailed review of progress towards Afghanistan’s Nine Millennium Development Goals for the year 2020, all central to creating conditions conducive to the rule of law.
Major threats to the rule of law, such as personal insecurity, past human rights violations, injustice towards women and children, the narcotics trade, corruption, and land disputes.
A hard-hitting analysis of why the judiciary, police, and legislature are failing to respond to these threats and to meet the changing needs of Afghan citizens.
Extensive consultations and a groundbreaking national survey, which suggest that the far majority of Afghans access affordable justice through traditional justice bodies viewed by a majority as practical and legitimate.
A visionary and transitional “hybrid model of Afghan justice” that realistically combines the features of all relevant systems—old and new, Islamic and positivist—for the promotion of the rule of law and human development.

Engaging traditional rule of law institutions should not be viewed as a panacea to resolve immediately the multitude of complex problems discussed in this Report. It must become, however, an integral component of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy and related efforts to move towards an effective, modern system of justice. The Report concludes that only when Afghans secure their rights and uphold their responsibilities will justice prevail and the country and surrounding region build the foundations for a durable peace.