The year 2014 has been the subject of a lot of commentary and expectation in Afghanistan and in the development community interested in Afghanistan. Now that the year is here, life goes on and preparations need to be made for continuing support to the country and its people with a much-reduced foreign military presence. As a small contribution to that effort, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hired Seefar to support an appraisal of the Afghanistan Country Programme 2015-2017.

Denmark has continued a high level of commitment to Afghanistan over the last 10 years and the next Country Programme is likely to be of significant size relative to Denmark’s overseas development budget. There is a willingness to support governance, education, and growth and employment as foreign donors shift to emphasize more on-budget assistance. Seefar’s governance and public financial management experts have enjoyed working with Denmark and in Afghanistan previously; helping to get the new Country Programme running is a motivating challenge.