Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs)

Definition

Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) are small teams of civilian and military personnel working in Afghanistan’s provinces to provide security for aid workers and help reconstruction work.

They are a key component of a three-part strategy for Afghanistan – security, governance and development – helping to spread stability across the country.

Role

Their role is to assist the local authorities in the reconstruction and maintenance of security in the area.

The PRTs’ objectives include:

• To support the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRA) in the development of a more stable and secure environment;
• To assist in extending the authority of the GIRA;
• To support where appropriate the Security Sector Reform (SSR) initiatives;
• To facilitate the reconstruction effort and reinforce national development priorities;
• To enable unity of effort amongst civil actors; and
• To demonstrate the International Community’s commitment to Afghanistan’s future.

The PRTs’ more specific tasks are:

• To improve the security environment for the Afghan people through dialogue with regional leaders and confidence building activities and mitigating likely areas of conflict;
• To monitor, assess, advise on and support SSR activities in close coordination with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), SSR lead-nations and bilateral programmes;
• To assist the Government of Afghanistan (GOA) in the dissemination of its decisions and policies to the regional leaders;
• To provide a visible presence in assigned Area of Operations (AOO);
• To monitor and assess the military, political, and civil situations with the AOO;
• To provide information and intelligence to the Commander of ISAF (COMISAfor the development of a common operational picture of the assigned AOO;
• To assist the International Community with the process of reform and strengthening of civil administration;
• To facilitate information sharing between the GOA and civil agencies;
• To organise and facilitate periodic principals’ meetings to facilitate dialogue and liaison between the GOA / UNAMA / and regional leaders;
• To direct assistance to the civilian element of the PRT in terms of transport support, engineering, etc…; and
• To be prepared to host and assist international observers assisting in the development of civil structures.

 

Structure

Currently, there are 26 PRTs operating throughout the country as follows:

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Regional Command North – RC(N)

• Konduz (Germany), Konduz province;
• Mazar-e-Sharif (Sweden), Balkh province;
• Feyzabad (Germany), Badakhshan province;
• Pol-e-Khomri (Hungary), Baghlan province;
• Meymaneh (Norway), Faryab province.

Regional Command West – RC(W)

• Herat (Italy), Herat province;
• Farah (United States), Farah province;
• Qala-e-Naw (Spain), Badghis province;
• Chaghcharan (Lithuania), Ghowr province.

Regional Command South – RC(S)

• Kandahar (Canada), Kandahar province;
• Lashkar-Gah (United Kingdom), Helmand province;
• Tarin Kowt (The Netherlands), Uruzgan province;
• Qalat (United States), Zabul province.

Regional Command East -  RC(E)

• Bamyan (New Zealand), Bamyan province
• Bagram (US), Parwan province
• Nurestan (US), Nurestan province
• Panjshir (US), Panjshir province
• Gardez (US), Paktika province
• Ghazni (US), Ghazni province
• Khowst (US), Khowst province
• Sharan (US), Paktika province
• Jalalabad (US), Nangarhar province
• Asadabad (US), Kunar province
• Mihtarlam (US), Laghman province
• Wardak (TU), Wardak province
• Logar (Czech Republic), Logar province

There are no PRTs in Regional Command Capital.

History

Initially, from December 2002, PRTs operated under the US-led coalition. However, ISAF has gradually taken responsibility for a growing number of PRTs. Although they are led by individual lead nations, the military components of PRTs come under the command of the ISAF Commander. At the regional level, they are coordinated by the Regional Commanders.