The municipalities of Afghanistan are actively working to strengthen their services and meet the needs of their citizens, but are often hampered by a lack insufficient resources and training.

USAID's RAMP UP program aims to create effective, responsive, and accountable governance in targeted municipalities.  RAMP UP supports the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), mayors, and municipal officials to increase institutional capacity to implement policy, provide resources that allow municipalities to deliver services, and increase and manage revenue.

QED is part of the successful Chemonics RAMP UP-South team, which is operating in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Daykundi, Uruzgan, and Zabul. QED is supporting Chemonics on all aspects of independent monitoring and evaluation. QED is leading RAMP UP efforts to increase local expertise in the areas of monitoring and evaluation and assisting in communications and knowledge management and dissemination. QED is also working to ensure that M&E processes and systems are integrated into other RAMP UP project components to the greatest extent possible.

QED has been working in Afghanistan since 2005, on a variety of agriculture, health, and democracy and governance activities.