The transfer of skills to the Survey's Afghan counterparts is critical to the reconstruction of the nation. Natural resources and natural hazard assessments require both a technically-trained workforce and adequate facilities to function efficiently. Capacity building and institutional strengthening are key components of the USGS's activities in Afghanistan. The goal of these activities is to ensure that the Ministry of Mines MoM), Afghan Geological Survey (AGS), Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office (AGCHO) and other geosciences agencies acquire and enhance their technical and managerial skills to make sound resource use and hazard mitigation decisions for the public good. To meet these needs, the USGS supports an active and ongoing capacity and institution building program to develop the technical and managerial skills of their counterparts. USGS staff work with technical specialists to develop study tour, short course, seminar, workshop and on-the-job program content that will maximize the effective transfer of skills to their Afghan counterparts.

Tactics and Strategy A variety of tactics and strategies have been and will continue to be utilized to enhance capacity and institution building in Afghanistan consisting of on-the-job (ojt) training, seminars, short courses, workshops and study tours. OJT training is one of the most efficient and frequently utilized mechanisms for transferring technical knowledge to counterparts. This venue is limited to a small cadre of people as it is the "hands-on" approach incorporating "learning by doing" under close supervision of an instructor. Structured, formal short courses are efficient means to transfer new scientific information to a large audience. Seminars and workshops are efficient and short exercises intended to impart focused information to large or small audiences. Study tours comprised of ministerial level participants not only imparts knowledge to decision makers but also is the most effective venue for informal discussion at the highest level of a government. Capacity and institution building programs have been developed for topics such as water, energy, and mineral resource assessments as well as seismic, flood, landslide and other natural hazards assessments. A number of capacity and institution bulding exercises have focused on understanding and monitoring the natural environment (Figure 1). One of the goals of the Afghanistan Reconstruction program is to provide Afghan geosciences organizations with the skills to provide sound, science-based information to the government to enable them to make informed decisions on issues relating to resource development, environmental quality monitoring and hazard mitigation strategies. Objectives The USGS' capacity and institution building project is focused on providing "state-of-the art" technical and managerial expertise to their counterparts at geosciences agencies. To meet this goal, the USGS activities reinforces the development of a cadre of Afghan instructors in-country who can repeat the capacity and institution building exercises thereby ensuring continued professional development of Afghan scientists.

The USGS has worked with the Afghan government leadership to assess and identify the technical needs of the agency. The USGS and its partners have worked to design and implement comprehensive short courses, workshops, seminars, study tours and hands-on activities to meet the needs of the Afghan government. A proposed "Natural Resources Academy" that supports the continuation of the USGS-led training program would provide education programs for Afghan professionals to enable them to remain current in their scientific knowledge and capabilities. The USGS provides the support for activities both in the U.S. and in Afghanistan.

Project Activities

The USGS supported capacity and institution building program includes activities in the following topics:

• Oil and gas resources assessment
• Coal resources assessment
• Mineral resources assessment
• Earthquake hazard assessment
• Geospatial infrastructure development
• Database development to support resource assessments
• Geologic mapping methods of production and distribution
• Digital elevation modes in support of assessment
• Website and geospatial clearinghouse
• Airborne geophysics in support of assessment activities
• Hyperspectral remote sensing
• Use of remote sensing data in water resources activities
• Publication and distribution of geologic reports