The Louis Berger Group, Inc. (LBG) is providing engineering, design, construction management and other services to implement USAID/Afghanistan's Rehabilitation of Economic Facilities and Service (REFS) Program. The REFS contract was awarded to Berger on September 30, 2002 and will continue (with options) to December 31, 2006. The contract calls for Berger long-term key personnel based in Kabul to be supported by various short-term personnel. Under the contract USAID/Afghanistan assigns infrastructure projects to Berger for design, public contracting and final acceptance. Berger is working closely with NGOs especially on non-road infrastructure. The Kabul-Kandadar-Herat Highway is a major REFS focus.

The purpose of the Rehabilitation of Economic Facilities and Service Program (REFS) is to promote Afghan economic recovery and political stability by:

1. Repairing selected infrastructure needed to lower transportation costs
2. Improving the provision of water and sanitation services
3. Increasing access to education, health and local governmental facilities
4. Restoring electrical transmission and distribution systems
5. Repairing/reconstructing irrigation systems, dams/diversions and canals critical to the re-activation of the agricultural sector, the dominant means of livelihood in the country.

1. Transportation maintenance organizations
2. Water supply, sewerage and solid waste organizations to improve sanitation in homes
3. Public facilities, markets and businesses
4. Electric energy organizations.

1. REFS is providing employment opportunities to thousands of Afghans through the design of projects that maximize the use of manual labor to the extent possible
2. Berger mentors Afghan professional staff and nascent Afghan private sector companies to the greatest extent possible
3. All projects will require special attention to gender issues and accessibility for disabled persons.

USAID/Afghanistan has asked Berger to work on the following:

• Rural roads
• Highway bridges
• Large irrigation systems
• Dams/diversions
• Irrigation canals
• Drilled water wells
• Waste water systems
• Solid waste sites
• Electric transmission/distribution lines
• School buildings
• Medical facilities
• Government buildings

• Primary and secondary roads
• Bridges
• Electric transmission distribution systems
• School buildings
• Health facilities
• Government buildings