Kabul, Feb 3 (IANS): The European Union here on Wednesday announced a new aid package worth $13.4 million to help Afghans improve their local governance, said an official statement.

"The EU has signed a contribution agreement to the Local Governance project, Afghanistan (LoGo), with the aim of improving the capacity of provincial governor offices and provincial councils, improving revenue generation at municipal level, strengthening the oversight capacity of the civil society and assisting the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) in developing policies to improve local government accountability," Xinhua cited the office of the EU delegation to Afghanistan as saying.

The project will support the three priorities of IDLG, including service delivery, accountability and clear functions and mandates of government institutions, the statement said.

"The project is built on a new theory of change aimed at improving service delivery by enhancing the accountability and transparency of the local governments to women and men of Afghanistan and building the capacity of local institutions to plan, budget and monitor service delivery effectively with the ultimate aim of increasing the legitimacy of the government and the trust between the state and society," the statement said.

The project will be implemented in 13 of the country's 34 provinces and in 22 Afghan municipalities by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) within three years, the statement said.