ACTD Civil Society Projects

This project is implemented under the Tawanmandi program of the British Council in Kabul, Parwan and Helmand provinces. Three CSOs were selected and supported in each province. The project has two main components. First, the selected nine partner CSOs were supported in terms of development of leadership, enhancement of management systems and structures, and developing their capacities in civic engagement and community development. The second component of the project was related to civic engagement, advocacy and awareness-raising in the target areas. Through the partner CSOs, nine district level conflict resolutions and peace building committees (DCPC) were established. Awareness-raising and advocacy were carried out through educational sessions for 5,395 students (middle and high school) on legislation process and legal framework and discussion sessions with 2,886 community members on access to justice. A total of 683 community dialogues and community-level sessions for 2,926 people on anti-corruption were conducted. Three province-level conferences were organized on access to justice whereby provincial authorities, civil society and community elders discussed issues in their specific areas. Another important component of the project is public opinion research which is being implemented in the first quarter of 2015.

This project aimed at institutional capacity building of Intermediary Service Organizations (ISO) through trainings and technical assistance in Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, and Uruzgan. Trainings and technical support was provided to two Civil Society Support Centers (CSSCs) and 20 targeted CSOs for building their institutional capacity. These CSOs were supported on continuous basis through a systematic system-building process. Furthermore, they were assisted for their fund-raising. ACTD also undertook 48 community and regional dialogues for enabling people in identification and prioritization of their problems and policy reforms. The regional dialogues were further brought to the national level, and ACTD actively participated in the facilitation of two national conferences to advocate for the priority issues identified in the process.

The project main objective was to strengthen the role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in relation to the peace building and conflict resolution processes. The intervention worked with the target people to raise their awareness on peace and conflict resolution and encourage people to change their attitudes and behavior which lead to violent conflict. Conflict resolution and peaceful co-existence was a major theme of the project. Through this project, one hundred CSOs and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) were supported in their role in peace-building and conflict resolution. Awareness-raising sessions reached to 2,600 people, and six peace committees were established. Furthermore, six resource centers were established in Nangarhar and Kandahar provinces.

To contribute to the development of vibrant and viable civil society in Afghanistan, ACTD implemented this project in Nangarhar and Balkh provinces. The focus of the project was on both the civil society organizations (CSOs) and the community at large. Six CSOs were identified, and their capacity was built in a systematic way. The organizational development needs of the partner CSOs was assessed at the outset of organizational development process, which resulted in identification of priority areas for technical assistance and regular hands-on support. At the community level, a total of 105,432 individuals (57,533 female & 47,899 male) received civic education. Another activity of the project resulted in five provincial and seven district level conferences in the two provinces.

The project aimed at contributing to the development of Afghan civil society and raising awareness of the common man and women on issues of Afghan civil society. In total, 2,148 civic educations sessions were conducted for 42,960 people (male and female). Additionally, the organization capacity of four civil society organizations (CSOs) was systematically developed through their needs assessment, training and technical support.

The main objective of the project was to contribute to the thriving of a viable and Afghanistan-oriented civil society in the country. The project supported existing civil society organizations (CSOs) to assume active role in the development of the country through raising voice for Afghans, forming bridge between the community and government, and to raise awareness of people on the developmental initiatives of the government. Furthermore, the project also directly worked with the communities to create awareness on the topics of peace building, human rights, democracy, constitution of Afghanistan, and promotion of health.  At this phase of the project, two CSOs were identified for organizational development support. The institutional capacities of these organizations were developed through training, technical assistance and hands on support.

This project aimed at raising community awareness on human and electoral rights in four provinces of southern region (Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan) through conducting civic education sessions for community based Shuras, Mullas, women councils, minorities and disables.

The project was aimed to raise awareness and change behavior of Mullas (religious preachers) in regards to peace building, the constitution of Afghanistan, and international treaties for human rights, women rights and other conventions. The trained Mullas were then supported to advocate for peace building, rule of law and conflict resolution in accordance to the applicable laws of Afghanistan. A total of 60 Mullahs were trained and supported in the above mentioned topics.

The project aimed at increasing awareness of citizens about the electoral processes and provision of enhanced information to voters to make informed decisions through civic/voter educations sessions, conducting meetings with community leaders, Mulas (religious preachers) and Ulemas (religious scholars), and through conducting public gatherings and meetings. Through the project, 3,120 Civic Education sessions were conducted for 93,600 voters, while 78 meetings were held with local councils, Mulas and Ulamas, and 39 Public meetings/gatherings were organized for the community.

The project aimed at increasing awareness of citizens about the electoral processes and provision of enhanced information to voters to make informed decisions through civic/voter educations sessions, conducting meetings with community leaders, Mulas (religious preachers) and Ulemas (religious scholars), and through conducting public gatherings and meetings. Through the project, 2,080 Civic Education sessions were conducted for 62,400 voters, while 52 meetings were held with local councils, Mulas and Ulamas, and 62 Public meetings/gatherings were organized for the community.

The project used two strategies to promote human rights through involvement of civil society. First, the capacity of local civil society organizations (CSOs) was built to incorporate human rights agenda in their strategic plans. Second, awareness of communities was raised in topics of human rights and other international conventions relevant to the community. Through the project, information sharing workshops were held for CSOs, CSO staff was trained in human rights topics, and 1,440 sessions were conducted. Furthermore, discussion sessions through local radios in Kandahar, Helmand, Urozgan and Zabul provinces were broadcasted.

ACTD conducted this one day conference in Kabul in 2009 where resource persons and participants participated from Kabul and other province. The main topics discussed in this conference were: (1) natural disasters and poverty; (2) presidential elections; and (3) women’s situation in Afghanistan.

ACTD provided strategic planning and organizational accompaniment support to the NGO coordinating body “Southwest Afghanistan Baluchistan Association for Coordination” using capacity assessment, SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, participatory strategic planning and capacity development planning. This project was implemented under the CSO support initiative of ZOA International.

Through this institutional development project, Afghanistan Center for Training and Development worked on building its own institutional capacities in terms of development of systems, strategic planning, networking, and fund-raising. The foundational work was carried out by the ACTD core team through technical support from the civil society development experts of CordAid. ACTD developed its first strategic plan for the following five years, and developed networking with other developmental agencies in the country.