Humanitarian Assistance
In
1995, Focus Humanitarian Assistance, an AKDN affiliate,
began emergency and relief activities in northeast Afghanistan.
Rugged terrain and the absence of roads meant that humanitarian
aid was often transported on small inflatable boats across
the Pyanj River from Tajikistan. At its peak in 2001,
Focus delivered over 20,000 MT of emergency food and non-food
aid to 500,000 beneficiaries in the country.
Food
aid was later complemented by agricultural support to
farmers, and grants, transportation, reception services,
vocational training and shelter provision to returnees.
High-energy rations and milk were also distributed to
school children and tens of thousands of children were
immunised.
Through
food-for-work initiatives, communities were involved in
the construction of more than 1,600 km of irrigation channels
and 700 km of roads as well as the rehabilitation of schools,
health clinics, and other community-level infrastructure.
These activities paved the way for AKDN’s long-term
development programmes in Afghanistan. Today, Focus continues
to be involved in emergency response, disaster mitigation,
and shelter provision in the country.
Social Development
In
2002, with low levels of food security in Afghanistan,
AKDN’s rural development programme focused on the
distribution of quality seeds and fertilisers to improve
agricultural yields and productivity. Shortly after, AKDN
began mobilising and partnering with communities to build
community infrastructure projects, including water supply
schemes, latrines, irrigation channels, micro-hydroelectric
plants, roads, bridges, schools, and health centres. Infrastructure
projects are integrated within a comprehensive rural development
programme comprising community mobilisation, natural resource
management, and enterprise development.
AKDN’s
rural development programme is mainly implemented through
village-based Community Development Councils organised
under the Government’s National Solidarity Programme.
AKDN, a facilitating partner of the Programme, has been
working with more than 1,000 Community Development Councils
since 2007.
Microfinance
plays an important role in driving economic development
in rural areas. AKDN is disbursing microfinance in nearly
50 rural districts to create licit income-generating opportunities
and to encourage entrepreneurship.
In
2004, AKDN launched the First MicroFinanceBank of Afghanistan.
The institution was the first of its kind under the country’s
new regulatory structure. The Bank provides microfinance
to small businesses, helping Afghans to create productive
and sustainable sources of income. With an outstanding
loan portfolio of more than US$ 36 million, AKDN is disbursing
microfinance to nearly 50,000 people in the country. Given
the increasing demand for microfinance, the number of
borrowers is expected to multiply in the next few years.
Preliminary research suggests that two jobs are created
for every microfinance loan disbursed.
As
part of its alternative livelihood strategy, AKDN has
pioneered innovative and flexible microfinance products
to discourage people’s involvement in the cultivation
and trafficking of opium. Microfinance has eased the burden
on over-indebted farmers and, in some cases, has allowed
them to re-purchase land sold to drug barons.
AKDN
currently manages 24 health facilities including the Bamyan
hospital and the French Medical Institute for Children
in Kabul. In total, the Network delivers quality health
services to more than 360,000 people in the country. In
addition, the Government has endorsed AKDN’s revision
of Afghanistan’s nursing curriculum.
Today,
all of Afghanistan’s pre-service nurses are trained
through this curriculum. To enhance the capacity of existing
and future health professionals, AKDN also conducts refresher
training for doctors, nurses, and midwives, operates two
Community Midwifery Training schools, and assists in the
management of the Government’s Institute for Health
Sciences in Kabul.
AKDN’s
interventions in education include the construction and
rehabilitation of schools, the construction of facilities
for two Government Teacher Training Colleges, adult literacy
classes, in-service teacher training, the distribution
of learning aids, as well as tutorial assistance and extra-curricular
programmes in English and Information Technology. In total,
AKDN’s interventions in education are benefiting
more than 65,000 students and 2,000 teachers in 132 schools.
Cultural Development
The
goal of AKDN’s cultural development activities is
to conserve and restore Afghanistan’s cultural heritage
while stimulating local economic development and improving
the quality of life of people living in surrounding neighbourhoods.
In
2002, AKDN began the rehabilitation of Bagh-e-Babur, a
terraced and walled garden containing the tomb of Babur,
the founder of the Mughal Empire. AKDN works include the
restoration of walls and the Queen’s Palace, the
re-laying of water channels, the reconstruction of a caravanserai
which will offer space for shcps and offices, and the
replanting of trees favoured by the Mughals. AKDN is also
upgrading water and sanitation facilities for 10,000 people
living adjacent to the garden.
AKDN
recently completed the restoration of the mausoleum of
Timur Shah, regarded by many historians as the founder
of modern Afghanistan. The project also includes the rehabilitation
of the surrounding open space and markets around the mausoleum
and square.
In
2003, work began on the documentation and conservation
of key historic buildings and housing in the war-
damaged neighbourhood of Asheqan wa Arefan in the old
city of Kabul. Since then, significant investments have
also been made in upgrading basic infrastructure in this
and adjacent areas.
Surveys
have been undertaken of the surviving historic fabric
of the old city of Herat, leading to the conservation
of two important historic cisterns as well as several
houses. In addition, an Old City Commission has been established
to assist the relevant authorities addressing planning
and urban management issues in a context that is undergoing
rapid transformation.
In
all of this work, it has been important to maintain a
balance between conservation, which is rooted in a sound
understanding of the past, and development that is based
on the aspirations and potential of communities.
Economic Development
By
making strategic large-scale investments early in Afghanistan’s
development, AKDN aims to create replicable models of
success and thereby encourage other investors to follow
suit. AKDN, because of its institutional background and
ethical framework, makes commercial investments along
criteria different from those of typical investors. Investment
decisions are based more on the prospect of better lives
for the people that will be impacted by investments rather
than bottom line profitability. The profits generated
from these endeavours are then reinvested in development
initiatives.
In
2003, AKDN and its partners launched Roshan which has
become Afghanistan’s largest mobile GSM provider.
To date, Roshan has invested more than US$ 250 million
in the country. Roshan’s network coverage includes
over 180 major cities and towns. Prior to the launch of
Roshan’s commercial operations, there were less
than 50,000 working fixed and mobile telephone lines in
Afghanistan. In just four years, the number of GSM users
has grown to two million. Of these, about half are Roshan
subscribers. Roshan directly employs more than 900 people,
making it one of the largest private sector employers
in the country. Indirectly, nearly 20,000 people are employed
through distributors, contractors and suppliers.
Through
investments in the Habib Bank, AKDN is making financial
services available to Afghanistan’s entrepreneurs
and burgeoning private sector. The Habib Bank has been
able to draw on its experience in 26 countries to help
update Afghanistan’s banking laws and regulations
and to build capacity within the industry.
Inaugurated
in 2005, the Kabul Serena Hotel, representing a US$ 36.5
million commitment, was the first five-star hotel to open
in Afghanistan in over 35 years. It was built at the request
of the Government to provide accommodation of an international
standard for business travellers and tourists visiting
the country. The economic impact of the hotel includes
over 900 construction jobs, the sourcing of local materials
from numerous craftsmen and artists and the hiring of
400 staff, 90 percent of whom are Afghan.
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AKDN Information Briefs are available in English
and Dari versions. Click on the links for four-page,
A3-format brief.
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Resources
