In their own words: Afghan NGOs on development business challenges

Afghanistan is one of the world’s top recipients of security and development assistance. But internationally funded aid programs have garnered some criticism lately from donor officials and Afghans alike. As international forces withdraw from Afghanistan, donors such as the United States and the European Union have vowed to take a closer look at the money spent in this South Asian country. Implementing organizations – both domestic and foreign – meanwhile, remain worried about security, and they continue to struggle with capacity gaps, language barriers and cultural differences as they seek partnerships to reduce poverty and increase economic opportunity. Afghan organizations are key to the country’s development. But often, these crucial partners feel that their voice does not reach decision-makers in Kabul, Washington, Brussels and elsewhere. Devex spoke with Afghan NGO representatives earlier this year on the sidelines of the first International Conference of Afghan Civil Society Organizations in Rome. The NGO officials spoke frankly about the challenges of partnering with international donors, influencing decision-makers and accessing funds. Here are some takeaways from the event. After the troop pullout Afghan nonprofit workers share the West’s concerns about security, and they worry about the planned withdrawal of international troops after 2014. They fear donors will reduce their engagement in Afghanistan as a result. An EU diplomatic source hinted that such a scenario is unlikely, as donors feel an “overall obligation to continue the involvement in Afghanistan.” The international community must help strengthen civil society before pulling out coalition forces, said Ahmad Joyenda, chairman of the Foundation for Culture and Civil Society. Soraya Pakzad, executive director of Voice of the Women, said: “Civil society are really in need of having such support, committing donors, committing countries to be behind them, because we are going to experience a very, very difficult transitional period when the international community is pulling out.” Decision-making power From the perspective of Afghan NGOs, a strong civil society is one that plays a role in the decision-making process. But Afghan civil society groups are rarely, if at all, involved in policymaking because the Afghan government sees them as competitors for the aid delivered by international donors, according to Ayubi. Afghan NGOs want to dispel with the notion that they are mere project executing entities. “Most of the international community [looks at] the Afghan civil society as an implementer, but we don’t need to be in that position,” said Saeed Niazi, director of the Civil Society Development Center in Kabul. “The wish of the Afghan civil society is to be part of the decision-making process. That’s why civil society came together and created platforms to influence decision making.” Donor-driven projects Afghan NGOs are seeking more recognition with local government as well as international aid groups. Too often, now, development agendas are being set by donors, they note. “Getting funds [depends] on the choice of the donors; they have their concepts and they want to develop them,” said Afzal Nooristani, executive director of the Legal Aid Organization of Afghanistan. “So, the problem is that there is little attention to the needs, the real needs of the Afghans.” Such a donor-driven approach, as well as a lack of coordination among donors, can affect the sustainability of aid initiatives, Nooristani said. “Sometimes, when a project is over, the theme and goals change, new concepts come in and sometimes these new concepts are in conflict with the previous,” he noted. “It’s happening because different countries have different agendas. [There] should be a coordination mechanism […] to make sure that the projects are not overlapping each other or conflicting each other.” Afghan NGOs are critical of the military’s involvement in development. “The military should not use funds for development,” Pakzad said. “Development and humanitarian activities should be completely in a different side of the military operations.” Overall, Afghan civil society wants the international community to allocate funding based on domestic development priorities. Said Niazi: “This is our request to the international community: to listen to the whys and the needs of the Afghan people in Afghan civil society and to make their strategies and their plans according to that needs.” Access to funds Afghan NGOs bemoan the cumbersome procedures and strict requirements that, they say, have made it hard to win funding from international donors. Afghan NGOs “don’t have direct access to the funds,” said Baryalai Omarzai, director of the Afghan Community Rehabilitation Unit. One of the barriers is language, Omarzai said. “All the donors prepare the documentation in English,” he said. “Most of Afghan CSOs don’t know [it and] they cannot prepare proper documents. We, as CSOs and NGOs representatives, request the donor community to accept the […] proposals and the other documents in national languages.” Large procurements tend to be open for big international groups only, Afghan NGO representatives argued. “We cannot apply for the big [European Commission] funds; we apply for small grant funds, not more than half a million,” Pakzad said. “For bigger projects, for long-term projects, it is required to be a European-based or maybe American organization.” To level the playing field, Afghan NGOs want international institutions to focus on institutional capacity building, especially of civil society groups. Capacity building Afghan NGOs are all too aware that many within the international donor community remain skeptical about the ability of local groups to be accountable, transparent and successful in implementing aid projects. That’s why, to further sustainable development, the international community should focus on building local capacity, Afghan civil society reps said. “Afghan civil society needs financial support and training to improve capacities that will be crucial when the troops withdraw,” Pakzad said. “We need skills to tackle the issues, we need financial support.” Omarzai suggested training in the fields of management, accounting and computer work. One way to build local capacity, many Afghans said, is to help them network with domestic and international partners. That is one goal of the European Network of NGOs in Afghanistan, which in December opened an office in Brussels. For a similar reason, the Steering Committee of Afghan Civil Society,INTERSOS and Afgana are planning to build a house for civil society in Kabul or elsewhere. Competing with international NGOs Afghan civil society groups want to compete with international consultancies and NGOs for development funding, but at this point, they feel marginalized. “Unfortunately, Afghan organizations are still the second hand and many times the third hand of receiving funds from the international community,” Pakzad said. “The huge amount of the money usually goes to international organizations, to big contractors [which] then […] give [it] to another one and that one goes to Afghanistan and give [the resources] to Afghan NGOs.” International donors prefer to work with individuals they know and organizations they have partnered with before. But in Afghanistan, those partnerships can be dubious, NGOrepresentatives said. Especially in the construction sector, large contracts tend to go to what one NGO official called “previous commanders, criminals who have now big construction companies.” To woo foreign donors, some Afghan NGOs have started hiring foreigners to handle fundraising and business development. “If they don’t, it’s difficult for them to receive funds,” said Niazi. “This is not a good culture.”