Counterpart International is proud to be a key partner with the US government in the effort to build a more democratic, prosperous and gender equitable society in Afghanistan. Since January 2005 Counterpart has been the lead implementer of the US Agency for International Development-funded Initiative to Promote Afghan Civil Society (I-PACS). In recognition of the success of I-PACS, USAID awarded a 33-month extension of the program to Counterpart International, extending the period of implementation through September 2010.
I-PACS, led by Counterpart International, includes partnerships with the International Center for Not-for-profit Law (ICNL), as well as two key local, Afghan NGO partners, the Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSF) and the Afghan Women's Educational Center (AWEC).
Counterpart is providing training and technical assistance to ACSF and AWEC in order to strengthen their role as Intermediary Service Organizations (ISOs), which provide advanced training and technical assistance to eight I-PACS Civil Society Support Centers (CSSCs) that are located throughout the country. Within the ten CSSCs and ISOs, I-PACS supports resource centers that assist individuals or organizations that seek technical assistance in core development skills. These resource centers also provide access to information on international development and free, public internet access. Arranged in a cascade, this organizational structure allows Counterpart to provide direct and constant support to its ISOs and CSSCs, and through these key partners, provide capacity building training and technical assistance to a target group of 205 local Afghan civil society organizations (CSOs). This set of CSOs includes NGOs, social organizations, community development councils (CDCs) and shuras/jirgas (indigenous councils of elders).
Counterpart views the availability of grants and re-granting opportunities to CSOs as a critical part of organizational capacity building. Coupling grant awards with lessons learned and capacity developed through training and technical assistance creates the opportunity for a more comprehensive impact than generic grant giving. Since the start of the project in September 2005, Counterpart has disbursed over ten million in grant funding for institutional support grants, advocacy and human rights grants and re-granting and community development projects throughout Afghanistan.
At the same time, I-PACS partner, ICNL, works closely with the government of Afghanistan to establish a strong legal framework that enables national and international non-governmental organizations to effectively carry out their mandates in Afghanistan.
Throughout all of I-PACS activities, Counterpart has prioritized the cross-cutting theme of mainstreaming a gender equity perspective t . In fact, half of the I-PACS local partners are women-led and/or women-focused NGOs and more then half of all I-PACS grant funding is allocated to projects which directly benefit Afghan women.
Counterpart has also completed a comprehensive assessment of Afghan civil society, which has informed I-PACS program interventions over the last five years. The assessment was distributed to a wide variety of Afghan and international organizations, national and international government agencies and research institutions, and serves as a critical resource for the socio-economic development of the country (click here for the Afghan Civil Society Assessment)
Through I-PACS, local Afghan organizations have and are continuing to increase their capacity in order to meet the vital development needs of people throughout Afghanistan. Just as significantly, local civil society organizations continue to improve their ability to represent citizens' interests through constructive engagement with the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and ensuring citizen participation in political, social and economic decision-making. The end result will be a more participatory and prosperous Afghanistan for all its citizens.
(The information provided on this website is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the USAID or the United States Government)