Appendix to letter to Chairman of the
International Development Committee from the British and Irish
Agencies Afghanistan Group
SOME EXAMPLES
OF NGO INVOLVEMENT
IN DEVELOPING
HUMAN RESOURCE
CAPACITY IN
THE STATE
SECTOR
Example 1: NGO investment in developing human
resource capacity in Health Sector
An example of Merlin's investment in developing
human resource capacity can be found in the Community Midwife
Education programme: A collaborative approach involving local
and international NGOs, the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and
donors has been adopted to develop a model for the development
and retention of health workforce. Women's access to health services
in Afghanistan is poor and a contributing factor to the high burden
of maternal mortality, owing to the lack of female health workers.
To meet the demand for qualified female health staff, the MoPH
introduced the idea of Community Midwife Education (CME) program.
Merlin works in partnership with a local Afghan NGO, Care of Afghan
Families, to implement CME and in doing so strengthens the human
resource capacity of the health sector. The success of the program
is based on a number of factors:
— Communities are involved in
selection and guarantee that the candidate will serve their community
while working in the district for at least five years after completing
the training;
— The training course is accredited
and monitored by the MoPH and is linked to vacancies;
— Donors commit funds in support
of the initiative;
— The program does not finish
after completion of training. Instead, each graduate is supported
through the initial period of their placement in a health facility.
In fact, candidates visit prospective facilities where they will
work after graduation. They are introduced to facility and community
members and efforts to make their workplace equipped and ready
start before they join in;
— All the graduate students are
guaranteed a reasonably well paid job.
The involvement of communities, the contract
with the student and the coordination from beginning are mechanisms
to ensure that once trained, the health workers don't leave the
area. Working with experienced Afghan personnel, employed either
by Merlin or the local NGO, is critical to the success of programmes
such as CME. Without their input it would not be possible to engage
with the community to such a high degree and to ensure continued
training of essential health personnel. Through working on this
programme, the qualified personnel are not lost to the heath sector,
but contribute significantly to its development and long term
sustainability.
Example 2: NGO investment in developing government
human resource capacity in Agriculture and NSP management
Afghanaid has established a regular consultation
process with the local agriculture departments, inviting employees
from the district level agriculture departments to attend training
sessions and field days to enhance their expertise and experience.
In addition, the local agriculture departments directly co-ordinate
with Afghanaid in Baharak, Keshem and Faizabad in Badakhshan Provinces,
so that the local agriculture department employees will work directly
with Afghanaid for a period of two to three years, to gain experience
and project management skills.
As a facilitating partner for NSP, Afghanaid
is training provincial government employees of the Ministry who
will take over management of the programme once the NGO's cycle
of work is complete. This training programme aims to enhance significantly
government employees confidence, commitment, expertise, skills
and experience. The training also encourages career progression.
The training also helps to promote genuine coordination,
communication and information sharing between NGOs and the government
departments.
Example 3: NGO investment in developing human
resource capacity in the Education Sector
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA)
has been running six in-service teacher training centres for both
men and women in Afghanistan for several years. Originally when
there was no functioning state in Afghanistan, these centres were
used to train the teachers in the hundreds of schools managed
by SCA.
After the fall of Taliban, and the election
of the Government of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Education took
over all SCA schools with the exception of 44 model schools, plus
approximately 700 small village community based schools.
The teacher training centres are now used for
teachers from both government schools and the SCA model and village
schools. During the last five to six years thousands of government
teachers have received training through SCA.
The SCA model schools are designed to serve
as schools "of excellence" with innovative pedagogic
methods. They are being increasingly used for training of government
teachers. With regard to the Ministry of Education itself, SCA
has senior personnel seconded to ministry assisting with curriculum
development, development of text books, and other related activities.
Example 4: NGO investment in developing human
resource capacity in the Justice Sector
War Child UK has been working with children
in prison in Herat, western Afghanistan, since 2003. The area
has high levels of children in conflict with the law for a variety
of reasons. High levels of poverty mean that children are being
pushed onto the streets, where they often engage in illegal, hazardous
forms of labour to support themselves and their families financially.
It is on the streets where they are exposed to physical, mental
and sexual abuse and are vulnerable to involvement in criminal
activities, such as drug-smuggling, petty theft and substance
abuse. Indeed, geographically, Herat is a strategic point in the
trafficking of drugs from Afghanistan to Iran—and War Child's
research suggests that children are being co-opted into the drug
trade in increasing numbers.
War Child UK is the only organisation to provide
children imprisoned at Herat's detention centres with rehabilitation
and vocational training; psychosocial support; and a family liaison
service. This is part of a DFID-funded project that aims to promote
the rights of children in conflict with the law. No similar projects
for acutely marginalised children in conflict with the law exist
elsewhere in the country.
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
AGAINST CHILDREN
IN CONFLICT
WITH THE
LAW
In November 2006, War Child conducted research
with child prisoners and juvenile justice stakeholders. All stakeholders
described how international juvenile justice standards and the
national juvenile justice code were routinely disregarded, with
the result that children were being detained for prolonged periods
without charge, trial, or adequate legal representation. The National
Security Department, the Prosecution Department, the court and
the police were found to routinely violate the rights of children
in conflict with the law. Compounding the problem is the fact
that the area of defence law is highly undeveloped in the Afghan
context, meaning children have no formal mechanism they can utilise
to secure their rights.
LEGAL TRAINING
PILOT PROJECT
To respond to this, War Child has signed an
MOU with Herat University Faculty of Law, Islamic Law and Theology,
and has established a pilot project to train law students and
social work students in juvenile justice best practice. Currently,
25 students are receiving juvenile justice training, which involves
orientation to international juvenile justice standards, the national
juvenile justice code and includes a focus upon preventative and
diversionary justice.
They are being trained by War Child staff; Afghan
Human Rights Commission human rights trainers; and defence lawyers
from the International Legal Foundation. War Child will then establish
a liaison service between graduates of the juvenile justice course
and child prisoners in Herat. This will ensure that children have
regular access to defence lawyers. We hope that this curriculum
can be rolled out and replicated in other provinces.
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