OVERVIEW

The Promoting Conflict Resolution, Peace-Building, and Enhanced Governance for Peace and Stability in Afghanistan program was established to address conflict grievances, support peace-building efforts, and to promote conflict resolution dialogues in Afghanistan at the provincial and local level.  The program’s four interconnected goals related to peace and stability in Afghanistan are: strengthening capacity to mitigate conflict; improving cooperation for peace, security, and development; enhancing the rule of law; and, increasing understanding of critical development, peace, and stability issues through fellowships, research and analysis.  USIP encourages peace-building projects and provides grants to Afghan civil society organizations working to promote the resolution of conflict through dialogue. 

ACTIVITIES

• Enhance the role of women in peace-building.
• Engage youth in leadership activities.
• Provide grants for civil society capacity building in the areas of peace, dialogue, and rule of law.
• Strengthen the capacity of religious leaders to mitigate conflict.
• Help communities improve conflict resolution dialogues.
• Support the role of civil society in monitoring Afghanistan’s extractive industries.
• Enhance women’s access to justice and the training of female legal professionals.
• Enhance constitutional interpretation and implementation.
• Support fellowship and research opportunities.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• USIP convened experts to assess the best practices for women’s programming and published a special report on “Lessons Learned on Women’s Programming in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
• USIP awarded four sub-grants to help improve public understanding of the costs of conflict and peaceful alternatives to the violent resolution of conflict. 
• The first grant, awarded to BBC Media Action, will produce 90 scenes of “New Home, New Life,” and will produce 20 “Learning for Life” educational feature programs in Pashto and 10 in Dari.  
• A second grant, awarded to Development and Humanitarian Services for Afghanistan/The Killid Group (DHSA/TKG), will improve their interactions with media, decision makers, and the Afghan population.  
• A third grant, awarded to Help the Afghan Children, is helping revise Afghanistan’s peace education curriculum standards and deliver peace curriculum for schools.  
• The fourth grant, awarded to Afghanistan Watch (AW), will help bridge the information gap between Afghans and the international community by producing a monthly newsletter and holding focus groups on issues of justice, reconciliation, negotiations, and political settlement.