The Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC) is very concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, and we look at the continuingly shrinking room of opportunity very seriously.
Our work in 2022
Girls in their classroom at an NAC-supported school in Andar, May 2022
2022 was a year filled with activities for the NAC. We adapted to the continuously updated guidelines and limitations from the Taliban-government, whilst ensuring the continuation of our programs, and taking care of our employees – especially the female employees – in the situation. In addition to continuing our existing programs, we have rolled out larger humanitarian programs to address the enormous needs in Afghanistan today.
24 million Afghans are in acute food insecurity according to the United Nations, as a result of a long war, drought, the pandemic, sanctions, and disbanded aid programs from the World Bank and the donor countries. Through our humanitarian programs we, in collaboration with the UN, have reached over 2 million people in 2022.
We continued our programs in Badahkshan, Ghazni, Faryab, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Kabul, Khost, and Paktia, and started up humanitarian programsn in Balkh, Samangan, Takhar, Panjshir, Parwan, and Paktika.
It is important to us to see how humanitarian aid and longer-term development aid can complement each other in the areas where we work. Humanitarian aid will not be able to, alone, give Afghanistan the sustainable development the country needs. Despite hand-outs of rations and cash ameliorating the situation right now, building infrastructure, climate-adaption of farming, skilled health care personnel, and access to education are the measures that will ensure income and food in six, twelve, and eighteen months.
Empowering Rural Afghanistan (ERA)
Young boys at a NAC-supported school in Andar, May 2022
Through the last four years, Norad-financed ERA has been our larges program. The program combines the efforts within all the fields our work encompasses, in order to create results that have a lasting impact on the population. After the first year of ERA, a survey was conducted in the areas we implemented, which showed that 35% of the participants found that they had improved their livelihood since the start of the program. At the end of 2022, with the end of ERA, this number had risen to 65% of the participants. In addition, 86% stated that they had the opportunity to improve their livelihoods, in comparison to 24% at the end of the four years. We are pleased to see that the work we do has a positive impact on the population in the areas where we work, and we look forward to continuing the work that was done through ERA in a new multi-year program with Norad.
Financing the NAC
New programs and increased support to the humanitarian programs has led to a near doubling of our income from 2021 (62.7 million NOK) to 2022 (119.1 million NOK). Our largest donors remain Norad/Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the UN. In 2022, our multi-year program, ERA, was concluded, and throughout 2022 the Board and the staff have spent time crafting the application for a new multi-year program to continue the work – which was signed in June 2023.
The Board
The NAC has, in the later years, experienced a significant increase in budgets, activities, and employees. It has been important to the Board that the organization is strengthened and developed to ensure responsible and sustainable growth. This has brought with it a large focus on the mapping of risks, as well as strengthening the organizations routines on risk.
NACs programs are implemented in close collaboration with local communities. This yields good results, which is further proven through evaluations such as this one by the Chr. Michelsens Institute.
The increased project portfolio has brought with it a desire to bring in additional resources to the Board, to ensure that the Board has the necessary knowledge and experience on the areas that are essential to overseeing a growing development-aid organization.
At the Annual General Meeting in 2023, two additional members of the board were elected, as voted on at the 2022 Annual General Meeting. We are pleased to welcome André Mundal and Lars André Skari to the Board of NAC. André Mundal is a former diplomat, who amongst other places has been stationed in Kabul, and the former Special Representative for Women, Peace, and Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He now works as a consultant at BCG, and will bring with him long and broad experience that will be very beneficial to the work of the Board.
Lars André Skari is today the manager of consultancy House of Agile, and brings with him 27 years of experience from international work, including from leadership positions in the international department of the Norwegian Red Cross. He has previously been active in the NAC, and is a former member of our Program Committee. Lars André also brings experience and skills that will be useful for the organization in the years to come.
Deputy Chair Farid Ghiami was re-elected for another two years, as was board member Samina Vabo Ansari. Former deputy members Nasrin Naimy and Sandra Petersen were both elected as board members for one and two years.
Read more about our Board Members here
The annual general assembly was held on June 10th, at Frivillighetshuset in Oslo.
