Mission

The underlying mission of US-ARC is to facilitate the participation and partnership of local civil society in the reconstruction process of Afghanistan and enable communities to become self-sufficient in meeting the basic education, health and social needs of the populace. Our organization’s operational philosophy is based on the belief that ushering success in Afghanistan is a shared responsibility, and we use our cultural and linguistic ties to Afghanistan to connect the needs of the Afghan people with resources abroad.

To ensure access to knowledge and the tools necessary for the establishment of sustainable societies, we mobilize technical and financial resources and apply them to community-centered projects. We also facilitate the engagement of the Afghan Diaspora and expatriate volunteers by pairing experts outside the country with projects in Afghanistan in their particular field of expertise.

One Community at a Time

The concept of community development is widely appropriate for Afghanistan given the dominance of tribal structures in both provincial governance and livelihood. However, its application is effective only if coordinated and regionally broad-based. Challenges in rebuilding Afghanistan have resulted in poor infrastructure and weak economic linkages for rural economies and regional towns, as urban centers have been the main recipient of development aid. US-ARC’s mandate is to prioritize development projects based on demonstrated need of rural communities regardless of location. What allows us to pursue this objective are two unique vantage points: the internationally cultivated expertise of our staff and our innate knowledge of the Afghan culture, social protocols and languages.

Without crippling communication barriers, we engage local representatives to assess community priorities, and we also invite the beneficiaries to contemplate their anticipation for development project outcome. Such explicit expectations for deliverables ensure community participation and reduce misappropriations. All of US-ARC’s projects have been approved with a written authorization from the local Shuras (Councils) and government ministries. Given US-ARC’s community centered approach and close ties with the local Shuras, our projects have remained relatively safeguarded by the communities.

Five guiding principles remain steadfast in any project that US-ARC initiates:

1. The Role, Concerns and Involvement of Women: Ensure that women are included as beneficiaries, participants and advisors in each program.

2. Strengthening Civil Society: Promote institutional development and self-reliance through participatory project design and implementation as well helping communities to establish forms that facilitate dialogue on conflict prevention and mitigation, understanding changes in new constitutional and legislative laws, advocacy campaigns and effective engagement with local governments.

3. Use of Appropriate Technology: Ensure that the use of local materials, technology and project design are culturally acceptable in the recipient communities, while raising skill levels and introducing new technologies as appropriate.

4. Natural resources and Environment: Ensure efficient use of natural resources to balance the benefits of economic development with viable environmental systems.

5. Basic Skill and Capacity Building: Ensures that project implementation promotes and includes improvements in literacy levels and general aptitude.