SERVICES: National Platforms
Afghanistan
Context: OCHA Afghanistan launched an Accountability to Affected People Working Group (AAP WG) in July 2020. The WG continues the work of its predecessor, the former Community Engagement Working Group, which operated in 2018 and early 2019.
The AAP WG emphasises increasing the involvement of national and local NGOs in collective AAP in Afghanistan, and the skills and knowledge of NGOs and UN agencies in two-way communication, community engagement and accountability (CCEA) throughout the humanitarian response.
The AAP WG has mapped CCEA (including risk communication and community engagement) activities and provided analysis and advocacy to organisational and response decision-makers. AAP, including to reach marginalized groups, has been spread through individual UN agencies and NGOs, the Inter-Cluster Coordination Team, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund and other working groups, including the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group and the PSEA Task Force in Afghanistan.
The AAP WG has: conducted information needs and communication preference surveys in communities before the recent drought (working with REACH) and after the August 2021 fall of Kabul; created collective information on risks and requested topics; and began developing guidance for establishing a community, face-to-face feedback channel with common standards to complement Awaaz Afghanistan, the collective inter-agency hotline and accountability centre.
The AAP WG is now coordinated by the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief & Development (ACBAR). The AAP WG maintains a collective AAP web page.
Prior to the establishment of the AAP WG, the Afghanistan Community Engagement Working Group (CEWG) provided technical and coordination support to the integration of community engagement and AAP into the programme cycle, informing decision-making and enhancing local participation. This facilitates contextualised application of various commitments to accountability, including the Core Humanitarian Standard; Grand Bargain commitments and the Afghan Government's Citizens' Charter National Priority Programme. The CEWG was officially inaugurated on 31 July 2018 after preparatory meetings between WFP, UNOPS and IOM.
Government links: N/A
Leads/Chairs/Co-Chairs: The AAP WG coordinator is Riaz Jahangir at ACBAR: aapwg@acbar.org. The co-leads are UNHCR (Randhir Wanigasekara, senior protection officer: wanigase@unhcr.org) and BBC Media Action (Shoaib Sharifi, country director: shoaib.sharifi@af.bbcmediaaction.org).
National and international actors involved: National stakeholders include: Afghan Development Association, Development and Ability Organization, Afghan Planning Agency, Rural Capacities Development Committee, Future Generations Afghanistan, Today’s Afghanistan Conciliation Trust, New Consultancy and Relief Organization, and ACBAR. The Community Engagement Working Group includes a number of UN Agencies as well as International organizations including: UNOPS, UNHCR, WFP, IOM, UNOCHA, UNICEF, Première Urgence Internationale, Norwegian Refugee Council, Mercy Corps, Medair, Save the Children, Mission East, Health Net International, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), Danish Refugee Council, Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees, Care International, Action Contre La Faim, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Intersos, Norwegian Church Aid, and OXFAM.
