Q&A with Fazlul Hoque, Country Program Head, BRAC Afghanistan

The needs are enormous. People didn’t have access to health, financial services, education--especially for their girls--and other development services. There was a lack of infrastructure, lack of awareness and few if any service providers at the grassroots level. There are challenges like security, but we have to accept them and continue to work, it is normal here. Another advantage that BRAC has is that Afghani’s didn’t have negative perceptions of Bangladeshis. Historically, our countries have had good relationships.

BRAC’s top leadership has extensive experience scaling up programs and they devoted themselves to developing Afghanistan. The needs here are very widespread and we quickly provided comprehensive services to the community people without taking a lot of time planning, organizing and developing the systems. We harnessed our experiences working in Bangladesh and elsewhere.

We have good relationships with the government and donor community. They have come to rely on BRAC. Read less

We have not yet reached some of the remotest parts of the country, villages and districts such as Darwaz of Badaksan and Kohsan of Herat, where there are no roads and significant security concerns. We are trying to reach these remote areas. We are also developing Afghanis so they can go. At first, the Afghanis were not always willing to go to remote places. We have been working to develop their commitment to go. We take our key Afghani staff to high level meetings to develop their commitment. We have sent several staff to visit Bangladesh. They see what we have accomplished in Bangladesh and what it is possible to achieve. When they visit Bangladesh, they come back with a full commitment. Read less

Afghanistan is an Islamic country. During the last Taliban Era Afghanis didn’t allow women or girls go out. We do a lot of outreach to men and clarify why work with women. We explain that if we can educate the women, they can educate the children and other family members. Men don’t stay at home so they cannot fulfill this role. We also explain that we are helping women engage in economic activities, such as poultry rearing and agriculture, that are often home based. We empower the women to earn money, in areas that are comfortable culturally. Today, when we enter new communities we are able to demonstrate our past success. People can see what women are doing in other provinces. Now it is getting easier. We started small scale, and then used our experiences to scale up.

In Kandahar and other provinces, there are sometimes barriers for women borrowers and female students. In Herat and Samangan the Taliban have circulated letters among the community members instructing them not to allow women and girls to engage in any activities with the government of Afghanistan or with NGO. But people come anyway because they need jobs. Jobs provide shelter for them because they are earning and can take care of their families. When we meet with families, they know well why their kids should go to school. Only a small number of people create problems. Read less

She showed me her poultry and vegetable garden with great pride. Then she started crying. She took us to her room, where there were no beds, only floor mats mat. She explained that her 13 year old son was handicapped from birth. Women usually don’t want to show their handicap children. But she was so proud that with the amount of money she is now earning she can take care of her disabled boy. Read less