Civic Education

Communities that were shattered physically and psychologically and people who have suffered from decades of warfare, repression, lawlessness, and poverty have a great need for conflict resolution, democracy and peace building.

This grassroots approach is very popular, well received and effective as the methodology and training approaches take into consideration local tradition, culture and values. Messages delivered by WADAN encourage citizens to be responsible for themselves, their communities and their country. Transparent governance, national unity, democracy and respect for human rights are the primary objectives of these civic education projects. Women and women's concerns have been considered in all of WADAN's community projects. Civic education workshops for men have specific emphasis on gender and women's rights as well as human rights in general. Civic education workshops for women have the same content as those for men. Civic education events have been well-attended by women in Helmand, Zabul and Kandahar provinces. A pre-presidential election awareness event drew hundreds of women in Kabul and a pre-parliamentary election event with information for potential candidates was as well attended.

The Voice for Humanity Project was to distribute a part of around 20,000 ZVOX players with civic education messages in Pashto and Dari, developed in consultation with WADAN, to people in remote rural areas before the presidential election. In addition to messages about the positive effects of cooperation with the government and messages to promote both economic and political rehabilitation, there were messages about health and hygiene as well as music and motivational entertainment to reinforce the material presented.

Drug control is an integral part of WADAN’s civic education curriculum. The civic education and peace-building training that WADAN conducts in districts and provinces include drug awareness programs at the grassroots levels. We have worked to empower the local leaders and community resource persons regarding outstanding social issues in Afghanistan since 2003. WADAN has already implemented grassroots awareness projects for local leaders in 360 out of 364 districts of Afghanistan, and has educated around 30,000 community leaders about the harmful consequences of drugs, extremism and other social evils. This work is ongoing and we receive continuous funding from National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and International Republican Institute (IRI).

Maliks, traditional village leaders trained by WADAN in civic education, utilized lessons learned during the 2004 presidential election, Afghanistan's first exercise in practicing nationwide democracy. They served as election observers and were credited by the Joint Election Management Body for their roles in preventing vote-buying and voter intimidation. The National Maliks Association was formed after the election. Now Maliks work to educate their constituents to correct misconceptions in order to eliminate negative connotations about democracy and to ensure transparency and accountability in political processes and government.

Rural life in the world's largest producer of opium is problematic for poverty stricken farmers with few other cash crop options. The detrimental effects of poppy growing, drug trafficking, and drug addiction are explained. People are made aware that involvement in a narcotics culture is illegal, socially irresponsible and profane behavior.




Updated on: August 20, 2011