Yes, Virginia, there is civil society in Afghanistan

The Woodrow Wilson Center Tuesday discussed “Civil Society in Afghanistan: Spark or Stumbling Block for Stability.”  Four panelists provided an optimistic portrait of the role of Afghan civil society and its potential to improve the security and stability of Afghanistan.

Clare Lockhart, the co-founder and director of the Institute for State Effectiveness, stressed the importance of balancing the roles of the state, the market and the citizenry to build stability and security. She cautioned against what she sees as one of the biggest mistakes that Western countries make when engaging in post-war reconstruction – failing to recognize that civil society already exists. It may need reinvigoration and strengthening, but its history must not be ignored. Foreign aid and Western NGOs are not the same thing as civil society, which must come from the citizenry itself through local efforts such as religious organizations, youth groups, and political groups. Ms. Lockhart identified the National Solidarity Program as the best example of development that truly rested in and on civil society by providing grants to villages for the development of local councils. Today, there are more than 31,000 local village councils.

David Sedney, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, focused on what he sees as an under-discussed topic – the intersection between the U.S. military and Afghan civil society. He noted that this is an area of contradiction and some controversy. The US military is not well-prepared to engage in civil society development, but such engagement is critical to the success of civil society. There are those who believe that the military should not have such a role, but “divorcing” military and civil society efforts is both impossible and counter-productive to the overall success of post-war transition and reconstruction.

Mehreen Farooq, Senior Fellow, and Waleed Ziad, Direct of South and Central Asia Programs, both from the World Organization for Resource Development and Education, are two of three authors of a WORDE report that was just released, Afghanistan 2014 and Beyond: The Role of Civil Society in Peacebuilding and Countering Violent Extremism.  Their presentation and report are based on fieldwork throughout Afghanistan talking with community activists, religious leaders and tribal elders.

Waleed Ziad reiterated the point made by Clare Lockhart earlier in the panel that Afghan civil society is not a recent construct, but has been in place for centuries. They focused many of their efforts in religious and cultural places within Afghanistan in order to interact with the Afghan people in places where they were comfortable and connected. Two examples of such locations were the many shrines and khaniqa throughout the country. Their goal was to tap into already established societal networks as grassroots channels for dissemination of information, sources of initiatives, and to mobilize support for civil society efforts.

Mehreen Farooq discussed some of the challenges and limitations of civil society organizations (CSOs) as well as some tips for smart engagement. She highlighted corruption, security concerns, poorly defined efforts, and limited resources as some of the challenges and limitations inherent in the CSO efforts. Overlapping, inconsistent, sometimes contradictory and counter-productive efforts diminish local confidence. She recommends working at the local and rural level, ensuring diversity in religious engagements and insisting that all partners have consistently denounced terrorism, suicide bombings and anti-state activities.

The undercurrent running throughout the panel discussion was the anticipated withdrawal of U.S troops from Afghanistan later this year, which will test the progress of Afghanistan towards stable governance. The success of civil society initiatives is inextricably tied to security issues, which remain a concern. President Karzai continues to refuse to sign a long term security agreement with the United States, which decreases the likelihood of significant numbers of US troops remaining in country.

Still there is reason to feel optimistic that Afghan civil society will continue to develop and expand. As noted by Clare Lockhart, approximately 70% of the country is under 25 years old, representing an enormous portion of the 90% silent majority in Afghanistan. This new generation of Afghans is prepraring to step up and lead their country.