AFGHAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
“Afghan Community Development Group”: Maryam Al Khalifa, Mohamed Bennoudi, Mariam Ehsan, Stan Garstka, Kazi Huque
Maryam Al Khalifa Tel: (703) 944-2135 Email:
Mohamed Bennoudi Tel: (301) 250-4910 Email:
Mariam Ehsan Tel: (703) 725-7211 Email:
Stan Garstka Tel (703) 946-9398 Email:
Kazi Huque Tel: (443) 605-4777 Email:
Organizational Management and Leadership
MGT-201-11
Dr. Stuart Umpleby
The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052
December 11, 2006
Topic: The Afghan Community Development Program
Date: Fall, 2006, Mgt 201 Section 11
Group: Maryam Al Khalifa Tel: (703) 944-2135 Email:
Mohamed Bennoudi Tel: (301) 250-4910 Email:
Mariam Ehsan Tel: (703) 725-7211 Email:
Stan Garstka Tel (703) 946-9398 Email:
Kazi Huque Tel: (443) 605-4777 Email:
Rationale: The material provided by Prof. Umpleby about his past work with the Government Agency (GOVERNMENT AGENCY) was appealing to the group members. The group decided to implement a community development approach in Afghanistan, similar to what was implemented by GOVERNMENT AGENCY in several countries. Afghanistan was chosen since many group members have well-established network of contacts in Afghanistan. In addition, one group member works with the World Bank on current Afghani development projects.
Goals: Provide local Afghans with a framework that will enable them to effectively solve community related problems. Establish the community development framework in Kabul and target five villages in the first two years; the framework will help communities identify and address health issues they feel need to be improved. Propagate the community development framework to thousands of villages over a ten year period.
Method: 1. Discuss as a group the overall approach and brainstorm the specific issues to be addressed. Assign responsibilities and direct each group member to research a specific topic
2. Evaluate the group’s research findings and select an area to target in Afghanistan (health, poverty, infant mortality, etc.). The group unanimously selected to target health.
3. Brainstorm possible clients and establish contacts with several potential clients. The group selected A specific organization as a client.
4. The group worked closely with A specific organization to modify the proposal and establish a program that meets the needs of A specific organization and the project sponsor, USAID.
Result: 1. Presentation of project proposal to MGT 201 class on December 11th.
2. Presentation of project proposal to client on December 15th.
3. Assist A specific organization in developing a proposal for USAID.
Table of Contents
1.0 Project Selection 4
2.0 Project Approach 7
3.0 Redefining the Problem 9
4.0 Strategic Plan 11
4.1 HistorGovernment Agencyl Background 11
4.2 Project Team 11
4.3 Project Plan 12
4.4 Project Schedule 13
4.5 Project Budget 13
4.6 Project Monitoring and Evaluation 13
5.0 Group Process 13
5.1 Group Composition 13
5.2 Team Charter 14
5.3 Group Development 14
5.3.1 Forming Stage 14
5.3.2 Storming Stage 15
5.3.3 Norming Stage 15
5.3.4 Performing Stage 15
5.3.5 Adjourning Stage 16
5.4 Conflict Resolution 16
References 17
Appendix A 18
Appendix B 19
Appendix C 20
Appendix D 21
1.0 Project Selection
Professor Umpleby presented the design of a community development project as a potential group project. The topic was appealing to all group members and we made a decision to research the idea further. The first step was to review the material provided by Prof. Umpleby about his past work with the Government Agency impressed with the findings we unanimously decided to apply the idea to a specific country. The group chose to target Afghanistan as the location for the community development project, due to established contacts in Afghanistan. One of our group members is originally from Afghanistan and was able to provide us fruitful insight to the Afghani culture. She currently works with the World Bank on Afghani development projects.
The group researched education, poverty and health issues in Afghanistan, and came to the consensus to concentrate on health. In order to narrow down a specific healthcare issue to target, the group studied papers and reports from the World Bank, Red Cross, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and other similar organizations. The group chose to focus on Diarrhea prevention because it was shown to be a pressing problem that is in need of significant Government Agency aid. A decision was made to focus on the regions of Khost, Baghlan, Kabul, Kandahar and Jawzjan because they were shown to have the highest prevalence rates of diarrhea in Afghanistan as seen below in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows these cities to be the weakest in terms of percent of diarrhea prevalence and the number of cases of diarrhea that exist.
Figure 1 – Diarrhea Prevalence (Afghanistan – Progress of Provinces, 2006)
Figure 2 - Weakest Provinces (Afghanistan – Progress of Provinces, 2006)
We presented the proposal to our provisional client Professor Umpleby who provided feedback that a community development project focused on diarrhea was too specific, and that the project should be centered on a higher-level development methodology. We concluded that developing a broad framework that could be used to help community members identify and resolve their own problems would be a more effective approach.
The group developed a proposal for an Afghan Community Development Project and sent it to various potential clients including the World Bank Group, Chemonics International, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), and The organization International. A representative from A specific organization expressed interest in the proposal.
Founded in 1965, A specific organization is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a just world through service and partnership. The organization gives people a voice in their own future through smart partnerships, offering options and access to tools for sustained social, economic and environmental development. The organization has forged strategic partnerships in the public and private sectors to help people improve the quality of their lives and revitalize their communities in more than sixty nations (The organization Mission Statement, 2006).
A specific organization is organized according to five sectors: Civil Society, Global Health and Nutrition, Economic Development, Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture, and Environment and Conservation. The organization reviewed our proposal and believed it was strong, but in order to be implementable, it needed to be focused on a particular geographic area and be more specific to a project in one of the sectors mentioned above. Based on the previous research conducted, the group re-scoped the project around health issues and restructured the proposal for the client.
The relationship between the group and A specific organization is for the group to provide The organization with a specific community development proposal that can be utilized as the basis for future development work in Afghanistan. The organization will use its normal procedures to obtain funding for the project from United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
2.0 Project Approach
Professor Umpleby provided the group with advice on how to tackle the problem; he also provided the group with a list of potential clients and names of community development experts who have successfully implemented community development programs in Kenya, India and Guatemala. Professor Umpleby provided the group with names. In each instance we introduced the project and asked for advice on the best way to proceed. The replies from individuals working for the Government Agency (GOVERNMENT AGENCY) proved to be very useful. They provided us with descriptions of similar work they have done in the past. GOVERNMENT AGENCY provided us with the Village Earth Model that they applied in projects in India and Africa. This model was used as a reference and a guideline for our project. The Village Earth Model is designed to address global poverty. It is a fresh approach to simulating and sustaining village development (Village Earth Model, 2006).
The group also brainstormed on the specifics of the Afghan Community Development Project and came up with ways to contact other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and potential sponsors. The group concluded a specific method to approach the project and a budget. The group then went on to write a formal proposal. The next step was to contact several NGOs and potential sponsors. The group contacted the individuals.
One person works for the World Bank in Afghanistan. Although she was not prepared to take up the project due to time constraints, she was however able to provide us with useful information on the Afghan culture and expected risks for implementing such a development program in Afghanistan.
Another person works for The organization International. She is currently involved in community development programs specializing in health for Afghanistan. She was willing to be our client and discuss the idea as a potential project. She suggested that we approach the Civil Society and Global Health and Nutrition departments at A specific organization because they work specifically on Community Development projects in development and health.
The Ambassador is the Afghan ambassador in Japan. He expressed his willingness to provide his contacts at the Kabul University to provide help and logistical support. Part of the first phase of our proposal will be to contact and recruit people from the University to help our group visit local communities and lead community workshops.
Another person is our contact at the World Bank, She works on many European projects in development and has a 10 year background in finance and budgeting of Global Development Projects. She assisted our group to formulate an estimated budget for our two year project.
The group was not successful in establishing contacts with the United Nations Development Program and Red Cross. Due to time constraints and lack of response the group decided to not pursue these NGOs. After contacting several potential clients from A specific organization expressed her interest in the program and agreed to be the client.
After receiving confirmation from that specific organization is willing to be our client, the group held several clarification meetings with her to discuss goals and objectives, recruitment, training, budget, infrastructure facilities, and logistical support.
Using the feedback provided by her, the group went on to modify the proposal according to the client’s requirements.
3.0 Redefining the Problem
We proposed to our client, The organization International, an idea for a community development project targeted towards identifying and solving any community related issues or problems. The purpose of the proposal is to train community members in villages in Afghanistan how to become community leaders. The goal is to teach the villagers a process that they can use to identify any health, economic, educational and social issues affecting their community. After initial consultation with The organization International, they reviewed the proposal and proposed changes to make the project feasible.
A specific organizationrequested a community development framework, targeting a more specific community related problem, i.e. – economic, education, health etc. They expressed concern that a development framework with a wide scope to handle any community related issues will be too much for the locals to adapt and use. They pointed out that most Afghan villagers are not educated and have never used a community framework that is run by the citizens themselves. A specific organization wanted us to reframe the proposal to target only one specific community related issue. Because A specific organization already has development programs in Afghanistan in the field of economics and education, we decided to target only health for our community development project.
In addition, the client requested that the Community Development Project start in Kabul the capital of Afghanistan, and later be spread throughout the country to more indigent cities. The client favored this approach since they already have facilities, development infrastructures, and personnel stationed in Kabul. The client felt that they are better equipped to recruit and train people as needed for the community development project in Kabul and then export the idea to other parts of the country. As a result, the proposal was re-defined to meet the client’s needs and preferences.
4.0 Strategic Plan
4.1 HistorGovernment Agencyl Background
Afghanistan has had a history of warfare for over two decades. As a result, people in Afghanistan have been left impoverished, illiterate, and without access to basic services such as clean water. This led to the catastrophic rise in many diseases. Several health care NGOs have concluded that the rise of diseases can be leveled by simple preventive measures such as washing hands, boiling water, taking vitamin supplements to prevent blindness, and taking anti-diarrhea pills.
Some health problems that have troubled the Afghan population are maternal mortality rates and infant and child mortality rates. A study done by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), UNICEF, and the Afghan Ministry of Health estimates infant mortality to be 1,600 per 100,000 live births (Tackling Maternal Mortality, 2006, first paragraph). Some cities have much higher maternal mortality rates of up to 6,000 per 100,000 live births, due to lack of sanitation and mothers giving birth at home without proper medGovernment Agencyl attention and care (Afghanistan’s Maternal and Child Mortality rates, 2006, page 1).
4.2 Project Team
The Afghan Community Development Team will provide capacity building by offering technGovernment Agencyl assistance and training to communities in Afghanistan. Our objective is to provide local Afghans with a framework that will enable them to effectively solve community-related problems. Our aim is to train and enable the Afghan people to work with community members to identify areas of improvement, and then develop solutions that can be propagated out to the community. Our goal is to start the training program in Kabul and then have a chain reaction going through a thousand villages in ten years.
4.3 Project Plan
The group will collaborate with the organization, to have access to their training facility in their headquarters in Washington D.C. The group will initially recruit one program manager, three associates and one assistant living in the USA who speak Dari/Pashto fluently. The four members will undergo intensive training for six weeks, prior to departing to Kabul in August 2007. Once in Kabul, the staff members will visit the local university and establish a network of local Afghans. The staff member with the help of the new recruits will then embark in a city wide recruitment campaign to recruit new members. The group will specifically target universities, mosques, local town hall meetings, and other NGOs.