The Community Development Projects work with selected communities to increase their capacity to meet their basic needs, to encourage their continued development using their own resources, and to improve their individual and communal lives in a just and sustainable manner.
The Community Development Project North, based in Mazar-i-Sharif, completed its initial three year pilot project in June 1997 and has been working in that region ever since. The project is designed to apply community-based participatory development principles in rural Afghan communities, assisting target communities to achieve measurable improvements in their lives, based upon their own priorities and action plans. Teams of facilitators assist village people to identify their problems, recognize causes of those problems and devise plans to overcome them. The CDP stimulates the establishment and enhancement of Development Committees, Women’s Committees, and Focus Groups for projects which affect the whole community and also with sub-sections of the community and with individuals. All activities undertaken are initiated by village communities or by CDP at the community’s request, and always require community participation. Work in water and sanitation, basic health training, and agriculture are among the projects undertaken each year. The CDP provides technical and material inputs for projects only when needs exceed village resources. CDP North is currently involved in four villages in the Mazar region. In the coming years CDP North plans to expand its work into other regions of northern Afghanistan. |
