Community Peacebuilding in Afghanistan: The case for a national strategy

Overview

Peacebuilding efforts in Afghanistan have not been successful, not just because of the revival of the Taliban, it is due to the non participatory approaches currently employed in these strategies which excludes fundamental units of the Afghan society such as families, communities and tribes. This report builds a case for community involvement in peacebuilding efforts in Afghanistan in which Afghan people will form the core of such initiatives to achieve long lasting peace. The paper is based on various research findings previously collected by Oxfam on security in various countries, particularly the Oxfam security survey of 2007 in Afghanistan where 500 randomly selected Afghan respondents participated. Six provinces including Herat, Nangahar, Balk, Gazni, Daikundi, and Kandahar were investigated for their security status and classed according to UN categorisation of access risk. The report concludes that participatory approaches to peacebuilding is the key to long lasting security in Afghanistan.