Thematic Priorities

The Swiss Medium-Term Strategy for Afghanistan covers short term needs (satisfaction of immediate demands of the people), as well as medium and long-term strategic priorities to enable public and private actors to assume their responsibilities in the long run. Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid are jointly included in the following two programme components having gender as a cross cutting theme:

Component 1: Governance and Protection

Switzerland sets intervention priorities on the  local, national and international level with focus on policy dialogue, advocacy, awareness and capacity building, agenda setting and institutions building (public and private) in the following areas:

Rule of Law, with specific focus on:

Human Rights: policy and institutional support to strategic partners and their policies or related civil society organizations; International Humanitarian Law: access to victims with regard to monitoring of detainees and

the situation in conflict areas.

• Access to Justice: strengthening duty bearers (state institutions) and awareness building within the population (rights-holders).

• Security Sector reform: specific support to the police reform; activities to improve overall protection from domestic and gender-based violence.

Local Governance, with specific focus on capacity building and creation of legitimacy for:

• Provincial and District Administration: Policy and technical support to enable administrations to deliver quality goods and services to the public in a timely manner; assistance in policy adaptations and financial management.

• Civic Education and Citizen’s Awareness on local governance such as support to local media and traditional forums, civil society and community-based organizations.

Component 2: Livelihood Improvement

Switzerland sets intervention priorities on the local and national level with focus on capacity and awareness building (software) as well as basic infrastructure (hardware) with a sustainable livelihood approach in the following areas:

Economic Development, with specific emphasis on:

• Rural development: Special focus on agriculture, horticulture and livestock.

• Private sector development (SME) in areas with an economic potential (with a particular focus on income

generation of needy people with an entrepreneurial sense).

• Economic infrastructure: Focus on small-scale irrigation and soil conservation.

Social Development, with specific emphasis on:

• Health: Special focus on prevention, health education and community-based health services.

• Education: Quality improvement of government schools through teacher training as well as adult literacy and youth promotion.

• Social infrastructure: Emphasis on water and sanitation management.

Activities in this component shall be disaster resilient. Disaster Risk Reduction is therefore integrated as a cross-cutting theme into livelihood

improvement programmes. During the validity period of the MTSA, the programme will – along with a further streamlining of activities – move within both of these thematic priorities from a project to a programme

approach.

Given the unequal access of men and women to resources and decision making, Gender has been and remains an integral part of planning, implementation and monitoring of all Swiss funded activities in Afghanistan.

Geographical Focus

The implementation of the programme in terms of livelihood improvement will be geographically

concentrated on the north-eastern and central, remote, hilly and mountainous areas including the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Bamyan, Samangan and Takhar. In the field of Governance and Protection, project implementation covers both the national and local level.

Main Partners

Government of Afghanistan: Ministries of Interior, Women's Affairs, Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Education; Independent Directorate for Local Governance (IDLG).

Multilateral Agencies: UNDP, UNHCR, WFP, FAO, UNIFEM, ICRC.

Swiss Organizations: Helvetas, Terre des hommes Lausanne, Intercooperation, SKAT.

International Organisations: Afghanaid UK, OXFAM UK, Aga Khan Development Network, Global Rights, Sport sans Frontière, and various national organizations such as Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), BBC AEP (Afghanistan Education Programme), Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN), Afghanistan Civil Society Forum (ACSF), Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), Foundation for Culture and Civil Society (FCCS), and Afghanistan NGO Security Office (ANSO).