The Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and Development, ACBAR, is an independent forum founded in 1988 in response to the demand from NGOs working with Afghan refugees in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan to more efficiently coordinate assistance and delivery of services. With its main office in Kabul since 2002, ACBAR brings together 211 National and International NGOs working in in all sectors of humanitarian assistance and development in Afghanistan. Based on the 3 pillars of Information and Coordination, Advocacy and Enabling Environment, and Capacity Building, ACBAR’s activities focus heavily on sharing information with members, coordination of members and the aid community in general, at the national and regional levels, and carrying out advocacy on issues affecting the work of its members and other I/NNGO in Afghanistan. ACBAR has a mission to provide an efficient platform for members to carry out effective humanitarian, development, and peace building activities in Afghanistan. The members are the drive behind ACBAR, and their active participation is essential to ACBAR’s continuous dynamism.
For more than ten years, ACBAR has supported its members with programs designed to raise the internal capacity of national and local NGO’s to successfully acquire and implement humanitarian and development programs. Through the various “Twinning” programs that ACBAR has implemented, more than 100 NGO partners have received this support, with many going on to become strong, influential NGO leaders across the country. But as the operating context and funding environment continues to change, ACBAR will transition our capacity strengthening program to a service-oriented model that builds off the knowledge and experience we have gained as an organization under past programs, while making our services accessible to more members and more fit-for-purpose in the current environment.