ACBAR

Capacity Building and Organizational Development

Background to ACBAR Capacity Building

Under the Capacity Building and Organization Development pillar, ACBAR seeks to achieve four primary goals through capacity building interventions for its members and other national NGOs/CSOs. These include:

• Develop the capacity of member organizations and personnel to be more effective actors
• Improve NGO knowledge of national & international standards & best practices.
• Capacitate local authorities to more fully understand & deliver humanitarian work.
• Help members find appropriate human resources solutions
• Given these goals, the capacity building and organization development pillar set out a Strategic Objective (Impact) to “Strengthened institutional & service delivery capacities of ACBAR members & civil society actors”. Similarly, the pillar sets out to achieve two (2) Intermediate Results (Outcomes) including:
• Improved NNGO knowledge of international standards and best practice in the humanitarian & development sectors.
• Increased capacity of NNGOs to engage with the humanitarian clusters and the humanitarian sector at large.

Since 2015, ACBAR with funding from Japan Partners (AAR Japan, JVC and Peace Winds Japan), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), formerly the Department for International Development (DFID), has been implementing programs aimed at building the capacity of staff and organization development of National NGOs/CSOs to enhance the delivery of quality humanitarian assistance.

These capacity building efforts of ACBAR are implemented through training and mentoring on technical thematic and organizational/institutional areas tailored to need-specific gaps identified through organizational capacity assessment (OCA).
Prior to the introduction of the Twinning strategy in its capacity building activity, ACBAR in partnership with three other NGOs coordination networks (SWABAC, ANCB, and ACSFO) built the capacity of 243 NGOs (NNGO and INGOs) through the funding from Japan Partners (AAR Japan, JVC and Peace Winds Japan). ACBAR also implemented a  capacity building project with funding the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).  
Training
Training is one of two key approaches to capacity building and organization development employed by ACBAR. ACBAR recognizes the critical importance of training in capacity development of national Non-Governmental Organizations (NNGOs) to enhance their effectiveness and sustainability in delivering quality humanitarian assistance. Under the Capacity and Development pillar of ACBAR strategy, the training of NNGOs is preceded by the conduct of a comprehensive Organization Capacity Assessments (OCAs) of the targeted NNGO partners. The assessment enables ACBAR to identify specific needs and gaps on the part of the NNGO partners, guiding the design of appropriate trainings that enhance their capacity. ACBAR master trainers are delegated to develop training modules, plan, manage and facilitate the trainings. Additionally, ACBAR master trainers also collaborate with external experts to provide specialized trainings.
To ensure the effectiveness of the training initiatives, ACBAR implements a robust evaluation process. Participants undergo a pre-test to assess their technical knowledge before the training begins, followed by a post-test to measure their progress and learning outcomes. Additionally, our Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) department prepares detailed questionnaires to gather feedback from participants regarding the training content and delivery. This feedback is invaluable as it informs future training sessions and enhances the overall quality of our capacity-building efforts. Through these initiatives, ACBAR remains committed to strengthening the capabilities of NNGOs, ultimately contributing to more effective humanitarian responses in the communities they serve.
Examples of some of the key trainings offered to staff of NNGOs participating in the ACBAR’s program are listed below. In most cases, given that targeted trainings are based on gaps/needs identified during the OCA, NNGO’s participation compulsory.

• Strategic planning
• Project/Program management Life Cycle
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Financial management and Legal compliances
• Accountability towards Affected population (AAP) including CFRM
• Project design and Proposal writing Core Humanitarian standards (CHS)
• Anti-Corruption and Anti-Fraud
• Fundraising (Donor Mapping and Networking)
• Advocacy and Negotiation
• Gender and Safeguarding in Humanitarian Sector
• Emergency Response Mechanism (ERM)
• Advanced Proposal Writing

Also, additional trainings will be arranged for NNGOs partners based on recommendation from stakeholders including FCDO (UK AID), Clusters, Advisors, UNOCHA, and access to trainers.
Mentorship

Mentoring is another approach to NNGO’s capacity building and organization development in ACBAR.  ACBAR mentoring focuses on ensuring that requisite policies, frameworks documents, and systems are institutionalized within the target NNGOs. The review of documents, declaration and policies/manuals is one of the keys to mentoring the NNGOs to success in being funded by donors including the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund. There are two types of mentoring that occur for the NNGO partners. These include mentoring by ACBAR Remote Managers (i.e., experienced Humanitarian Professionals) and mentoring by the Advisors (Director and Focal Points who are experienced managers).  The mentoring by ACBAR and Advisors are focus on different areas by reviewing and providing advices on required documents, declarations, and policies, which are generally requested by donors.

1. Key documents include but not limited to:

• Status of operation
• Registration Certificate
• Membership certificate of coordination bodies (clusters)
• Annual Report
• Annual Work plan
• Audit report
• M&E reports
• List of implemented projects
• Bank statement

2. Key Declarations (signed copies) include but not limited to:

• Declaration of Conflict of Interest (staff signed copies)
• Declaration of non-support for UN designated entity/individual
• Declaration of recognition and support of/for any UN compliance activity
• Declaration of recognition that provision of false misleading information or statement is wrong
• Declaration of any previous or pending legal process or investigation

3. Key Policies/manuals recommended for donors include but not limited to:

• Governance Policy
• Procurement and Logistics
• Human Resources
• Finance and Administration
• Security, safety and access
• Gender, inclusion, and environment
• Child protection
• Code of Conduct

Field Visits and Assessment

Field Visits are actually field practicum meant for NNGO partners to integrate the knowledge from the training through practice. It is actually for mentoring purposes by the advisors; while involvement in Assessments is meant to support the cluster in mapping humanitarian needs to inform assistance.

ACBAR Twinning Program

The Twinning Programme is a flagship programme of ACBAR’s Capacity Building and Organization Strengthening Strategic Pillar. Starting back in 2015 with funding from the UK AID (DFID) to response to capacity gaps among national humanitarian actors, the Twinning Programme aims to improve national NGOs capacity to access direct funding from potential donors and funding sources, including the OCHA Country Based Pooled Fund (CBPF), “the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF)” and directly contribute to the humanitarian response as envisioned in the Localization Agenda. The Twinning Programme employed a strategy that pairs national NGO partners with experienced INGO or NNGO acting as Advisors to provide mentoring and guidance on institutional management, humanitarian practices, fundraising, and strategic planning.

Since the first twinning programme was launched in 2015, ACBAR has successfully implemented two (2) twinning programmes, with the 3^rd programme currently ongoing. Given the context and operating environment in Afghanistan, the overall risk rating of the twinning programme is major. But owing to the capacity gaps among national NNGOs, the demand for the Twinning Programme outweighs the risk.

The first Twinning Programme (alias, TP1) was implemented from February 2015 to March 2019. This was followed by a second Twinning programme (alias, TP2)” which was implemented from August 2019 to September 2023; and now the third Twinning Programme (alias, SHAPE TPP) was started on October 1, 2023 and shall be ending on March 31, 2026.

The Twinning Programme 1 (TP1) capacitated a total of 25 national NGOs through training in variety of topics and mentoring on policies design and implementation among others by ACBAR technical staff and external consultants.

And based on lessons learned from TP1, the Twinning Programme 2 (TP2) built the capacity of additional 40 national NGOs of two cohorts in partnership with 14 Advisors.

• Cohort 1 (TP2): comprised of Cohort 1 NNGOs are 20 NNGOs, but 3 closed since the IEA returned.
• Cohort 2 (TP2): comprised of Cohort 2 NNGOs are 20 NNGOs which were twinned with 14 Advisors.

The third Twinning Programme called “Strengthening Humanitarian Assistance and Protection Response Twinning Programme Plus” (alias, SHAPE TPP) is a two and half years (30 months) intervention which seeks to contribute to improved humanitarian programme and protection response in Afghanistan through fostering the localization agenda with National NGOs including women-led organizations. Built upon lessons learned from Twinning Program 2, the SHAPE TPP set out to achieve two outcomes and five outputs through seven key activities.
Outcomes:

1. Improved coordination among stakeholders, strengthened advocacy, protection and organizational capacity of NNGOs, including women-led/women-focused organizations.
2. Increased participation and improved capabilities of NNGOs to implement AHF, humanitarian and development programmes either individually or in partnership with other NGOs that deliver essential aid and services. TPP includes 1st and 2nd Cohort transfer from TP2 per MoU in force.
   Outputs:
   1.1: Stakeholders, I/NNGOs including women-led orgs active in advocacy, networking, collaboration, and protection.
   1.2: ACBAR 's mentoring including Organizational Capacity Assessments and training meets the needs of the participating NNGOs and increases their capacity and ability in humanitarian advocacy, protection, collaboration, networking, AAP, CFRM with gender components in ACBAR Kabul and Regional Offices.
   2.1: ACBAR 's mentoring and training meets the needs of the participating NNGOs and increases their capacity and ability to manage programmes and apply for funding through twinning partnerships, include TP2 Cohort 1 and 2.
   2.2: Advisors mentor NNGOs with MoUs to build capacity, including policy review, technical twinning, director meetings, and practical field visits, and receive an administrative fee for each partner they mentor.
   2.3: Participating NNGOs are actively engaged in UN-led humanitarian system; Cohort 1 not transferred to this output as 16 of 17 NNGO partners have graduated; 2nd Cohort transfer from TP2.
   Key Activities:

• Conduct Organization Capacity Assessment (OCA) for NNGOs
• Training - Need-based Capacity Building based on OCA results
• Effective Coordination among NNGO partners/members of ACBAR 
• NNGOs Network Collaboration
• AAP/CFRM Strengthening
• Mentoring – through ACBAR mentors called Remote Managers and Advisor (INGO/NNGO’s Director and Technical focal point) 
• Field Visits and Assessments

The SHAPE TPP targets 61 national NGOs partners which are divided into three cohorts. The first cohort comprises of 17 NNGOs partners. NNGOs in this cohort were transitioned from the Twinning Program 2 to ensure their risk level are reduced from medium risk to low risk, and shall be graduating at the end of their current MoU on 31 March 2025. The second cohort includes 20 NNGOs partners and 14 Advisors NGOs (12 International NGOs and 2 national NGOs) also incorporated from the Twinning Program 2.  NNGOs in this cohort will continue with the program until the end of December 2025. Similarly, the third cohort encompasses of 24 Women-Led and Women-Focused Organizations (WLOs/WFOs) that are NNGOs and/or CSOs which shall continue until the end of the program on 31, March 2026. The 24 NNGO partners of SHAPE TPP cohort 3 were selected through a thorough vetting process. See please the details list of NNGOs partners of TP1, TP2, Shape TPP, and Advisors NGOs by clicking the below link:

(https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1u5c1PFmOn5_p0cKstI_PXhpfhYJ6O4sPtOPtV16xlpo/edit?usp=sharing

SHAPE TPP Participation Selection Process
The Selection of NNGOs partners for the SHAPE TPP is done through a transparent and competitive process which begins with the publishing of an express of interest on ACBAR’s website. Applications received are then screened based on a set of criteria. And following the screening, a shortlist of NNGO applicants are then produced for due Diligence visit. Further screening is done based on Due Diligence findings, those NNGOs that made it forward as the invited to participate in the organization capacity assessment (OCA). Following the OCA, the final list of NNGOs is produced and the selected NNGOs are then informed of their selection to participate in the programme. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed between ACBAR and the selected NNGOs. The MOU outlined the roles and responsibilities of the parties (i.e., ACBAR, Advisors, and NNGOs) to the MOU. Click on the link below for the roles and responsibilities:

LINK: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjffjf1ri1cVQ6OaVh6bICS7cA6DQeTo/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105624481383318772761&rtpof=true&sd=true

Given the planned final graduation of the 17 NNGOs of cohort 1 in March 2025, following the post support OCA/SWOT, an additional NNGOs will be selected to join the program from April 2024 until March 2026. This will be preceded by a call for an Express of Interest in December 2025.

Below is the list of criteria:

Candidates must:

• Be registered with the Ministry of Economy and current with reporting
• Be at least 3 years old as of Oct. 31, 2019
• Have managed a minimum of $200,000 program funds combined in the last two years
• Have at least one active program/project
• Fill out the Fact Sheet for National NGOs and return it to ACBAR by the deadline Sept 3, 2019 with the requested documents including a 2018 or other past year organizational annual report and 3 references including one from the clusters if available
• Be attending cluster meetings for one or more cluster:
• Health
• Nutrition
• Food Security
• WASH
• Emergency shelter/NFIs
• Protection and/or sub-clusters or working groups