Abdul Rahman is a member of the Community Development Council (CDC) in Mehterlam district, Laghman province. He is responsible for the Food Bank established under CDC and said that the Citizens’ Charter Program had a lot of influence on the community and is being implemented very well: "I am responsible to collect money and food from community members. We purchased more food items and distributed those to the poor people in the community."

The CDC members meet every couple of weeks and discuss different issues, especially how to reduce the costs of wedding ceremonies. In Afghanistan people get into debt in order to pay for big wedding parties which are traditionally and culturally expected. The CCAP is trying to change that tradition in order to mitigate poverty in rural communities.

Abdul Rahman implemented what he learnt: "My daughter got married and we had a small wedding reception, and I also did not want a dowry from the groom." He also stated: "When my brother returned from the Haj I told him not to call anyone and to come straight home. By doing that I could prevent potential car accidents which happen often when too many people greet the Haj returnees."

Since mid-2017, DACAAR has been implementing the CCAP in Kunar, Laghman and Nuristan provinces and supports every year about 356,830 direct beneficiaries (50% women).

According to the World Bank who is the main funder, the CCAP is the first inter-ministerial program where Ministries collaborate on a single program in both rural and urban areas. The objective is to improve the delivery of core infrastructure and social services to participating communities through strengthened CDCs. The CCAP program started 2016 and will last until 2021.

By:
Attaullah Noori,DACAAR, CCAP Manager
Dagmar Ruehrig, DACAAR, Grants & Communications Adviser
Zohal Nasrat, DACAAR, Communication Assistant