Afghan Peace Leaders: Reconciliation Through Exchange

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The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is pleased to announce an open competition for eligible organizations to submit applications to carry out a program to familiarize provincial leaders from 34 provinces of Afghanistan with peace and reconciliation techniques, experiences, and methods. The recipient of the cooperative agreement to be awarded through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will implement, annually, a two to three week international exchange program (Phase 1) and a follow-on summit (Phase 2) for up to 34 Afghan local leaders from 34 provinces of Afghanistan. The exchanges will take Afghan participants to two locations (for approximately two to three weeks total) to witness firsthand examples of successful post-conflict reconciliation, and learn how to facilitate and support their own reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan. Participants should be able to take the skills, knowledge, and experiences they acquire during their exchange to create a strategy that local leaders across Afghanistan can use to strengthen and support reconciliation. The recipient will facilitate the development of a “tool kit” type product that will include common goals, action items, talking points, and next steps for participants to follow and/or implement upon their return to Afghanistan. Exposure to successful post-conflict reconciliation cases will enable selected leaders to visualize a post-conflict Afghanistan, and determine what steps they can implement today to advance peace and reconciliation. This program will bring Afghans together from different ethnic groups and equip them with the problem-solving and conflict resolution skills necessary to advance peace and reconciliation at the local level.

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