If I were an NGO worker in Afghanistan..

What would I do? There are good things happening in Afghanistan that could be built on. I would not reinvent the wheel, as they say. For now, the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) implemented in multi-ethnic Afghanistan is recognized as viable solution at this moment to keep up the fragile status-quo of relative peace. A solution presupposes a problem.

In Afghanistan case, the problem is the "fragile status-quo" of peace situation. The volatility of the situation is described in such a way that a conflict between warring warlords can arise anytime. A viable solution assumes the achievability of the solution by the stakeholders involved especially the US-led forces. Thus, is PRT a viable solution in Afghanistan?

After the fall of the Taliban-regime in Kabul in 2001, the invading US-led forces found Afghanistan packed by warlords who autonomously ruled their own territories with an army of their own. With the Taliban pushed to the margins of Afghanistan but still a threat to security, the US and its allies thought of rebuilding the country on its own feet. Foremost of which was to build an army to secure the population and government to do their daily lives and perform their tasks. Spending billions of dollars to sustain the "fragile status-quo" of peace, the foreign forces trained locals to be part of the national army to replace the foreign forces eventually.

Apart from building an army, the allied forces invited and prepared the leaders of local ethnic groups who happen to be the warlords of a particular area to participate in the political process like election to legitimately rule their own territories under the centralized government. I think the provision of legitimacy to the warlords who have a de facto government in their territory is a good idea. Better yet is the idea of federalizing the territories ruled by warlords to give them more autonomy. Their armies would be commissioned as security forces in their area while they contribute some forces to the national army.

What are PRTs? They are civil-military units that handle both security and reconstruction matters. To win the hearts and minds of the locals and to show that they are not antagonistic to the locals, these units were
created to respond to the security, social, and infrastructure needs of the locals.

These hybrid units though of the allied forces in Afghanistan generated and posed confusion to the NGOs and local communities. For us NGOs, these PRTs are making the locals confused of who the combatants and NGO workers are. The distinctions become blurred with PRTs. This confusion puts us, NGO workers, at risk. It is admitted that there are hostile groups to the allied forces. To be identified with the allied forces loses our identity as NGO, neutrality, and independence.

To address the confusion, I think it is important to highlight the NGOs expertise on development process and methodology. One criticism that PRTs face is that development work that they do is NOT their field of expertise. NGO workers can separate themselves from the PRTs by utilizing the indigenous knowledge and ways of the locals into their work. This is called indigenizing development.

Another tactic is to let the PRTs do the infrastructures projects such as school building, water system, electricity, roads, while the NGOs handle the social projects such as education, health, and livelihood. For example in the field of education, the PRTs can construct school-buildings while the NGOs provide books and materials, and teachers' training and supervision until the local government can assume the responsibility. This division of task and type of projects to implement can expel the confusion between PRTs and NGO workers.

On top of that, I would demonstrate the traits which make me an NGO worker - approachable, accommodating, neutral, flexible, open, easy to get along with, sociable, good-humored, sincere, etc. These traits would help distinguish me from the PRTs.

I hope these division of projects and traits are enough to keep my life and do what I love doing - serving others.

When I chose to work in Afghanistan, I knew what I was getting into. I was aware of the possible consequences and sacrifices. But because of my vocation and mission to serve others in need, I still decided to work in Afghanistan. This is where I feel my presence is needed most.