At DACAAR we realise that the conservative nature of Afghan society requires innovative approaches to ensure that women are not left out of the development process. In response to such challenges, and whilst working closely with community elders, DACAAR introduced its first Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) in 2005.

All women living in the community can participate in the activities offered by the WRC, but no men are allowed to enter the centres. This policy secures a high degree of support from the local community as well as provides a neutral space for women to discuss shared interests and concerns along with the opportunity to learn new skills, establish small business enterprises and as a result increase their self-sufficiency and self-esteem.

To ensure the meaningful participation and local ownership of projects, each WRC nominates its own management committee along with a president, who has ultimate responsibility for the running of the WRC. We provide women with the skills and expertise so that all decisions regarding the WRC are made by the management committee with DACAAR only acting in an advisory capacity.

WRCs are designed to become self-sustainable organisations after an implementation period of one to two years. This means that all WRCs must identify ways to generate enough income to cover at least their annual operating costs.

What we do…

Not only do we provide women with training in literacy, social organisation, business planning, community management skills through the WRCs, but we also work closely with the women to design business plans and set up income generating projects, including ladies shops, candle making, dish renting, tailoring and cheese production among others. In this way we are not only ensuring the long-term sustainability of the WRCs, but by teaching new skills to rural women, we are contributing to the economic empowerment of women in relation to their families as well as the wider community.

Critical to the long-term success of WRCs is the establishment of links within the local community.  We therefore aim for a high level of involvement from local government officials in all our training sessions in addition to organising conferences and exhibitions, where WRCs can display their goods and services to local businessmen and women.  

What we’ve achieved…

In 2005 our first WRC was inaugurated in Ghazni province. Since then we have gone on to establish a further 11 WRCs in Herat, Laghman, Parwan, Paktia and Faryab provinces benefiting over 4,700 households. During these four years we have witnessed various success stories with women, who after becoming active members of WRCs were able to gain increased social respect and personal freedom, find permanent jobs, start their own businesses and join NGOs and government ministries, among other achievements.