In July 2009, the U.S. Ambassador in Afghanistan announced a grants program for civil society organizations that are working to secure gender equality for Afghan women and girls. Funded by USAID and administered by Creative Associates, Common Ground is playing the role of institutional development specialist, responsible for a variety of key deliverables.

Our involvement in the project began in the summer of 2009 when we were asked to provide our best thinking about how to create a structured capacity building initiative for the program's future grantees. Our work continued in the fall of that year when our first visit to Kabul included the drafting of the project's logic model (log frame) and results framework.

With the goal of the program to improve the status and quality of life of Afghan women and girls, it was also our job during that first on-site visit to prepare the local and expat staff for their challenging roles. Through training and coaching, we laid the groundwork for powerful leaders to emerge.

In the midst of war, high-trust relationships are difficult to find. Nevertheless, if a program like this one is to be successful, trust must be cultivated. All around the world, Common Ground has sparked conversations about the “Economics of Trust.” In Afghanistan, this has been an integral part of our work with program staff, the organizations seeking funding, and the consultants and technical assistance providers we've trained.

Working closely with the program's leadership, we've developed a new Institutional and Gender Audit Tool (I&GA) which measures traditional organizational capacity, but through a carefully-designed “gender frame.” Emphasizing gender mainstreaming, this facilitated self-assessment creates a baseline and benchmarks for potential grantees in seven priority competency areas.

One of our primary responsibilities with the ASGP is working with a cadre of local experts, preparing them to be the project's primary technical assistance providers. These experts participated in an adapted version of Common Ground's “Consulting Academy.” We've lead this highly-interactive, multi-day workshop in several countries, helping civil society activists learn practical ways of thinking, talking, and acting in their roles as “consultants.”

Working closely with the Ministry of Women's Affairs, the Afghan Women's Educational Center and both local and international gender experts, the ASGP and all of the program components we're supporting are attempting to mainstream gender conversations into the important work of Afghanistan's civil society sector, particularly civil society organizations (CSOs) that are focusing on women and girls.

One of the critical components of the Ambassador's Small Grants Program is to strengthen the capacity of CSOs and the Ministry of Women's Affairs to advocate effectively, reliably, and consistently on behalf of women constituents to influence policy and decision-making. One way of doing this is by creating opportunities for both women and men to work together to advocate effectively for change.

One of the key components of the ASGP is the awarding of millions of dollars in grants to women-focused CSOs. With this aspect of the work, we train the project's Capacity Development Technical Assistants (CDTAs). These consultants work closely with potential grantees, establishing baselines when it comes to their capacity; assisting in the creation of institutional strengthening plans; and helping applicants shape grant proposals.

Common Ground has been afforded the opportunity to leverage a variety of our strengths in service of an important set of outcomes. It has tapped our experience in dealing with oppression (in this case gender inequality). It has required our expertise when it comes to measuring and improving institutional capacity and sustainability. And, it has offered us the chance to practice what we preach— “live life on the edge of your comfort zone.”