Human Capacity Development of Afghan Universities

The ‘Human Capacity Development of Afghan Universities’ (HCD/AU) project aims to return a number of Afghan higher education institutes and faculties to excellence through networking with and through training at other Himalayan universities. While the HCD/AU project is relatively modest in financial terms, its beauty lies in its regional character and its focus on the ‘mountain agenda’. Regional collaboration acknowledges and capitalises upon the fact that knowledge institutions in the region have expanded and deepened tremendously over the past decades. The ‘mountain agenda’ aims to help mountain communities – characterised among others by fragile ecosystems, inaccessibility, and high biodiversity in their pursuit of sustainable development in the face of climate change, globalisation, population growth, and (often) reconstruction. While ICIMOD coordinates this project on a practical level, it is an initiative of the Himalayan University Consortium (HUC), for whom the HCD/AU project is its first concrete activity.

Objectives

The ‘Human Capacity Development of Afghan Universities’ (HCD/AU) project aims to enhance the performance of Kabul University and other selected universities and institutes related to higher education in Afghanistan, in pursuit of the environmental and development needs of Afghanistan’s mountain communities in the reconstruction phase. To this end the project offers study, consultation, and research opportunities at, or offered by, members of the ‘Himalayan University Consortium’ (HUC). Through these activities, the project simultaneously develops knowledge networks among resource centres in, or oriented towards, the Himalayan region.

The objective is to strengthen the capacity of the faculty members and staff of Afghan universities in general and Kabul University in particular, aiming to help the latter to regain its position as a leading university in the western Himalayas and in the development of Afghanistan.

Duration

March 2008 – August 2011

Geographical coverage

Afghanistan
China
India
Nepal
Pakistan

Core financial partners/development partners/sponsors

Financing partner:International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada

Development Partners: This project is an initiative of the HUC, a network for education and research for sustainable mountain development of the Himalayas, established in 2007.

ICIMOD functions as secretariat of the HUC (as an umbrella organization or network), and as project implementation unit of the HCD/AU project. The project is governed by a ‘Project Steering Committee’ (PSC) comprising five HUC members, and ultimately by the full HUC as it gathers for its annual meeting.

Implementing partners

Afghanistan: Kabul University
Nepal: HUC

Contact information

Madhav Karki
Project Director
mkarki@icimod.org

Diederik Prakke
Project Manager
dprakke@icimod.org