The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) is a national human rights institution. The mandate of this organization is to monitor and to promote human rights and to report human rights violations. In Afghanistan, where human rights violations are very severe and frequent, civil society organizations can play an important role in promoting and monitoring human rights. Therefore, CSHRN was established to support human rights and to strengthen the role of NGOs in the promotion of human rights. Consequently, CSHRN is a coordination center for civil society organizations, which works in a complementary way to AIHRC for the promotion of human rights in Afghanistan .
4. Does CSHRN work with the State?
CSHRN promotes human rights in Afghanistan through working with NGOs, state institutions, and academic circles. From the beginning on, CSHRN has involved state institutions in a dialogue as well as in capacity building programs. CSHRN works specifically with those state institutions that are daily involved in human rights in Afghanistan, such as the Police, the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, the General Prosecution Office and the Ministry of Culture and Information.
5. Does CSHRN work only in Kabul ?
During the first two years, CSHRN only carried out activities in Kabul, but at the same time, it started to pave the way for its activities in the provinces. From August 2005 onwards, CSHRN organized some educational programs in the provinces. Today, CSHRN works in three regions and has regional offices in Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat. Unfortunately, CSHRN could not open a regional office in the south of Afghanistan, due to security reasons.
6. What are the membership procedures of CSHRN? Can an individual citizen become a member of the network?
CSHRN is a center for human rights organizations. That is why only NGOS that work for the promotion of human rights can become members of the network. However, CSHRN works with a number of individual intellectual, who form an expert circle. They support the network during consultative meetings and gatherings. They equally participate in the general assembly of the network, but they are not entitled to vote.
So far, the membership for the network is free.
7. Who is the president of the network?
CSHRN is a democratic organization with the General Assembly as its highest organ. The General Assembly, consisting of all the member organizations, meets once a year in order to approve the annual activity report of the network. The Steering Committee is democratically elected by the General Assembly. During the year, the Steering Committee monitors the activities of the network.
The network has an executive secretariat, that implements the programs of CSHRN. Mr. Mohammad Naim Nazari is the Coordinator, Mr. Wazir Ahmad Khorami the Head of the Capacity Building Section, Mr. Ahmad Sayer Lalee the Head of the Finance and Administration section, Mrs. Gul Bashra the Officer in charge of the Educational Unit and Mrs. Frozan Arezo in charge of the Resource Center. In the regions, Dr. Niamatullah Hamdard is the coordinator for the eastern regions, Mr. Soroush Kazemi for the northern and northeastern regions and Mrs. Aziza Khairandish for the western regions.
CSHRN works in accordance with democratic principles and in a transparent and accountable way.
8. Who are the donors of the network?
CSHRN is supported by the Danish and the Swiss governments. With the cooperation of its donors, CSHRN provides regularly financial reports about its activities in a transparent and accountable way.
However, CSHRN is an independent organization that designs its own strategy, its goals, its vision and mission. The financial and the activity reports are available for all member organizations.
9. Have international experts been involved in building the capacities of the network in Afghanistan?
CSHRN cooperates with the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) and the Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland (STP), two professional human rights organizations. Mr. Malek Mohammad Sitez, a human rights expert from DIHR and Mrs. Regula Hafner, an expert in the field of capacity building from STP, are the advisors of the network and provide international expertise.
