The Second Advocacy Event for the rights of IDPs and Returnees, part of the interventions of ‘Empowering the Emerging Young Leaders of IDPs and Returnees in Kabul’ project, was organized in the Higher Education Institute of Saraj on April 5th, 2021. This event mainly focused on the advocacy capacity of the young ACRI members based on the Afghan National Policy of Internally Displaced Persons. With an innovative and distinctive approach, this event was organized in the form of a competition among the ACRI members to study and present the ‘National Policy of Internally Displaced Person’. Mr. Shapoor Bakhtyar of the Kabul Directorate of Refugees and Repatriations (KDoRR) also participated in the event as the guest of honor and judge of the competition.
It is worth mentioning that the ACRI members were trained and instructed in a workshop prior to the event. This pre-event workshop was organized to train them with regard to the introduction, analysis of the national policy of IDPs, preparation and presenting a presentation, preparing and formulating a policy and strategy, as well as other relevant literature including documented litigation and advocacy using National IDPs Policy and other relevant materials. The ACRI members were divided into five separate groups, which consisted of five to seven members each. The balance in capacities, strength, gender, and other diversifications were considered the criteria while formulating the groups.
The event initiated with the recitation of the Holy Quran by Ms. Shamila, thenceforth, Mr. Mohammad Reza Naemi, Deputy and Acting Executive Director of AYG, welcomed the event participants and provided a brief elaboration of the event. He expressed his gratitude on behalf of AYG to Open Society Afghanistan (OSA), the donor of this project. Reminding the cooperation and efforts of the Founder and Executive Director of AYG, Mr. Mohammad Shafaq, he also thanked him, who is yet making tireless efforts for this organization’s growth. Mr. Naemi also appreciated and expressed his gratitude to the Higher Education Institute of Saraj and its Founder, Mr. Abdul Qayyum Sajjadi, for their cooperation in offering the venue for the event.
Thereafter, Ms. Batool Behnam, Project Manager of this project, explained the scoring standards and competition rules & regulations to the groups. The panel of judges consisted of two AYG officials and one KDoRR official. The groups then presented their presentations.
Each group’s presentation was carefully evaluated by the panel of judges, and the top three groups were decided via the total score of all three judges. Group C, B, and A secured the first, second, and third positions respectively, and given prizes. All the participants and ACRI members were given an appreciation certificate for participating and making efforts in the event.
At the end of the event, the AYG management team visited the Higher Education Institute of Saraj director office and had a brief conversation to express the AYG team’s gratitude to Mr. Sayed Jafar Sajjadi, the director office’s representative for handing their Conference Hall over to AYG for organizing this event. Moreover, Mr. Sajjadi offered a remarkable discount for the students that will be introduced through AYG. In response, Mr. Reza Naemi also offered AYG’s cooperation in preparing, translating, and editing the institute’s literature and materials related to educational affairs in English. It was then decided that AYG shall sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Higher Education Institute of Saraj to benefit both organizations in various ways.
Add Comment