Can Social Entrepreneurship Rebuild Afghanistan?

But this one-size-fits-all strategy has been criticized for not consulting the Afghan people sufficiently, leaving a disconnect between the pressing demands of war-torn people and the operational orders of foreign soldiers — not to mention a gap between expectations and reality. 

 

The goal of “winning the hearts and minds” — the battle for human terrain that is the social aspect of war — has also failed in Afghanistan due to ideological shortcomings, suggested Bing West, author and former assistant secretary of defense during the Reagan Administration, in Newsweek: 

“[T]he emphasis America’s senior officers have placed on winning hearts and minds as an end in itself, rather than as a means to identifying and killing insurgents [has made the conflict intractable]. This policy has sapped the warrior ethos and fostered risk aversion. Tasked with nation-building chores better suited to the Peace Corps, most conventional U.S. forces have seldom engaged the Taliban. Instead, Special Operations Forces — about seven percent of the total U.S. strength — have accounted for most of the Taliban’s losses.”

 

By day, it’s government by pantomime; by night it’s the Taliban. 

 

“The situation (in our village) has deteriorated,” said a villager in the HBO Documentary The Battle for Marjah. “Our problems are increasing, we don’t see any hope. Before the U.S. came, the situation was alright. All we want is to feel safe, and for the coalition forces to leave so we can sit together and embrace and so people can lead a normal life.” 

 

West, like Obama, believes that to achieve peace and rebuild the country (and for the United States’ exit strategy to be successful), Afghan forces alone must be capable of defeating the Taliban. That, however, isn’t an opinion shared by all. 

 

Dr. Nadir Atash, an Afghan native and author of Turbulence: The Tumultuous Journey of One Man's Quest for Change in Afghanistan, has a different take. He is convinced that military efforts won’t produce lasting change — instead, we must “focus on [instilling] rule of law, [ending] corruption, and creating jobs.”

 

Three members of the Ashoka family — Ashoka Peace Fellows Reza Deghati, Sakena Yacoobi, and G-20 SME Finance Challenge finalist Peace Dividend Trust — join Dr. Atash in the quest for peaceful, sustainable change in Afghanistan. These social innovators haven’t yet stabilized the country — far from it — but they have made impact, an indication that a leading “normal life” after the American occupation isn’t just wishful thinking. 

 

Deghati, elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2008, is helping to rebuild a strong democratic civil society through the development and proliferation of independent media. Since 2001, Deghati’s organization, AINA, has shaped a citizen media sector in Afghanistan by training local journalists in print, digital and mobile media, from photojournalism to radio and broadcast management.

 

“You'd need a lot of books to explain the stories that can be condensed into a single photo,” said Deghati. "A single photo is capable of making people change their opinions.”

 

An independent media has the power to battle extremism, oppression and intolerance, Deghati believes. And so far, he’s succeeded in making a difference in the lives of millions. 

 

Since AINA’s inception in 2001, mover than 1,000 men and women have gained skills in media and communications. These empowered citizens have produced eight publications, including two women’s magazines, and started women-led radio stations that broadcast across Afghanistan. 

 

Yacoobi, who founded the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), uses a non-confrontational, participatory approach to mobilize local leaders and communities in the empowerment of Afghan girls and women. Yacoobi offers interactive programming in education, health, human rights, peace, environmental awareness, democracy, and income generation to foster women’s progress, training nearly 100,000 women each year. 

 

AIL currently serves more than 350,000 Afghans. Its positive effects have been advanced by the national government, which has applied Yacoobi’s methodology to educational institutions across the country.

 

Peace Dividend Trust (PDT) is working to change peace and humanitarian operations through innovations in economic recovery, research, and operational activities, ensuring that foreign aid actually benefits the economies of the countries where it’s delivered. In Afghanistan, PDT’s Peace Dividend Marketplace has helped small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) win donor-procurement contracts that enhance the effectiveness of international aid, facilitating the flow of more than $364 million into the economy and creating more than 2,000 jobs since 2006. 

 

But they haven’t stopped there. As executive director Scott Gilmore explained:

 

“Our winning idea? Factor Finance for Procurement, which will provide line of credits, using sovereign-backed loan guarantee facilities and factor finance.”  That’s a mouthful; what it means, in practice, is that small entrepreneurs in places like Afghanistan will have the money they need to bid on bigger tenders, which will create more jobs where they are needed most.  

 

President Barack Obama has expressed confidence that the United States is meeting its goals in its “fight against terror” (refocusing on al Qaeda, reversing the Taliban’s momentum, and training Afghan Security Forces to defend their country). In June, he announced that the transition of power in Afghanistan will be complete by 2014; all international troops will have returned home and the Afghan people will be responsible for their own peace and security after a decade of war and dependence.  

 

Whether or not he is correct, nation building will require the best efforts of social entrepreneurs, as those who have been trained to defend and kill on the battlefield prepare to exit the stage.