Islamic Republic of Afghanistan High Peace Council ... PIP...I. Executive Summary During 20th September through 30th November 2017, the High Peace Council (HPC) and Executive Secretariat

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

High Peace Council

Executive Secretariat for Peace and Reconciliation Process

Bimonthly Report

(20th September through 30th November 2017)

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Table of Contents

Abbreviations and Acronyms ..............................................................................................................3

I. Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... 4

II. National level Consultation and Mobilization ................................................................................. 6

a. Political Consultations ...................................................................................................................... 6

b. HPC Coordination Events ................................................................................................................. 7

c. HPC Provincial Outreach and Consultation ..................................................................................... 9

III. International Trips .......................................................................................................................... 10

IV. Women Specific Events in Support of the Peace Process: ............................................................ 10

V. HPC Regional/Provincial Mobilization ........................................................................................... 11

VI. Conflicts Resolution ........................................................................................................................ 18

VII. Country-wide Mobilization and Messaging Events for Marking Peace-day ................................ 19

VIII. Capacity Building Initiatives: .......................................................................................................... 20

IX. PPC Consensus Building Activities: ................................................................................................ 21

X. Challenges ....................................................................................................................................... 25

XI. Next Steps: ...................................................................................................................................... 26

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Abbreviations and Acronyms

CEO Chief Executive Officer

CSOs Civil Society Organizations

DoWA Department of Women Affairs

DoIC Department of Information and Culture

EPD Equality for Peace and Democracy

ESPRP Executive Secretariat for Peace and Reconciliation Process

H.E. His Excellency

HPC High Peace Council

IOP Internal Operating Procedure

MoD Ministry of Defense

MoFA Ministry of Finance

MoI Ministry of Interior

MoLSA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

NAP National Action Plan

NDS National Directorate of Security

NSC National Security Council

NUG National Unity Government

PG Provincial governor

PIP Project Initiation Plan

PPC Provincial Peace Committee

SDO Sanayee Development Organization

UNAMA United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

UNDP United Nations Development Program

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I. Executive Summary

During 20th September through 30th November 2017, the High Peace Council (HPC) and

Executive Secretariat for Peace and Reconciliation Process (ESPRP) accomplished more than

what it originally planned for this period. Although the detailed plan prepared for this period

included only two objectives of the Peace and Reconciliation Strategy, as per the need,

HPC/ESPRP put utmost efforts to cover other objectives too in order to operationalize the

strategy and create a nation-wide momentum for peace efforts.

During the reporting period, HPC/ESPRP besides efforts for Consensus Building, focused on

exploring channels of negotiations and politically engaging the leadership of the armed

opposition groups, and carrying out advocacy efforts within insecure communities. Additionally,

HPC/ESPRP in coordination with other stakeholders informally approached armed opposition

groups and will continue to change the course of informal contacts to formal negotiations.

HPC/ESPRP turned the International peace day (21 September) to a national mobilization and

peace messaging occasion all over Afghanistan. Afghans from nearly every province mobilized

for peace during the nationwide celebration of International Peace Day through holding and

participating in gatherings, meetings, conferences and other traditional events where 3845

persons actively participated in 25 peace-related events both at the national and sub-national

levels. It is believed that millions of Afghans indirectly received peace messages through the

media and word of mouth on this day.

During the last two months, a political consensus was strengthened and reinforced by reaching

out to the leadership of the Political and Jihadi leaders, current political coalitions, newly

emerging political and socio-political institutions and influential figures of the country. For this

purpose, HPC/ESPRP had extensive consultations with leaders and representatives of 20

parties, coalitions and groups. All above-mentioned parties, figures, and groups supported the

peace process by sharing their invaluable opinions.

As part of the HPC/ESPRP Consensus Building plan for provincial consultations and public

mobilization, HPC/ESPRP leadership traveled to four provinces (Nangarhar, Herat, Bamyan, and

Dai-Kundi), where they participated in large gatherings organized by HPC/ESPRP in coordination

with local PPCs. These gatherings were organized to consult, mobilize, disseminate peace

messages and garner the support of Local government authorities, Ulema, political and tribal

leaders, civil society members, women and youth networks and local citizens. In total, around

5000 people from the provincial capitals and districts participated in these gatherings.

HPC/ESPRP high ranking delegations led by the HPC deputies traveled to 12 provinces during

the last two months of reporting to mobilize people and to re-create consensus at the regional

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and provincial levels. Meetings and consultations with four important targeted groups were

conducted in each region/province. A total of 36 events were convened where 220 Ulema, 240

representatives from civil society organizations, women and youth networks and private

sectors, 265 political, Jihadi and tribal leaders and representatives of the victims of war and 126

cadres from universities and educational institutions participated. As per the plan,

representatives from each group were identified for future networking and forming joint

working groups with HPC.

During the reporting period, HPC/ESPRP (HPC women Committee) organized three specific

events to discuss how to strengthen women’s engagement in the peace process and to seek

mechanisms to hear women’s voice in peace-related activities. These gatherings were held in

Kabul, Balkh and Paktia provinces where a total of 230 prominent women participated and

provided their inputs and feedback on the role of women in the peace process. HPC/ESPRP will

accommodate the suggestions in its future plans.

Following the extensive reform process implemented in HPC’s subnational structures, PPCs are

now enabled to independently plan and launch their activities. In addition to coordinating

HPC’s provincial and regional activities, during the reporting period, PPCs organized, led and

attended 58 events in all provinces. Most of these events were focused on public mobilization,

public awareness and messaging, conflict resolution, provincial mapping, coordination

enhancement, advocacy for promoting a culture of peace, and community outreach. As was the

case in the center, these activities created a national momentum for peace and security in the

country delegitimizing continuation of violence.

As reinvigorating the HPC/ESPRP decision-making and internal coordination mechanism has

been one of the reform agenda, HPC/ESPRP during the reporting period held a General

Assembly (GA) meeting to discuss previous reports and approve future plans. Discussion items

in the GA were presiding over meetings with political parties and approving the composition of

the delegations visiting provinces. Before submitting these issues to the GA for final approval,

they were all discussed and endorsed in four Executive Board meetings. Additionally, HPC is

starting to regularize its function as per the peace and reconciliation strategy objectives for

which all HPC subcommittees are advised to come up with their future plans and proposals.

During the period under review, HPC/ESPRP held and participated in several meetings with the

president’s office NSC, NDS, MoF, MoFA, UNAMA, UNDP, and Donors’ representatives to

coordinate efforts and provide an update on peace-related activities. It is worth mentioning

that HPC/ESPRP also played a vital role in the compact peace and reconciliation working group

by providing inputs and updates.

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HPC meeting with Ustaad Sayyaf, and Protection and Stability Council, 1st November, 2017

II. National level Consultation and Mobilization

a. Political Consultations

During the reporting period, HPC held 6 meetings with political, Jihadi and influential figures

and leaders at the national level to consult with them on the peace process and garner their

support. The purpose of these meetings was to involve all of them in the peace process and, to

seek their support for promoting the culture of peace and to consult them on how to open

channels of communications with the armed opposition groups. During these meetings, HPC

shared their strategy and plans for implementing peace and reconciliation process and sought

their opinions and contribution for

improvements.

All the above groups, leaders and figures

supported the peace process and praised

starting such a consultation as a new initiative

by the HPC and recommended the

continuation of such meetings. At the same

time, they raised some concerns on the

implementation mechanisms such as

independence of the HPC and its mandate for negotiations, balancing war and peace strategy

and unification of messages from the HPC and government’s side and meaningful support of

the international community for the peace process.

While assuring the participants of the

independency of HPC and Afghan

government’s will for a durable, fair

and just peace, the HPC committed to

continue such consultations through

regularizing communications,

establishing networks and

coordination working groups, sharing

update information, seeking

contribution of the political groups and

leaders in advancing the peace process by utilizing their influence and reaching out to the

armed opposition groups. Additionally, the HPC/ESPRP will accommodate all the legitimate

concerns in its future plans.

Below table illustrates the leaders, parties, and groups that HPC had consultation meetings

with:

HPC meeting with 20 Emerging Political parties- 15 November 2017

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# Date Party/Coalition/group Leader Remarks

1 15th Nov 2017 Emerging political parties 20 political parties

2 1st Nov 2017 Dawat-e-Islami Afghanistan and Council of Protection and Stability

Abdulrab Rasool Sayyaf, Daudzai and others

3 30th Nov 2017 Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan Gulbuddin Hekmatyar

4 6th Oct 2017 Hamid Karzai, former president of Afghanistan

5 5th Oct 2017 Jamiat-i-Islami Afghanistan Salauddin Rabani

6 5th Oct 2017 Council for Jihadi and Political parties

Sebghatullah Mojadadi, Hamid Gailani, and others

HPC meeting with H.E Hekmatyar, 30th October, 2017 HPC meeting with Hamid Karzai 6th October, 2017

HPC meeting with leadership of the Jamilat-i-Islami Party, Salahuddin Rabbani, 6th October, 2017

HPC meetin with H.E Sebghatullah Mojadadi and leadership of the national Jihadi Shura, 5th October, 2017

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b. HPC’s Coordination Events At the national level, HPC had two meetings with national media outlets’ owners and representatives, as well as national peace-building institutions for coordinating efforts and engaging them in the peace process. In the meeting held with media representatives, around 30 national media outlets including TV, Radio, Print and other types of media and news agencies participated. The purpose of this meeting was fourfold: 1) to update the media on the recent activities and achievements of the HPC and the peace process, 2) to seek the support of the media in promoting the culture of peace through disseminating right messages and programs, 3) to jointly work to counter the narrative of conflict within the framework of freedom of expression and media independence, 4) to create effective relations as far as strategic communication about peace is concerned. During this meeting, media representatives talked about the role of media in the peace process and how to manage public perception and expectations. They also asserted that regular information sharing and utilizing an effective communication strategy for the peace process are two vital component of the peace process. some of the media reps also emphasized that HPC should come up with core messages and they should close down the distance between “do” and “say” if they really want to achieve what they expect from the media. At the end, both HPC and media reps promised to keep in touch through a regularized and systematic mechanism.

The second coordination meeting convened with the national peacebuilding organizations and institutions to create a sense of coordination in regards to the peace efforts in the country and hear from the institutions for improving peace-related activities and to bring about a synergy of efforts about the peace process. Six different national Organizations and institutions such as Peace and Salvation Shura, Social Ulema Shura for strengthening peace, Foundation for peace and salvation, National Stability Society and Afghanistan Peace Studies

organization participated in this meeting. Both the HPC and the peacebuilding organizations came up with a joint decision to regularize their relations through joint coordination mechanisms.

HPC meeting with National Media, 5th October, 2017

1 HPC meeting with national Peace building institutions, 4th October, 2017

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# Date Group #of Participants Remarks

1 5 Oct 2017 Media outlet owners 30

2 4 Oct 2017 peacebuilding organizations 6 entities

c. HPC Provincial Outreach and Consultation

HPC conducted four provincial

outreach and consultations events to

strengthen consensus building and to

promote the culture of peace.

Originally, these events were meant to

serve following purposes: 1) launch

public awareness campaigns for peace

2) demonstrate and convey

government and HPC’s commitment for

peace to the local population 3)

provide the public with government’s

policies and plans in regard to bringing peace. To achieve these goals, HPC leadership visited

four provinces (Herat, Nangarhar, Bamyan, and Daikundi) during the reporting period where

around 5000 people attended the events and received messages of peace. The participants of

these events were largely ordinary citizens of the provinces.

# Date Province #participants Remarks

1 14 Nov 2017 Herat 1300

2 30 Oct 2017 Nangarhar 400

3 17 Oct 2017 Bamyan 2000

4 10 Nov 2017 Daikundi 1300

Total 5000

HPC Provincial Consultation in Herat, 14th November, 2017

HPC Consultation in Nengarhar, 30th October 2017 HPC Consultation in Dai-Kundi, 10th November, 2017

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III. International Trips

From 19th November through 25th November, a high-ranking delegation of the HPC/ESPRP

visited Indonesia. The visit to Indonesia was of two parts: a) Political and b) Technical.

a. Political delegation: The political delegation of 20 people from the High Peace Council

including the chairman, deputies and members of the HPC as well as CEO of the

Secretariat traveled to Indonesia on the invitation of the Indonesian government. This

delegation had following meetings:

- Meeting with H.E Joko Widodo, president of the Republic of Indonesia

- Dialogue between Indonesian Islamic Organizations and HPC:

- Dialogue between H.E. Jusuf Kalla, Vice President of Indonesia, and HPC:

- Visit to Darnuajah Islamic Boarding School, Cathedral Church, Istiqlal Mosque and

State Islamic University.

During all the above meetings, the

government of Indonesia and the two

large religious organizations expressed

their full support of the peace process in

Afghanistan and promised to 1) organize

an international Islamic Conference on

the Afghan peace process, 2) support the

Afghan government’s peace process in

building regional consensus, 3) provide

technical support for developing

capacities for negotiation and mediation.

Both sides will follow up the above issues at technical levels in the future.

b. Technical delegation: The technical delegation comprised of 19 individuals from the

HPC, ESPRP and other relevant government entities also traveled to Indonesia to

participate in the training workshop organized by the Berghof Foundation. (further

details, Capacity building section of the report)

IV. Women Specific Events in Support of Peace Process:

HPC delegation in Indonesia

HPC and UN women meeting HPC and Women meeting in Kabul 20th September, 2017

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For the purpose of enhancing women participation in the peace process including decision making, peace advocacy and ensuring implementation of gender policies and other national and international standards and resolutions, HPC ESPRP conducted three women specific events in Paktia, Balkh, and Kabul. A total of 230 prominent women participated in these events and their opinions regarding enhancing their role in the peace process were gathered and will be incorporated into the HPC plans. Additionally, the HPC women committee had a meeting with UN Women on coordinating efforts towards peace.

# Date Province #participants Remarks

1 27 Nov 2017 Paktia 50

2 14 Nov 2017 Balkh 120

3 20 Sep 2017 Kabul 60

Total 3 provinces 230

V. HPC Regional/Provincial Mobilization

As per the Consensus building plan, HPC/ESPRP Delegations conducted 9 regional/provincial

visits covering 12 provinces. During their visits, they have had 36 events with Ulema, Civil

society networks, Jihadi, political and tribal leaders and elders, and Cadres of Educational

Institutions. The objectives of meeting each group are as follow:

Ulema: Identifying famous and effective scholars, setting up networks and working groups composed of members of the High Peace Council and Ulema in order to gain their support for the peace process as well as activities aimed at eliminating violence and eliminating disputes.

Civil Society and Youth Networks: Obtain information from effective networks and groups of women and youth organizations and the private sector and their involvement in the peace process to promote a culture of peace as well as seeking their assistance in solving the disputes, and to establish a joint working group of the High Peace Council and the above-mentioned institutions.

Jihadi and Political Leaders and Tribal Elders: Involvement of political and Jihadi leaders, and tribal elders in the peace process to encourage more armed opposition to join the peace process. Establishing and maintaining communications, advancing the negotiation process, as well as generalizing and promoting peace arrangements among armed oppositions, and encouraging refugees and the general public in achieving peace in the country.

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Cadres of Educational Institutions: Identify the effective cadres of universities and educational institutions, involving the cadres in the implementation of the peace process agenda, establishing a working group of the High Peace Council and the important and effective faces of these institutions and providing a curriculum that includes peace issues such as coexistence, dispute resolution and elimination of extremist ideology and etc.

1. Mobilizing Ulema:

During the reporting period, according to the plan, Ulema meetings were held in the regions

and their respective provinces. In 9 gatherings which were organized for mobilizing Ulema

(formal and informal) from 12 provinces, 220 Ulemas participated. These Ulema have expressed

their support for the peace process led by the Afghan government and supported the new

peace strategy.

The views and suggestions of these meetings are presented below:

- The world, especially the neighboring countries, should be convinced that peace in

Afghanistan is in their favor.

- The government should respect scholars and clerics and should engage them more in

government issues and act transparently on governance issues.

- Injustice and insecurity, corruption and indifference in Islamic issues and the

involvement of foreigners in the internal affairs including military, political, cultural and

social, and making differences among the ethnic groups are major factors of insecurity,

that the government must put further efforts to these

- Establishing a powerful commission of scholars, delegating authority to them and

supporting their jurisprudential and religious decisions.

- The scholars have criticized some of the activities of the foreign forces, especially the

unpardonable ones, and stated that such actions would encourage and increase the war

and suggested to the president to pay attention this issue. They added that the High

Peace Council did not have the necessary powers to carry out its activities

independently.

- A religious scholar said that public awareness on peace should be increased through

mosques, schools, universities and the media, so that our countrymen gain the

necessary awareness of the importance of peace, and do not deceive by the armed

oppositions.

- After expressing his support for the peace strategy, one of the scholars suggested that

peace talks should be conducted with real oppositions. He added that some of the

armed oppositions ideologically calling the country “Dar-ul-Hrb” and considered the war

to be permissible. It is essential for us to make clear the minds of the people that

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Afghanistan is an Islamic state and war is not permissible. He added that the

government must put efforts to gather to build formal Madrasas inside the country to

prevent our youth from joining Madrasas outside the country.

- Afghan politicians and media should not use disturbing words in their speeches that

damage the peace process, and in addition avoid negative propaganda. Moreover, both

sides must ease in their positions for the sake of peace and the conditions of peace

should be in accordance with the principles of Islam. Peace should not mean as

surrendering of the armed opposition.

No Region/province Date # of participants

#of HPC members

# of PPC members

1 Badghis 15 Nov 10 5 5

2 Herat 16 Nov 20 5 7

3 Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar & Nuristan (eastern region)

13 Nov 42 7 15

4 Samangan 16 Nov 30 5 10

5 Balkh 15 Nov 12 5 6

6 Logar 13 Nov 15 7 5

7 Paktia 14 Nov 30 7 5

8 Khost 15 Nov 35 7 5

9 Baghlan 14 Nov 26 7 7

Total 12 provinces 220 55 65

2. Mobilizing Civil Society, Private Sector, Women and Youth Networks:

During the reporting period and according to the plan, meetings of the civil society, youth and

women networks and private sector representatives were held in the regions and their

respective provinces. In 9 gatherings which were organized for mobilizing these representatives

from 12 provinces, 240 people participated. After discussions, the participants of these

meetings expressed their support for the peace process led by the Afghan government and

supported the new peace strategy.

The views and suggestions of the participants are summarized as follows:

- Negotiations should be initiated with the leaders of the armed opposition to reach the

desired outcome and ask the media to refrain from publishing unsigned naming that

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causes distancing and hypocrisy, and launching programs that are conducive to peace

and prepare armed oppositions’ minds for peace.

- The number of young people and women in the High Peace Council and its provincial

structures should be increased so that their energy and capabilities are more widely

used.

- Civil society activists stated that provincial civilian and military officials must feel

responsibility towards people, and along with the central government launch programs

for reducing unemployment and economic poverty, eradicating corruption, eliminating

ignorance and illiteracy, fair distribution of opportunities and resources,

implementation of public projects in vulnerable areas, registering Madrasas with the

Ministry of Education or Hajj, controlling over mosques and Madrasas, respecting

culture of reforming of society, avoidance of tribal, linguistic and religious affiliations

and adherence to human rights values.

- The role of the media and the press is weak even National Radio and Television has no

proper peace plans to inform people on the importance of peace and harms of conflict.

- Implementing reforms in the government as a number of high-level officials do not have

the required experience and skill of managing the day to day work. Hence, the

government must fulfill its commitments regarding reforms.

- People's distrust to the peace process and unfulfilling of commitment made by the

government as well as foreign interference in peace-related matters, limited

involvement of social groups in the peace process, low awareness of people about

joining peace, the simultaneous effort of the social and political peace, and preparing

ground for face-to-face talks were the issues raised during these meetings.

- Establishing peacekeepers groups consisting of tribal elders, clerics and religious

scholars at the community level in order to discuss ending violation by armed

oppositions with their relatives.

- The Taliban's financial resources need to be identified and efforts should be put to limit

their access to these resources so that they are forced to join peace. Prevention of the

smuggling of mines, forests and other resources is a crime that strengthens the ranks of

the armed opposition.

- One of the participants said that peace talks should be conducted inside Afghanistan,

and proper jobs should seek for those who join the peace process.


#of HPC members

# of PPC members


2 Herat 16 Nov 20 5 7

3 Nangarhar, Laghman, 14 Nov 42 7 15

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Kunar & Nuristan (eastern region)


5 Balkh 15 Nov 10 5 6

6 Logar 13 Nov 20 6 5


8 Khost 15 Nov 40 7 5



3. Mobilizing and Mapping Jihadi and Tribal Leaders and Influential Figures:

During the reporting period and according to the plan, meetings with Jihadi and tribal leaders

and influential actors were held in the regions and their respective provinces. In 9 gatherings

which were organized to gain the support of these leaders from 12 provinces, 265 people

participated. After discussions, the participants of these meetings expressed their support for

the peace process led by the Afghan government and supported the new peace strategy.

The views and suggestion of the participants are summarized as follows:

- Participants expressed strong support to the peace process and expressed their full

cooperation for the implementation for the peace strategy.

- Dissemination and publishing of leaflets and messages through mosques and the mass

media, assuring the armed opposition and ensuring their future, and paying attention to

the legitimate demands of the armed opposition

- Increasing the role and presence of Ulema in the peace process as without their support

reaching to lasting peace is not possible.

- Conduct workshops and conferences for inflectional tribal leaders through the media

- Advancing peace talks by tribal elders, religious scholars, and even sisters and mothers,

because they are the relative of the armed oppositions so they can play a role in

preventing armed activities and violence.

- In the context of the Afghan war, one should not focus solely on its domestic dimension,

the regional and global dimensions of this war must also be taken into account, and

every state institution must fulfill its responsibility.


#of HPC members

# of PPC members


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2 Herat 16 Nov 10 5 7


14 Nov 40 7 15


5 Balkh 15 Nov 15 5 6

6 Logar 13 Nov 35 7 5


8 Khost 15 Nov 40 7 5



4. Meetings with Cadres of Universities and Education Institutions

During the reporting period and according to the plan, meetings with cadres of universities and

educational institutions were held in the regions and their respective provinces. In 9 gatherings

which were organized for mobilizing these representatives from 12 provinces, 126 people

participated. After discussions, the participants of these meetings expressed their support for

the peace process led by the Afghan government and supported the new peace strategy.

The views and suggestion of the participants are summarized as follows:

- A participant from Badghis province said that the war in this province is between the

government and the Mafia in which the pistachio mafias are fighting among themselves

and with the government involved. Most drug trafficking is transported through this

province which makes the financial resources, along with the income of pistachio

forests, the armed opposition. He suggested that the government should use effective

jihadi and tribal leaders to restrict these resources.

- Adding curriculum for higher education and semi-higher education institutions

regarding the importance of peace and developing effective strategies by political

activists to improve the peace process and educate and introduce moderate Islam to

citizens.

- The government should invite the scholars of Islamic countries to a global Ulema

conference to determine how and in what way violence in Afghanistan is being waged,

and thus declare that the war in Afghanistan is permissible or not.

- One of the professors suggested that ministries of information and culture, education,

higher education, Hajj can play a significant role in public awareness. He added that

peace should be included in school’s curriculum and students should be encouraged to

write articles on peace and participate in competitions.

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- It is necessary to conduct technical workshops and seminars on peace for tribal elders,

youth and religious scholars in order to understand first the importance of peace and

then request them to educate their people in such matters.

- A participant asked the government to invest heavily in the long-term projects aiming to

create job opportunities for youth, and on the other hand, eradicates poverty which is

the main reason of war and insecurity. He added that the law should be equally applied

to everyone, and capable people should be given jobs in government posts so that

injustice prevented and people do not get away from the government.

- In order to receive more people's views on peace, research centers should be included

in the HPC’s programs.

- In the context of the High Peace Council, it was suggested that all its affairs should have

an executive guarantee, the council should be reformed and the necessary power

should be given to the council and the parties to the conflict should be identified.


#of HPC members

# of PPC members


2 Heart 16 Nov 10 5 7


13 Nov 40 7 15


5 Balkh 15 Nov 12 5 6

6 Logar 13 Nov 5 6 5


8 Khost 15 Nov 25 7 5



Since the general purpose of the launch of these meetings was to create a national consensus

and pave the way for peace talks, to achieve this goal, the abovementioned

meetings/gatherings had significant importance through the following impacts:

Peace narrative based on the ideas presented by different classes of Afghan society

developed

Working networks and collaborative work in the future ensured

Peace advocacy among people and ranks of armed opposition launched

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Counter armed oppositions’ narrative in justifying continuation of violence in the

country enhanced

Public perception changed and culture of peace promoted

Establishing a general movement to support the peace process and pushing the armed

opposition to end violence

Different groups of Afghan society to work jointly for peace organized.

Public awareness regarding government's commitment to bring peace and stability to

the country rose.

The ESPRP intends to develop and implement a regular short-term and long-term work plan

based on the nature of the views and suggestions presented in this report.

The High Peace Council is determined to continue its national consensus-building sessions in

those provinces that have remained from the detailed plan. HPC delegations will be deployed in

next reporting period to visit various groups of people in those provinces and listen to their

opinions and suggestions.

VI. Conflicts Resolution

In order to address all those causes that lead to insecurity in the country, HPC/PPCs focus on

preventing and resolving conflicts with security implications. For this purpose during the

reporting period, PPCs along with other governmental and non-governmental bodies in the

provinces resolved four local conflicts, preventing further deterioration of security in the areas.

Hadn’t these conflicts been properly and timely managed and resolved, they would claim the

lives of many Afghans and would pose a serious threat to the local security and stability.

# Date Province Conflict Nature Conflicts Between

1 9 Nov 2017 Parwan Preventing insecurity Two 2 big families

2 5 Nov 2017 Herat Tribal Sultanzai & Mashangzai

3 5 Nov 2017 Badghis Tribal

4 29 Oct 2017 Kandahar Tribal

Conflict Resolution in Parwan, 9th November, 2017 Conflict Resolution in Herat, 5th November, 2017

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VII. Country-wide Mobilization and Messaging Events for Marking Peace-day:

Since peace and stability are the utmost desire of Afghan society, therefore the Afghan people

all over the country joined hands to celebrate international peace day (21 September) through

holding and organizing gatherings, meetings and conducting poem sessions. In addition to the

huge gathering in Kabul where high-ranking officials from the National Unity Government

attended, the day was celebrated in 25 provinces. Provincial authorities, Ulema, civil society,

youth and women representatives, PPCs members and local people attended these events.

Local leaders, Ulema, civil society members, HPC members and government officials talked

about the importance of the peace process and delegitimized continuation of the war in the

country through citing religious scriptures, putting forth the atrocities committed under the

name of Islam and countering the narrative of violence against the people of Afghanistan. In

one voice, all the participants of these events called upon armed oppositions to renounce

violence and come to the negotiation table to achieve your goals through peaceful means.

By mobilizing around 4000 people on the international peace day, HPC and PPCs were able to

create a country-wide momentum. Looking to the media and other communications mediums

at the national and sub-national levels, almost all Afghans heard the voice of peace and security

in the country. This momentum and mobilization not only counter the narrative of violence, but

also put immense pressure on the armed opposition groups to give in to the will of the people

of the country and engage with the HPC and the government of Afghanistan in constructive

talks. Additionally, the involvement of Ulema and religious scholars in such campaigns

questions the ideological arguments of the armed opposition groups and those who support

them. Below table illustrate the locations and numbers of participants where these events

held. Detailed narrative and video/pictorial reports of these events were broadcasted and

published in the local media as well as had larger coverage in the center through different

media outlets include HPC website and social media.

No Province # of Participants

1 Kabul 680

2 Ghor 120

3 Badakhshan (3 gatherings) 400

4 Farah 80

5 Kunar 130

6 Paktika 100

7 Faryab 130

8 Jawzjan 80

9 Paktia 70

10 Badghis 55

11 Kapisa 60

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12 Kandahar 40

13 Laghman 60

14 Baghlan 200

15 Bamyan 60

16 Helmand 150

17 Nuristan 30

18 Maidan-Wardak 150

19 Herat 120

20 Nangarhar 180

21 Khost 110

22 Kabul (Rana University) 80

23 Kunduz 250

24 Logar 300

25 Uruzgan 210

Total 3845* * For further details about above events please visit: www.hpc.org.af

VIII. Capacity Building Initiatives:

a. National Conference for PPCs: On 9th and 10th of October 2017, the HPC conducted a

two-day national conference on “Practical approaches to achieve peace” for 3 PPCs

members from all over the country. H.E the chairman opened the conference and

provided policy points and directions as well as an update on the peace process in the

country. Dr. Mohammad Akram Khpalwak, CEO ESPRP and Special Representative for

the President on Political Affairs, briefed the participants on the activities,

achievements, reforms and the current situation of the HPC. Later in the afternoon, the

participants were divided into groups according to regions and discussed regional issues

in terms of the peace process.

On the second day of the conference, Dr. Muhammad Akram Khpalwak gave a

presentation on the National Peace and Reconciliation strategy. Then, all the seven

working groups presented their reports and feedback addressing the regional problems,

obstacles, and available opportunities and suggestions. Later in the evening, the

participants went to the President’s office for a working dinner. Representatives of

participants presented their challenges and obstacles, opportunities, PPCs’ role and

specific suggestion to the government for effective implementation of the peace

process.

b. Berghof Foundation: The technical delegation comprised of 19 individuals from the HPC,

ESPRP and other relevant government entities also traveled to Indonesia on 18th

November 2017 to participate in the training workshop organized by the Berghof

http://www.hpc.org.af/

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Foundation. The topics discussed in this training included case studies from the peace

agreements in Thailand, Columbia, Philippines, questions on designing negotiations,

national dialogue process, the role of strategic communications in the national dialogue

process, how to bring parties to the negotiation table and other relevant themes.

Additionally, the team was taken to Banda Aceh to learn from the peace process there.

They had extensive discussions with the negotiation team as well as the governor of the

Aceh province.

c. On 3rd and 4th September 2017, PPC in Kandahar province jointly with UNAMA

organized a 2-day workshop on local peace initiatives for Panjwahi and Maiwand

districts’ tribal elders, influential women and members of the PPC. The UNAMA head in

Kandahar stated that this is your duty and responsibility to initiate efforts for reconciling

armed oppositions. In this workshop the role of Ulema, tribal elders, women, youths

and civil society in peace process discussed. In addition, a presentation of important and

useful techniques for dispute resolution was presented by UNAMA.

IX. PPC Consensus Building Activities:

After reformed, the PPCs resumed their focus on mobilizing communities for peace and

reconciliation. As a part of their efforts, they have been able to organize, coordinate and lead

57 events in all over the country for supporting the peace and reconciliation process. Besides

carrying out activities set for the PPCs in the detailed plan, the PPCs were able to independently

conduct additional events utilizing their operation limited funds allocated to them in this

period. Participants of these events were:

Local authorities and provincial elected and non-elected officials

Ulema and religious scholars

Tribal, political, Jihadi and influential figures and individuals

Representatives from the Women and youth networks

Representatives of the Civil Society Organizations

University professors, Schools’ teachers, and students

Representatives of the political parties

Peace and human rights activists

Local Population and ordinary citizens

The events that took place during the reporting period included, small and large meetings,

public gatherings, press conferences, traditional Ulema and tribal Jirgas, public awareness

campaigns, sports events, poetry and arts events and religious congregations in mosques.

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Most of the topics discussed and put forth in these events included advantages of peace and

security from the viewpoint of the sacred religion of Islam and socio-economic perspective, the

role of women, civil society, youth, Ulema, tribal elders in the peace process. Additionally,

issues related to patriotism, coexistence, tolerance, and equality among the citizens of the

country were also discussed. Furthermore, peace strategy, government’s policies regarding

ensuring peace and security, the commitment of the government and HPC for advancing peace

efforts, disadvantages of continuation of violence and waging war against Afghan people by the

provocation of neighboring countries were also shared during these events.

It is worth mentioning that all the participants of these events expressed their commitments

and in many cases conducted specific activities for advancing peace efforts. The participants

asserted to:

Work within their own communities to preach messages of peace

Contribute in promoting culture of peace and condemning violence

Advocate for peace through establishing local peace committees

Work within insecure communities and ranks and files of the Taliban to encourage

them for renouncing violence, putting their guns down and starting normal lives

Create joint working groups with different government and non-government entities to

advocate for peace and launch peace activism programs

Continue Launching peace campaign within educational centers including Universities,

schools and Madrassas and national sports organizations

Manage, transform and resolve local conflicts with security implications

Carryout and participate capacity building programs for institutionalizing peace

capacities.

The details are as follow:

Province Date Participants Remarks

Badakhshan

23 Nov 2017

Education, Hajj & culture depts., EPD, CSOs, Ulema, women and youth

Establishing peace committee

2 Oct 2017 Head and members of the citizen council of the provincial capital, Faizabad

28 Sep 2017

Women civil society organizations

Badghis

7 Nov 2017 Women rights activists Jointly with DoWA and DoIC

1 Nov 2017 Influential Ulema Jointly with Hajj department, and Ulema council

Baghlan 17 Nov Ulema, tribal elders and influential

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2017 figures from different districts of Pule-Khumri

23 Oct 2017

Local authorities Sharing new strategy for peace

Daikundi 28 Nov 2017

CSOs and Local media

Farah

21 Oct 2017

Tribal elders of Purchaman, Bakwa, Khak-i-Safid and Balablok districts

2 Nov 2017 Representatives of the political parties

28 Sep 2017

Ulema, elders, CSOs, youth and tribal elders

Faryab

31 Oct 2017

Peace building shuras of four districts (Andkhoi, Khwaja Sabposh, Balchiragh and Pashtoonkot)

Jointly with SDO

28 Oct 2017

Students from 20 high schools and 10 middle schools of Maimana city

Events held in schools

28 Sep 2017

Heads of provincial directorates, representatives from UNAMA in Maimana and CSOs

Ghazni

1 Nov 2017 students and youth Jointly with Muslim University

3 Oct 2017 Ulema, elders and influential figures from all districts

Ghor 6 Nov 2017 Ulema from all districts of the province Jointly with

governor office and Ulema council

Helmand

22 Nov 2017

tribal elders and leaders Alizai tribe

24 Oct 2017

CSOs, youth and tribal elders Football tournament “Youth message for peace”

20 Sep 2017

elders, Ulema and influential figures from Garmser and Nawi districts

27 Sep 2017

Tribal leaders and Ulema from Nawzad district

Herat

1 Oct 2017 UNAMA regional office staff Assessing a conflict in Guzara district

13 Nov 2017

Ulema, Tribal elders, CSOs, Peace activists, youth, women and University professors

20 Nov 2017

Peace advocacy groups and women activists

Kabul 26 Nov 2017

Tribal leaders, ulema and influential figures

23 Nov Qarabagh district residents

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2017

22 Nov district governor, head of Ulema council, Ulema, tribal elders, CSOs and youth

Sorobi district

Kandahar

23 Oct 2017

Women, Ulema, tribal elders and heads of the sectoral departments from Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces

Three-day symposium on women’s role in the peace process

2 Oct 2017 Ulema and tribal leaders from Dand district

23 Sep 2017

Women rights activists, civil society and female teachers and academicians

Jointly with AWN

Kapisa 30 Nov 2017

CSOs, media and journalists, Ulema, sportsmen/women and women network

Khost 21 Sep 2017

Representatives of returnee communities

Kunar

22 Nov 2017

Students, teachers, political leaders and CSOs

3 Oct 2017 Tribal elders and Ulema in Noorgal district

20 Sep 2017

Ulema and tribal elders of all 15 districts of Kunar province

Kunduz

23 Nov 2017

CSOs, journalists and media

15-16 Nov Ulema, tribal elders and peace and civil society activists

Jointly with UNAMA

Laghman

15 Nov 2017

Leadership of the Nizai tribal Shura

23 Oct 2017

Elders and tribal leaders from different part of the center of this province

22 Oct 2017

Youth, local population and government officials

Athletes campaign for peace and life.

18 Oct 2017

Head and teachers of Laghman teachers training institute

11 Oct 2017

Qurghaii district’s Ulema

5 Oct 2017 UNAMA delegation

Logar

5 Nov 2017 Hezb-i-Islami members from different districts

23 Oct 2017

PPC members as well as the government officials in Logar

Sharing new strategy for peace

Maidan Wardak 1 Nov 2017 Ulema from all the provincial mosques Jointly with Ulema

council

Nangarhar

12 Oct 2017

Reps from First Lady Office, heads of women affairs departments from eastern region, CSOs and members of Afghan Women Network

Fourth Symposium for eastern region women

16 Oct Members of provincial council, tribal

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2017 leaders, Ulema and youth from Dor Baba district

Paktia

21 Nov 2017

tribal elders of all districts of the province

Jointly with UNAMA

11 Oct 2017

Women and youth Establishing of volunteer group

Paktika 15 Nov 2017

Ulema, tribal elders, youth and CSOs from the center and different districts of the province

Panjshir 16 Oct 2017

Local authorities, Ulema and youth Opening PPC office

Saripul

20 Nov 2017

provincial authorities, security entities, educational institutions, civil society and influential figures from the center and districts

Urozgan

26 Oct 2017

Tribal elders from all the tribes live in the province, media and journalists

4 Oct 2017 Prominent Ulema from the Charchino district

Zabul 5 Nov 2017 Women activists

2 Nov 2017 CSOs, tribal leaders, Ulema and youth

X. Challenges

- Funding a limited portion of the strategy: According to the PIP document and donors’

decisions, only two out of five objectives of the National Peace and Reconciliation

strategy were funded during this period. This limitation hindered HPC/ESPRP’s other

activities that HPC was expected to carry out. Though the HPC/ESPRP approached UNDP

and the donors for further funding, but due to the technical difficulties, no new

commitment was made. HPC/ESPRP; however, had discussions with UNDP and some

donors at the technical level to overcome this challenge during next phase of PIP

(January – March 2018).

- Internal politics and traveling obstacles: According to the detailed plan, conducting

consultation meetings in a couple of provinces such as Kandahar and Balkh undermined

by political environment in those provinces. It has forced HPC to revisit the plan and

conduct consultations in Bamyan and Daikundi provinces instead. However, Helmand

consultation is going to be conducted during the remaining of December 2017.

Additionally, HPC/ESPRP carried out more than fourfold of what it originally planned,

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not only compensating the above two provinces, but created a nation-wide momentum

and termed it as “revolution for peace”.

- Logistical Problems in Regional Mobilization: Though the HPC/ESPRP planned to carry

out some of the “consensus building activities” at regional levels inviting people from

relevant provinces. But due to some problems such as accessibility, logistical obstacles

and weather problems, the Executive Board of the HPC decided to carry out these

activities on the provincial basis. Thus, except the eastern region, delegations carried

out the activities and events province by province.

- Lack of Clarity on the Reintegration: From our provincial reports submitted by the PPCs

and at the same time from the people approaching the leadership of the government as

well as the leadership of the HPC/ESPRP, there is a great desire within the ranks and

files of the Taliban to join the peace process. According to some reports, there are a

substantial number of armed opposition groups who control larger areas in some of the

provinces who would like to put down their weapons and start a normal life. But due to

the lack of clarity, common understanding and budgetary issues, these cases cannot be

further explored to pave the ground for their return to normal life. Though there are

some discussions going on about this, to avoid dire consequences of these groups

joining other terrorist groups, discussions in this regard should be accelerated and a

mechanism should be introduced.

XI. Next Steps:

1. Developing and execution of a detailed Action Plan: HPC/ESPRP will greatly focus on

preparing a three months action plan based on:

Feedback, suggestion, and recommendations of the national and sub-national

consultations

All five objectives of the National Peace and Reconciliation Strategy

Brainstorming and lessons learned from the previous period

2. Completing the remaining activities: HPC/ESPRP will complete the remaining activities

of the detailed consensus building plan by the end of December 2017.

3. Draft, discuss and finalize all the documents required by the Strategy: HPC/ESPRP will

work on drafting and developing a Communication strategy, program document for

local stability initiatives, revision of gender policy, ToRs for all ESPRP departments and

other documents that maybe needed.

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4. Advisor Boards: HPC/ESPRP will finalize composition and ToRs for three advisory

boards: 1) Ulema, 2) Civil society, 3) Women and develop an extensive plan for these

boards to implement

5. PPC Assessment: HPC/ESPRP will conduct a comprehensive performance assessment of

the newly reformed PPCs for developing the capacity of the HPC/ESPRP local structure.

6. Coordination: HPC/ESPRP will continue coordinating its efforts with all the stakeholders

including government entities, donors, UNAMA and UNDP and other relevant agencies

and organizations to properly implement the national peace and reconciliation strategy.

The End

PPC -Nengarah, Women's meeting on 12th October, 2017 PPC -Laghman, Athletes campaign for peace, 22nd October, 2017

PPC-Faryab, Peace Campaign in Schools PPC-Faryab, Peace Campaign in Schools

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PPC- Khost, meeting with returnees, 21st October, 2017

PPC-Kandahar meeting with AWN, 23rd September, 2017

PPC- Farah, meeting with Ulema, elders, CSO, 28th

September 2017

PPC-Herat/UNAMA meeting in Gurzara District on 1st October

PPC-Kandahar, Ulema and tribal elders meeting, 2nd October, 2017

PPC in Farah, meeting with reps of political parties, 2nd November, 2017

Documents

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan High Peace Council ... PIP...I. Executive Summary During 20th September through 30th November 2017, the High Peace Council (HPC) and Executive Secretariat