Khogyani District, Afghanistan – July 8, 2009 – Khadakhel Village is located in the Khogyani District of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan, near the Tora Bora Mountains. The road on which this village is situated is narrow, rutted and impassable during rains. In August 2008, IRD awarded a subcontract to a national contractor to widen and rehabilitate the Wazir to Khadakhel Road which is approximately 9 kilometers in length. This is one of approximately 1500 kilometers of non-paved roads in 12 provinces throughout southern and eastern portions of Afghanistan to be rehabilitated under a USAID funded Cooperative Agreement. The newly improved road is expected to facilitate trade and commerce as well as link the communities along the road to public services. Improving the road through this village posed a challenging yet sensitive issue. The relocation of the Khadakhel graveyard which is located in the right-of-way of the road alignment.

The Khadakhel area is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Pashtuns. The Pashtun tribe maintain strong values of community loyalty, respect for family and for the deceased. Relocating a graveyard is very rare in the cultural context of Afghanistan.

The IRD Community Outreach and Capacity Building Field Team initiated dialogue with the community through a very sensitive and compassionate series of discussions to introduce the idea of relocating this graveyard. After several lengthy discussions, the Community Development Council/Community Development Group (CDC/CDG) developed a plan to relocate the graveyard in a manner which was culturally acceptable to the community. The negotiations required that SPR-SEA obtain permission from each family that had relatives interred in the graveyard. The relocation of the graveyard took place on April 8, 2009 following formal religious procedures thus allowing the project to move forward.

IRD’s promotion of community ownership and practice of working closely with the communities through every stage of the project helps to ensure sustainability and long term maintenance of this road.