AREU's predecessor, the Strategic Monitoring Unit (SMU), was first envisaged as part of the UN's 1998 Strategic Framework for Afghanistan. In 2000, the SMU was established with a board of directors of equal UN, NGO and donor representation. The developments of September 2001 and their impact on the nature of assistance work in Afghanistan led to a decision by the Afghanistan Programming Body (APB - a coordination group composed of representatives of the UN, the NGOs and the donors) in February 2002 to refocus SMU's work towards research and evaluation. The unit's name, mission and activities were changed to reflect this shift and the SMU became the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU).
AREU’s objective is to inform and influence policy and practice through conducting and facilitating action research and learning in order to increase the accountability and impact of humanitarian and development programmes in Afghanistan. Other functions to achieve this objective are to conduct strategic level evaluations, to facilitate and create space for reflection, to improve practice through information, dissemination and advocacy, and to contribute to building research capacity in Afghanistan.
AREU’s strengths are its location in Kabul (there is no other substantial research institution located in Afghanistan), its independence and impartiality and the fact that it provides space for reflection and analysis within a rather frenetic assistance environment.
AREU’s main partners are organisations of the assistance community and relevant government departments. A network is also built up with research institutions abroad that are relevant to Afghanistan’s needs and challenges.
Some major AREU’s achievements in 2004 were the publishing and disseminating of a Issues Paper Series on elections, markets, gender, rural livelihoods, urban livelihoods, land issues and agriculture; the publishing of an updated "A to Z Guide to Afghanistan Assistance"; and the hosting of a number of presentations to discuss and debate critical issues facing Afghanistan.
An external review of AREU was carried out in 2005. The following main recommendations will be followed up on a priority basis by AREU: i) Work towards stability with emphasis on consolidation rather than expansion; ii) A mechanism for merit based secondments needs to be developed (Afghan capacity building); iii) A special emphasis should be put on dissemination of findings and results.
Expected results for 2005 are the release and dissemination of main reports on longer term research themes like urban- and rural livelihoods, trans-national networks, political economy (a.o. corruption, warlords and trade), governance, natural resource management (e.g. land issues, agriculture, opium), education and health.
Regarding the structure of AREU, the board of directors is composed of representatives of UN-agencies, donors and NGOs. It is chaired by SDC since its inception but the chair will be taken over by another board member in January 2006. AREU is managed by a director who operates with a staff of ninety employees. Some research activities are also mandated to consultants.
AREU has two types of donors: those providing research grants that are designated to particular research work like EC, DFID and UNHCR and those providing undesignated funds like Switzerland, Sweden and UNAMA. SDC contributes about 15% of the total budget of AREU (CHF 3.57 Mio for 2005). The credit requested for two years amounts to CHF 1'100’000.-
