With the unstinting support of Hiroshima Prefecture and other partners, the UNITAR Hiroshima Fellowship for Afghanistan trained more than 500 professionals from Afghanistan over 15 years. The programme started in 2003 – the same year the UNITAR Hiroshima Office was established. It ran in cycles of 9-12 months each, and every round of participants visited Hiroshima to experience first-hand the city’s history of reconstruction while developing their skills for social and organizational reform.
 

The roundtable welcomed participants from around the world, many of whom were directly involved with the Fellowship. They freely discussed the book, their personal experiences, and what they learned in the Programme.

UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNITAR Executive Director Mr Nikhil Seth opened the event via a video message. 

The lessons UNITAR learned from the Fellowship, and applied in its other post-conflict work, are another testimony to the ongoing nature of our bonds with one another and with Afghanistan. This book and your gathering here today prove that Fellowship seeds planted are not lost and may yet surprise us in wonderful and unimagined ways. —Mr. Nikhil Seth, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNITAR Executive Director

UNITAR welcomed the warm words from the roundtable participants:

Ms Khan-Kamal (co-editor of the book): “No mere capacity-building programme such as ours can prevent tragedy or misfortune, but the stories in this book demonstrate that mutual respect, empathy and community ownership of outcomes survive the great global games and continue to resonate in the individual lives of the community.” 

Mr Michael Fors (core faculty member for the programme): “The Afghan Fellowship has left a lasting impression on all of us to this day.”

Mr Lorne Jaques (core faculty member): “The spirit of the Fellowship is the spirit of compañeros, which means ‘companions’ in Spanish.” 

Ms Mariam Ghaznavi (trainee and later volunteer coach for the Fellowship) reminded all of the urgency of doing what can be done for today’s Afghanistan.

Dr Fawad Akbari (2009 Fellow): “The Afghan Fellowship did well by leveraging the capacity, the passion and the enthusiasm of coaches, mentors and resource persons.”

Ms Mihoko Kumamoto (Director, UNITAR Division for Prosperity and the Hiroshima Office): “The Fellowship offered a great model to enhance the capacity of people and organizations in a country.”

Ms Sharapiya Kakimova (UNITAR core team member) reminded everyone of the spirit of the Fellowship with the oft-quoted “The Pull of the Future is stronger than the push of the Past.”

Prof. Monte Cassim (member of the AFLP/BGNet* international advisory panel) quoted Churchill: “Failure is not fatal. Success is not final. It’s the courage to carry on that count.” He encouraged future activities of the AFLP/BGNet.

Mr Sabahuddin Sokout, a pillar of the Fellowship and UNITAR focal point in Afghanistan, explained Afghanistan’s current situation and the potential of botanical gardens and work with nature.

The roundtable ended with remarks by Ms Azimi, co-editor of the book. 

We have now expanded the roots of the Fellowship, and we will continue, in some way, the work we started in this city more than 20 years ago.