In Afghanistan, local support is imperative for the successful delivery of life-saving health services and the training of sorely needed health providers. It is particularly urgent to train females, since they have better access to the most vulnerable populations: women and children. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the northern province of Takhar, including those funded by USAID through the Rural Expansion of Afghanistan's Community-based Healthcare (REACH) Program, consistently strive to vest and involve the community in their programs. However, in late May 2005, when international news reports (later retracted) of desecration of the Holy Qur'an at Guantanamo prompted disturbances in many parts of Afghanistan, it became clear that a wider, more unified effort was needed to gain the trust and involvement of all segments of the Afghan population.

Threats made against NGOs operating in Takhar were of particular concern. There, two REACH NGO grantees, Merlin and Care for Afghan Families (CAF), train Afghan community health workers and operate clinics providing the Basic Package of Health Services in 11 rural districts, including in Rustaq, a scene of numerous demonstrations. These clinics offer health services to almost 700,000 people.

In Taloqan, the provincial capital and site of one of six REACH field offices in Afghanistan, the REACH Safe Motherhood Unit also supports Afghan community midwifery education, delivered by Merlin at the Taloqan Provincial Hospital. The 22 women taking the 18-month course come from 16 Takhar districts. All are married, and some bring their youngest children with them. They are provided secure group housing in a nearby hostel. As disturbances continued, the REACH field office received reports that ugly rumors and suspicions about the midwifery program were spreading in the city. While the source of these false stories was not known, the tense atmosphere in the city and throughout the province was all too real.

With the help of the Field Office, the REACH security office in Kabul requested that the governor of Takhar, Mohammad Kabir Marzban, consider holding a “town meeting” at which NGO representatives and community and religious leaders from throughout the province could share information and discuss Afghan health system security. The governor lent his full support. Leaders and influential citizens in the city of Taloqan and in the villages and towns of Takhar's rural districts were asked to participate.

On the morning of May 28, 2005, 94 mullahs, village elders, and other leaders from throughout the province convened at the governor's office in Talaqan along with representatives of all the NGOs working in the province: REACH, Merlin, CAF, Children Fund Afghanistan, Mission East, Concern, the Aga Khan Development Network, and the Association for Aid and Relief, Japan.

Abdul Rahim Karimi, Justice Minister during the transitional government under President Karzai, spoke of the important and essential role NGOs are playing in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan. He deplored the violence committed in the name of Islam and excoriated those using the current unrest to justify threats against aid agencies in the province. Invoking the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith (the collected teachings and stories of the prophet Mohammed), he expressed appreciation for the aid agencies' work, reminding everyone that the people and government of Afghanistan share the responsibility to safeguard expatriates “here to support us.”

Governor Marzban, prominent mullahs, elders, and NGO representatives (including Dr. Ahmad Wali Rasikh, REACH Provincial Public Health Advisor in Takhar) also addressed the assembly. Speakers representing the NGOs invited the audience and people in their communities to visit NGO offices and projects at any time, welcomed them to ask questions, and urged them to come directly to NGOs with troubling rumors. “Our purpose,” said one NGO representative “is to serve the people. None of us want problems with security to prevent us from our work or, worst of all, force us to leave.”

All mullahs and elders then met in an afternoon session to establish a Shura Ulema, a body of 10 Islamic scholars who will pay attention to and comment publicly on all government and government-sponsored activities in the province,including NGO health programs in Afghanistan. The Shura Ulema selected a distinguished scholar and lecturer from Takhar University as its Chair.

Strengthening and expanding community support for NGO projects is critical to improving the lives of the Afghan people. Bill Schiffbauer, REACH Deputy Director for Operations, and Abdul Rahman, REACH Head of Security, who travelled to Talaqan to attend the gathering, hope the successful Takhar province town meeting will serve as a model for similar gatherings in other Afghan provinces.

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