Who We Are
The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) is a Kabul-based independent research think tank established in 2002 with the assistance of the international community in Afghanistan. AREU’s mission is to inform policy and practice by conducting high-quality, evidence-based research and actively disseminating the results, and to promote a culture of research and learning.
AREU achieves its mission through active engagement with policymakers, civil society actors, researchers, and the development assistance community in Afghanistan to promote their use of AREU’s research publications and its library, strengthening research capacity and creating spaces for analysis, reflection, and debate.
AREU is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of representatives of donor organizations, embassies, the United Nations and other multilateral agencies, Afghan civil society, and independent experts.
AREU’s core donor is the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). Specific projects in 2019 are being funded by the European Union (EU), United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Overseas Development Institute (ODI-UK), School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Economic and Social Research Council United Kingdom (ESRC-UK), UN-Women, Save the Children, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and University of Essex.
AREU holds memberships in multiple international development consortiums including the RESOLVE Network, Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) and A Conflict Sensitive Unpacking of The EU Comprehensive Approach to Conflict and Crisis Mechanism (EUNPACK).
AREU has been ranked as the top think-tank in Afghanistan by the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Go To Think Tank Index Report in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The report also ranked the organization as number 3 in Central Asia. In 2018, UK-based Prospect Magazine recognized AREU as the top International Social Think Tank.
Values
AREU’s values as a research organization fit into the FRAME acronym.
Flexibility and Objectivity: AREU’s best work is responsive to the dynamic context in Afghanistan. It draws on academic research around the globe, but grounds all knowledge in evidence-based research within Afghanistan itself.
Resilience: As an organization confronted with often fraught work environments that pose both emotional and physical threats, the organisation as a whole must be resilient in the face of danger—but ever wary of ensuring its staff’s safety and well-being.
Accessibility: The organization’s commitment is to all the people of Afghanistan. AREU reflects people’s voices through its research that is responsive to their needs and has consistently published its research materials in Dari and Pashto to ensure that our knowledge generation is accessible to and understandable by the Afghan public.
Mutual Respect and Inclusion: The organization is committed to creating a working environment that values the insight and opinions of all its staff, ensuring a diversity reflective of the nation as a whole. We ensure that all research conducted and all publications produced are founded upon principles of respect for the research subjects and communities involved.
Excellence: AREU is committed to producing the highest quality research and learning products through collective diligence and intellectual rigor, without compromising the organisation’s independence or impartiality.
Vision
AREU envisions an Afghanistan where policy decisions are made on the basis of evidence, open debate, and widespread public awareness in the belief that this will better reflect the priorities of the Afghan people and give rise to more informed policies and programs.
Mission
As an independent, non-profit, and non-partisan Afghan-led research institute, our mission is to inform policy and practice and produce knowledge by conducting high-quality research to nurture a culture of research and learning in Afghanistan and stimulate demand for evidence-based research.