TARIN KOT, Afghanistan - Provincial Peace Committee and Provincial Joint Secretariat Team members conducted the 6th Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program outreach shurah, in Gizab district, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, May 20, 2012.
The APRP is a program designed to reintegrate insurgents as productive members of Afghan society. According to the APRP program, most Afghan insurgents are fighting in or near their communities and only a minority are ideologically driven. Most insurgents fight because of grievances and these are typically of local origin.
"It's an Afghan led program. Where Afghans are bringing Afghans back into the community," said Capt. Nick Plante, an ISAF Joint Command re-integration officer.
The APRP seeks reintegration through a three-step program consisting of social outreach, demobilization and finally consolidation of peace and community recovery.
The shurah held in Gizab was meant to be a meeting for the first stage, where local elders and government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan leaders met to discuss grievances and help reach out to insurgents who are weary of fighting.
"I want our people to stand together," said Amir Mohammad Akhundzab, the Provincial Governor of Uruzgan. "I ask you to stand up united and finish this fight by standing together as a community."
Establishing a program like this is necessary in order to stop fighting and develop a better Afghanistan.
"We have fought in our country for a long time and we will see fighting again if nothing changes. A blanket of grievances has spread over our country. In order to remove that blanket we must have peace," said Sarkhatib Muhammad Shah, Uruzgan Provincial Peace Committee chairman.
Afghanistan is a land rich in history, a history with periods of constant warfare. This causes a unique situation where some Afghans have spent their whole lives fighting.
"The re-integration program is important to the ISAF mission because part of the tenets of counter insurgency warfare is to bring them back into the community and become a contributing part of the government," said Staff Sgt. Aaron F. Peel, a squad leader with 2nd squad, 1st Platoon, Company A, 2-3 Infantry. "What ends up happening is, though you may still be fighting the enemy, you try to give them a reason to come back in, lay down their weapons and rejoin the community." That can sometimes be a difficult task however, and one that cannot be achieved if those who submit to the program feel as if their fight was for nothing.
THE APRP gives insurgents incentive by offering reintegration training where insurgents are taught skills that will allow them to contribute to the communities they are returning to.
"Give them a reason to come in and be a productive member of society is always good rather than keeping them marginalized," said Peel. "The program helps them feel like they didn't fight for nothing while at the same time letting them return to the community with dignity."
The district of Gizab is an example of how the ISAF mission is succeeding and how important the APRP is. Partnering for peace, both the Afghan Uniform and Local Police provided security for the event. ISAF soldiers were present in an advisory position, there to help if needed while the Afghans accomplished the task of reaching out and promoting peace.
"Our doors are open for every resident of Gizab to come back," said Shah, "My word for the scholars, the mullahs, and the people of Gizab is to reach out to the people with grievances and bring them back to the community and back to peace."