QAFELA (Quick-Change Association for Educational Promotion Livelihood Development & Awareness) QAFELA is a local NGO working in KPK.
The inspiration behind the establishment of the organization is the affiliation of some of its founding members with the IRC (International Rescue Committee), FAO(Food and Agriculture organization), FATA LDP (FATA Livelihood Development Program of USAID) etc. These members of the NGO BoD introduced the idea to other like-minded social workers and development professionals across the province to la
unch an organization that would not only continue their efforts to invest in the social capital the approach and efforts in other backward areas of the province. The outcome of these deliberations and efforts was the creation of QAFELA in the year 2009. As is clear from the name, QAFELA means traveling together for peace and prosperity by addressing conflict and calamity as well as the various capitals that contribute to the development of a community. QAFELA is a voluntary not-for-profit organization dedicated to social & economic development with due regard for ecological conservation, gender mainstreaming and social protection, specially focusing on the backward areas. The founding members have got rich experience in social, engineering, participatory development, gender mainstreaming and poverty alleviation initiatives through resource management in a systematic approach. The NGO focuses on the ignored and marginalized segments of the society like the poor, women and people living in remote mountainous regions, thus empowering and enabling them to bring them on the grassroots level to the mainstream of development process. Majority of the members of the board and executive and general bodies of QAFELA bring rich experience from reputable national and international organizations. The NGO has got a pool of experienced and dedicated workers with specialization in social mobilization and community development, community empowerment, livelihoods, emergency response, conflict resolution, coordination and management of social sector development projects/programs. QAFELA’s multi-disciplinary team of professionals is governed by a Board of Directors, which is the policy making forum for the organization. The team of QAFELA is led by a highly experienced Chairman Board of Director having worked on senior management positions with FATA LDP of USAID, FAO/ERRA Livelihoods Rehabilitation Project, IRC Pakistan, EIROP Composite Training Program, PPTA for FRDP of Pakistan Participatory Poverty Assessment of DFID and P*P and Kalam Integrated Development Project of SDC/IC and Go KPK. He is also having international experience in Doha Qatar. The Chairman Board of Director is supported by Executive Director, Operations Manager, Program Advisors/ Sector Specialists and Regional Program Managers. The Executive Director leads the NGO team in program planning, implementation, monitoring & evaluation, coordination and donors’ reporting. He arranges the meetings of the Board of Directors on need basis to get various policies approved by the board. For every regional office in the program areas, there are Regional Program Managers supported by support staff in their duties. For the implementation of every project, apart from the volunteer staff , the organization also owns a Support Group that at the moment comprises 10 members having experience and expertise in various sectors. They work on voluntary basis for the organization on need basis.
