Basic Education and Employable Skill Training (BEST) is a national, non-profit, non-governmental, and non-political development organization working across Afghanistan. We empower vulnerable communities through seven thematic sectors: Education (Formal & Non-Formal), Vocational Training & Livelihoods, Agriculture & Rural Livelihoods, Health, Civil Society Capacity Building, Peacebuilding & Good Governance, and Human Rights & Access to Justice.

BEST was established in April 2006 and is officially registered with the Ministry of Economy of Afghanistan under license number #373. The organization has operated continuously for two decades and reports regularly to the Ministry of Economy in line with national NGO law.

BEST has implemented projects across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Operations are managed from the Kabul head office, supported by regional offices in Nangarhar and by field offices opened during project cycles. Programming is organized across seven operational regions — Central, Eastern, Southeastern, Northern, Southern, Western, and the Northeastern & Central Highlands.

BEST employs over 200 full-time and project-based staff, including program managers, educators, engineers, trainers, and M&E professionals. Our national staff have proven field experience in conflict and post-conflict settings, and women hold key management and technical roles across the organization.

Since 2006, BEST has implemented 67 projects and reached more than 250,000 direct beneficiaries — children, women, youth, IDPs, and returnees. Key results include:

• Hundreds of community-based schools and literacy centers established, with 3,000+ teachers trained;
• 2,000+ youth and women trained in vocational skills, with a significant portion employed or self-employed;
• 60+ Civil Society Organizations trained and mentored, with Civil Society Support Centers in Ghazni, Logar, and Bamyan;
• Mobile Health Clinics in Kunar and Nuristan transforming access to care in hard-to-reach mountainous areas;
• Extensive women’s rights, access to justice, and EVAW awareness programming nationwide.

• Community-Based Protection Measures (UNHCR, 2018–2022): our largest single contract (~USD 3.01 million) — shelter, water infrastructure, and reintegration support for returnees and IDPs;
• SPEAC I & II (War Child Canada, 2017–2022): child protection case management and family tracing in Logar;
• Education Cannot Wait – ACCESS (UNICEF / War Child Canada, 2019–2020): protective learning spaces and community-based teacher training in Uruzgan and Sar-e-Pul;
• I-PACS I & II (Counterpart International / USAID, 2006–2012): civil society strengthening in Ghazni, Bamyan, and Logar;
• Vocational Training for Afghan Women (CARE International): a long-running series of livelihoods programs for vulnerable women in Kabul.