Farima Afaq

October 17, 2014

Government Work in a Conservative, Male Dominant Environment 

During the summer of 2014, I worked as an intern at the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) in Kabul, Afghanistan. The IDLG is the Government’s lead agency for policy and planning for strengthening local government and ensuring good governance. My internship experience has taught me that every student must gain real work experiences in order to learn from experience and to further explore their interests. 

I achieved this wonderful opportunity through networking. I worked at the policy sector of the IDLG as a policy coordinator. I mainly helped my colleagues with writing, editing and observing of various local government policies in different provinces of Afghanistan. In addition, I also held meetings with high skilled staff members in the office to discuss frameworks for documents such as progress reports and questionnaires, which would be sent out to ministries in the capital and local offices in various provinces. While working at the IDLG, besides gaining knowledge about the function of local governance in Afghanistan and building on my skills, I also learned how to best adjust in a conservative and male dominated working environment.