Fawzia is a 13 year old girl from Markazi Darzab district in Afghanistan. Fawzia is a full time 6th grade student. She is one of the young Afghan girls who is taking charge of her future and exercising her right to live a life of dignity. When we first met Fawzia she spoke candidly about her family:

I live with my mother, elder sister and younger brothers. I have a father too. But he is not with us for long time. I don't remember when he left to Iran to work. I haven't seen him for years. He promised to send us money, but he didn't send any. He even didn't come back. We heard that became drug addict and spending his money on it. My elder sister is mentally sick. My brothers are small. My mother is the only person in my family who earns something for us. She is earning through embroidering.

In Markazi district, where Fawzia lives, Action Aid Afghanistan (AAA) has been implementing the National Solidarity Program (NSP). In the frames of NSP, AAA works with communities to establish local governance bodies known as Community Development Councils (CDC). These councils are responsible for overseeing all of the development projects carried out in the village. Capacity building in budgeting, social auditing, monitoring and evaluating expenditures has enabled the community to get directly involved in the formulation of the village development plans, problem prioritizations and decision making. With the support of AAA, CDCs have been formed in more then 100 villages and sub villages and now have 659 members, who were elected in a fully democratic process with the participation of over 75% of people in villages.