OHR Strengthens Institutional Capacity and Shifts Toward Transformative Leadership Model
Jalalabad – February 2026
The Organization for Human Relief (OHR) has entered 2026 with renewed momentum after a year of intensive capacity strengthening, signaling a clear shift toward a more transformative, inclusive, and community-engaged leadership model.
Throughout 2025, OHR placed unprecedented emphasis on strengthening its institutional and human capacities, recognizing that sustainable impact depends not only on project delivery but also on strong systems, skilled staff, and adaptive leadership. This organizational focus marked a strategic transition—from traditional program management toward a leadership approach grounded in participation, learning, and accountability.
Over the past year, more than 30 capacity-building events were conducted, including trainings, workshops, peer-learning sessions, and reflective practice spaces. These initiatives reached staff across all levels—from senior management to frontline service providers—covering program management, monitoring and evaluation, compliance, safeguarding, fundraising, communications, and high-quality psychosocial service delivery.
To date, 40 OHR staff have participated in 30 structured capacity-building trainings (online and in-person). Participants included leadership, program management, M&E Officer, psychosocial counselors, and field facilitators. Key engagements included specialized trainings on Women’s Economic Empowerment, humanitarian negotiation, financial management, trauma- and identity-informed psychosocial counseling, trauma- and identity-informed MEL, and data-driven reporting systems.
A major milestone was the professionalization of psychosocial services, with OHR counselors completing advanced trainings in professional psychosocial counseling, value-based counseling, GBV prevention, social norm change, and survivor-centered approaches—many facilitated in collaboration with UN Women, NETLINKS, Amna and OHR’s internal technical advisor. Knowledge gained through these trainings was systematically cascaded within teams, strengthening peer learning and improving the quality and consistency of services across districts.
OHR also deepened its engagement with Amna Refugee Healing Network and the Global Humanitarian Network (GHN), participating in a series of peer workshops, reflective spaces, communications and storytelling trainings, fundraising and resource mobilization sessions, and a comprehensive Train-the-Trainer programme. These engagements supported OHR’s transition toward trauma-informed facilitation, creative collective healing tools, and locally grounded, sustainable methodologies.
As a result of this cumulative investment, OHR reports measurable improvements in leadership effectiveness, field-level problem-solving, compliance, accountability, and service quality. Staff capacity in digital data management, beneficiary tracking, and results-based reporting has been strengthened, enabling the organization to better meet donor standards and enhance transparency.
Looking ahead to 2026, OHR is consolidating these gains by focusing on institutional transformation. Planned priorities include assessing and revising organizational policies, renewing the strategic plan, redesigning the organizational website, strengthening internal systems, and continuing staff development to ensure meaningful inclusion and stronger community engagement.
OHR leadership describes this phase as a shift “from delivering projects to cultivating systems, people, and leadership that can adapt, learn, and lead with communities.” With strengthened capacities and a clear transformative vision, OHR positions itself to deliver more responsive, gender-responsive, and community-centered services in an increasingly complex humanitarian context.