Background & our work

Asfar CIC is a dynamic international NGO and social enterprise, established to offer development opportunities for Young People, Women and wider Communities in Europe; the Middle East & North Africa; the Caucasus; the Balkans and beyond, through: Peacebuilding; Creative-Cultural learning; Volunteering & Social Action; an e-Journal; Educational, Creative Enterprise development and Training programmes, including Digital Storytelling; transnational Dialogue; Youth Exchanges.

Asfar also delivers Women Economic Empowerment programmes; Gender Equality activities; International Strategic Cooperation projects; and aims to support regional NGO’s with their capacity building through Development Consultancy.

Since 2018, Asfar supported over 2000 young people transnationally in 20+ different countries, 45+ Youth Workers and Educators on our RESOLVE programmes alone and 100+ young and women social entrepreneurs in UK, Europe and North Africa.

In 2020, we launched NGO AsfarEurope in Estonia, which focuses on the Baltic and wider mainland Europe. To learn more about AsfarEurope visit here.

Since 2018, a key area of our work has been youth development through our RESOLVE: Reconciliation for Development model, mobilising conflict resolution competencies and wider professional and personal development skills, through Reconciliation, Peacebuilding and Learning methods.

Methods include: Digital Storytelling; Sport for Peace activities; Interfaith Dialogue; Simulation Games; Play & Theatre workshops; and wider forms of reconciliation learning techniques.

Development Consultancy services

A key area of Asfar’s work, aside from direct delivery, is our NGO and Social Enterprise consultancy services unit. Consultancy services include:

  • Capacity building social enterprises and fellow not-for-profits, Civic Society Organisations and NGOs;
  • Offering technical advice on Quality Assurance, Monitoring & Evaluation, Impact Assessment, Strategic planning;
  • Project Management and implementation;
  • Local, National and International Partnership development and the foundations of partnership networks;
  • Project design, bid writing and fundraising.

Get in touch to learn more about our Development Consultancy services.

Asfar’s History

Established in 2011/2012 as a youth-led volunteer-based project which founded Asfar’s cultural e-Journal with a focus on the Middle East, supporting young journalists, creative writers, photographers, editors etc. to develop their creative-cultural skills and offer a platform to publish their work. (check out our e-Journal here).

In 2013, Asfar launched as a social enterprise and NGO in order to support more young people and communities, especially those seeking employment guidance and who would benefit from cultural, enterprise, employability and international volunteering projects.

Between 2013 and 2020, Asfar has further developed to offer more services to our young people, their communities, while also providing opportunities for 100s of volunteers both in Europe and the rest of the world.

Asfar, and now AsfarEurope, works locally and internationally, to provide opportunities for Communities especially Young People in the UK, Europe, the Middle East & North Africa and since 2014 the Caucasus and the Balkans, through Volunteering & Social Action; Educational & Creative Enterprise programmes; Reconciliation projects; Cultural activities; and Youth Exchanges, to: Engage, Inspire and Develop themselves.

In 2021, Asfar launched its new Youth Board, a youth-led leadership team, designed to ensure young people are influencing key decision-making processes, while also safeguarding our original values and objectives through offering youth volunteering opportunities within our Asfar’s leadership.