ORCD UK is the British home of one of Afghanistan’s most established humanitarian organisations. Community-rooted, locally led and present for over a decade in places others cannot reach.
ORCD, the Organisation for Research and Community Development, was founded in Afghanistan in 2011 by Afghan professionals who understood their country’s needs because they lived them.
What started as a small team in a single province has grown into one of Afghanistan’s most significant humanitarian organisations. Today ORCD works across all 34 provinces, has 1,800 staff on its rota, and has delivered over $100 million in life-saving programmes (source: ORCD Global independently audited accounts, 2012 to 2025). In 2015, ORCD became the first Afghan NGO ever to receive UN ECOSOC Special Consultative Status, a recognition that fewer than 100 organisations worldwide receive each year.
ORCD UK is the British chapter. We exist so that UK donors, the Afghan diaspora, and British institutions can support work that has been happening on the ground for over a decade. We are not starting from scratch. We are building a bridge to something that already works.
Every year, millions of people in the UK give generously to humanitarian causes in Afghanistan. Much of that money passes through large international organisations with significant overheads and distance from the communities they serve.
ORCD UK is different. We are a UK charity, which means Gift Aid, transparent governance, and British donor protections. And we channel funds directly to ORCD’s teams on the ground: teams who have been there for more than a decade, who speak the language, and who already have the trust of the communities they serve.
Your donation does not fund a London office discovering Afghanistan. It reaches professionals who have been there all along.
A UK-registered charity built on 14 years of proven humanitarian delivery in Afghanistan — with a dual mission that spans Kabul to Britain.
ORCD's team, from leadership to the field, brings local knowledge and lived experience of the communities we serve. Trust in Afghan communities is built slowly over years, and ORCD's teams have spent that time building it. It is part of why they can reach places and people that others cannot.
ORCD works through existing community structures, not around them. The communities ORCD serves know the organisation's name because it has shown up consistently, through every crisis, for over a decade.
ORCD reaches communities that many international NGOs cannot access. This is not a claim made lightly. It is a product of who ORCD's teams are, the relationships they hold, and the trust they have maintained through everything Afghanistan has been through.
ORCD founded in Afghanistan. A single province. A small team of Afghan professionals committed to locally led, evidence-based development. |
ORCD becomes the first Afghan NGO to receive UN ECOSOC Special Consultative Status. An unprecedented achievement for an Afghan organisation.
ORCD grows into one of Afghanistan’s most significant humanitarian actors. Seven UN agency partnerships. Over $100M delivered. All 34 provinces reached. Clean audits every year.
Local leadership first
We are not outside experts delivering solutions to Afghanistan. We are a support structure for professionals who already know what needs to be done and have been doing it for years.
Honesty above polish
We do not publish photographs designed to shock. We do not make claims we cannot back up. If something did not work, we say so. Our donors deserve the truth, not a performance.
Access is a responsibility
The ability to reach communities that others cannot is not something we take lightly. It comes with an obligation to use that access well and to be accountable for what we do with it.
Accountability from start to finish
UK donor to ORCD UK to ORCD Global to community delivery. Tracked at every step. Reported at every stage. If we cannot show you where your money went, we should not be asking for it.
