Afghanistan War Commission Oral History Project

The Afghanistan War Commission, a bipartisan legislative body established by the U.S. Congress in December 2021, is tasked with conducting a thorough review of key decisions regarding U.S. military, intelligence, foreign assistance, and diplomatic activities in Afghanistan from June 2001 to August 2021. The Commission is required to submit a report to Congress within three years of its initial meeting, detailing its findings, recommendations, and lessons learned.

Provide support services to conduct and record oral history interviews that captures diversely situated Afghans affected by the war, provide insight into the human impact of the conflict in Afghanistan, and support the AWC by preparing a report that summarizes the key themes in the interviews and the observations of the research team.

The services to be performed include conducting oral history interviews with as many as 100 Afghans diversely situated in terms of age, occupation, gender, and intensity of the conflict experienced in their geographic region. The contractor shall collect and curate these stories, with measures in place to ensure secure storage of the interviews, along with anonymity and security for the participants.

The interviews will be transcribed and translated into English for use in preparation of the AWC report and other AWC products, to be provided as they become available between July 1st and December 31st, 2025. Along with the delivery of the last transcripts, the Contractor will prepare a brief report summarizing the key themes and topics discussed in the interviews, as well as insights gleaned from spatial analysis, language modeling, and qualitative analysis of the transcripts.

Independently, the Contractor plans to prepare a manuscript for publication regarding the project and its findings, to be published no sooner than the AWC report. A copy of this manuscript will be provided to the AWC. PLEASE SEE ATTACHED SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FOR COMPLETE DETAILS FOR THE REQUIREMENT, AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF CAPABILITY STATEMENT.