A permanent home will be built at the University of Kabul for a rare collection of books, papers and recordings that document the turbulent history of Afghanistan during the past two decades.  UNOPS has provided design works for the new wing.

The Afghanistan Centre Kabul University (ACKU) will collect, store and share information on a period of war and reconstruction and the rich historical background before the conflict. The design of the centre is funded by the Government of Estonia, and the building itself will be funded by the Government of Afghanistan through the Ministry of Higher Education.

Author and historian Nancy Hatch Dupree, and her late husband, eminent American/US archaeologist Louis Dupree, started the collection in 1989 as the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was drawing to an end. Ms. Dupree has called the collection of 45,000 papers, newspapers and other documents a valuable resource that could help the fractured country forge a national identity.

UNOPS has completed the architectural and engineering designs for the ACKU building, which will be at the heart of the Kabul University campus.  Construction of the building will be overseen by the Government of Afghanistan and is expected to start in the summer of 2009.