HERAT - Multicoloured pencils, hanging from branches like leaves, formed the creative set-piece during an Afghanistan-wide poetry competition that drew hundreds of poetry aficionados from across the country to the western province of Herat for a celebration of Afghan literature.

LAL WA SARJANGAL - Government officials, religious scholars, activists and other community leaders in a remote district of Ghor gathered at a UN-backed symposium to strategize on ways to promote social cohesion, both locally and nationally, in the interest of advancing peace.

JALALABAD - A UN-backed peace initiative has helped ease a longstanding land dispute in Nangarhar, demonstrating the power of local communities to determine their fate through dialogue, even against the backdrop of the broader conflict playing out across the country.