An integral part of the 2005 elections is to reach out to the Afghan communities, governmental and non-governmental institutions, in order to create public understanding of the electoral process and encourage participation. The aim of public outreach is to provide Afghan communities with accurate, culturally sensitive and timely election information; encourage and promote the involvement of Afghan women in the election process; and to contribute to the capacity building of Afghan civil society and staff in civic education and public information.

Public outreach is responsible for the development and coordination of both civic education activities and public information campaigns central to the success of the electoral process. First, civic education activities take place through direct meetings with Afghan communities and extensive material distribution. Second, the public information campaign utilizes both traditional (radio, TV, newspapers and magazines) and non-traditional (mobile radio, cinema and theater) media in order to reach Afghans in rural and urban areas. In particular, radio, which is the most popular form of media – is used extensively through short public service announcements and longer programs and discussions. Third, public outreach operates by providing information about the electoral process through close collaboration with partner NGOs (International Foundation for Election Systems and the Afghan Civil Society Forum), and civil society organizations. Finally, the Small Grants Program (SGP) strengthens civil society by funding small events which include civic education activities. Through these ways, public outreach provides Afghans with information and encourages broad participation among all Afghans (including women, the disabled and nomadic groups), to contribute towards the re-building of Afghanistan.

The material used in order to reach out to the public takes into account that the high rate of illiteracy, and is therefore graphically oriented. More complicated messages are provided through other public information channels.