AINA Photojournalism Institute is the first and only educational institution teaching photojournalism and photography in Afghanistan, and neighbouring countries.
AINA Photojournalism Institute’s founding goal is the integration of a free press and freedom of expression into a society that has been scarred by years of sustained oppression and political instability.

Established in early 2002 by world renowned photojournalist Manoocher Deghati, the program began with only three students.  With fiscal support from CAF/SCO Holland during the first year, that number has now grown to eighty-five students, twenty-five of which are female.  The students range in age from fourteen to forty years old.  Additional funding has allowed for over twenty professional photojournalists to be flown into Kabul from abroad for the purpose of providing intensive training to students.

AINA Photojournalism Institute has gradually diminished its reliance on foreigners by building local capacity and empowering Afghans to manage the organization. Eighty percent of all Afghan photojournalists now working in Afghanistan went through the AINA Photojournalism program to gain their training.  AINA Photo is now in its seventh year of operation and is the only photographic media training center in the country, and within the greater region.