CoAR is an Afghan, independent, nonpolitical, nonsectarian, nonprofit organization, created at the initiative of a group of Afghans in 1989. It has been registered under # 11 with the Ministry of Economy. Also, the organization has membership with other coordinating bodies—it is a member of the Steering Committee of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) and Afghan NGOs Coordination Body (ANCB). Similarly, CoAR is registered with some line ministries such as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock.

The organization was initially involved in cross-border, emergency relief activities aimed at providing services to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Since then, the organization has evolved into one of the biggest national NGOs in the country implementing both humanitarian and development projects. Currently, CoAR focuses on Rural Development, Disaster Management, and Research, Evaluation, and Monitoring. In the development sphere, CoAR has implemented projects in the sectors of agriculture, livestock, infrastructural engineering, health, education, and vocational training. In all these sectors, CoAR has demonstrated brilliant capacity and has correspondingly gained substantial experience in each of the fields.