States affected by conflict are far from achieving Education for All goals, and many lack human, institutional, and financial capacity. 'Capacity development' is frequently proposed as the solution to their problems. This research brief, based on findings presented in the IIEP book On the Road to Resilience: Capacity Development with the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan (Sigsgaard, 2011), explores some of the challenges that Afghanistan faces in rebuilding an education sector after 30 years of conflict. Lessons learned are put forward for ministries of education and partners involved in capacity development.