This paper presents a model of capacity development for public organizations in post-conflict settings. The paper reveals the challenges faced by the author as a `change agent' who tried to understand and develop the basic capacity of the Literacy Department of the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan. The author used an action-research approach and has actively followed events and actions to explore the `how can' of capacity development efforts. The review of organizational change literature provided background knowledge for the author's day-to-day work in a public organization and helped him to develop a Foundational Capacity Development Framework (FCDF). The FCDF offers four complementing components of infrastructure, technical competence, social and organizational participation, and strategic alignment . The framework also recognizes the importance of underlying components of capacity development which are based on the beliefs, values, behavior, ownership, sustainment and institutionalization . The four components in the framework are utilized in ways that address the underlying causes to change individual beliefs and values , creating ownership and empowerment for the sustainment and institutionalization of capacity development efforts in public organizations.