Women Groups working for women in Afghanistan

27 December 2022

Statement by UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous is a milestone

UN Women stands in full solidarity with the women and girls of Afghanistan

Statement: The decree barring women in Afghanistan from working in non-governmental organizations is yet another stark violation of women’s rights

Statement by UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous on the Taliban prohibition of women working with national and international non-governmental organizations.

Updated

Once again, the de facto authorities of Afghanistan have found new ways to harm the women and girls of Afghanistan. As the world remains outraged by recent decisions to ban women and girls from higher education, the decree issued on the 24th December barring women from working in national and international NGOs is yet another stark violation of women’s rights and humanitarian principles. We strongly condemn this without reservation. 

This is relentless misogyny, a virulent attack on women, their contribution, their freedom and their voice.  It is yet another repudiation of every norm and standard of women’s human rights and respect for human dignity.  

In barring women from contributing to the efforts of aid organizations, the Taliban has in effect suspended aid for half the population of Afghanistan, aid that they depended on and without which they will not survive. 11.6 million women and girls are no longer receiving vital assistance. Women-headed households, which make up almost a quarter of households in Afghanistan, have nowhere left to turn and no livelihood support. Many national and international NGOs are unable to operate without their female staff. All services for women are impacted including their access to water, sanitation, hygiene, protection, food, shelter and livelihoods. The consequences of this are further increasing the vulnerability of women and girls already at risk, as services for survivors of violence or to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse are shut down. Thousands of children and families who depended on the income that women delivering humanitarian assistance brought in, are now even more destitute.

There can be no greater catastrophe in the face of humanitarian crisis than to remove the contribution of half the population in navigating Afghanistan’s daunting challenges.

UN Women stands in full solidarity with the women and girls of Afghanistan. I stress again our complete condemnation of the continued erasure and oppression of Afghanistan’s women and girls from public life and our outrage at this latest act of cruelty.

The de facto authorities must know that their actions are undertaken under the full light and scrutiny of the international community and always will be. UN Women has stayed and delivered in Afghanistan, and we will remain. Together with our partners we will make every effort to ensure that women and girls reclaim their space in contributing to the future of Afghanistan, and that their rights are restored, protected and upheld.

Many more women organisation actively working in afghanistan for the welfare of women.women for Afghan Women (WAW) is also one of them. WAW couldn’t be more proud of our partnership with @aseelapp! 

Photos Courtesy: Women for Afghan Women

Our latest dore and more families are left without basic necessities. Our food packages are able to sustain one family for moreistribution in Kabul of 91 food packages impacted over 740 beneficiaries. With worsening economic conditions in Afghanistan, m than one month. With this kind of team work, together we can impact many lives across Afghanistan. 

Our food packages are able to sustain one family for more than one month. With this kind of team work, together we can impact many lives across Afghanistan. It is the moral duty of all women orgamisations to work for all opperessed and depressed women in the all corners of thw world. Are You ready?

WAW Condemns Taliban’s ban on women working

All Progressive Women Demanding That

Taliban Should withdraw their decision to bar women from working

The Taliban should immediately allow women working to return safely to work

Allow employees of national and international organizations to restart work

Women and family in Burka/16th November 2021 Unsplash Photo By Wanman uthmaniyyah

New York, NY: 26 December 2022: (WAW//The Women Screen)::

Women for Afghan Women (WAW) vehemently condemns the decision by the Taliban de facto authorities announced on December 26, 2022, barring all women employees of national and international organizations from going to work with immediate effect. 

As a leading women's rights organization in Afghanistan for over two decades, we believe in the full equality and the right to a life of dignity for all human beings and remain committed to working towards a world in which Afghan women and girls enjoy peace, justice, equality, the freedom to participate in all spheres of life, and the right to live without fear and oppression.

Our brave women colleagues are an indispensable and essential part of our organization that serve as members of our board, executive management, and operational staff. Women are an integral part of our daily, life-saving programs that provide humanitarian, medical, legal, counseling, educational, and other support to any individual that comes to our organization for assistance. They are essential to the social services and operational activities that WAW implements every day.

Without our women staff, we would not and cannot exist. We join the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan in reminding the Taliban that "Any such order would violate the most fundamental rights of women, as well as be a clear breach of humanitarian principles".

The Taliban should immediately end this brutal and senseless policy and allow women to return safely to work. No organization, country, economy, or community can thrive without the equal, full, and meaningful participation of women.

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Women for Afghan Women (WAW) is a grassroots, civil society organization dedicated to advocating for women’s rights, challenging the norms that underpin gender-based violence, and influencing harmful attitudes to bring about positive change.

WAW grew from a small network of volunteers established in early 2001 in New York to become the largest women’s organization in Afghanistan before the Taliban took over the governance of Afghanistan in 2021. Today, WAW continues to expand its services to provide life-changing programs, women's empowerment education, and vocational training for its clients in the United States (U.S.) and continues to implement its humanitarian programs and work with nongovernmental and other partners across Afghanistan.

White Paper Gathering (2 Dec, 3 pm, Jantar Mantar)

Join us in solidarity with the on-going “White Paper” protests in China

The protest is being hosted by Tibetan Youth Congress in India 

-If you stand for a democratic India, come support protests for a democratic China! 

-If you’re on the Left, stand with China’s people not its oppressive regime! 

- Any regime that sees all protesting citizens as enemies of the state, as agents of foreign powers is by definition a dictatorship not a democracy. 

- Any person or group that brands protests in China or Iran as “CIA-backed regime change” or “colour revolutions” - cannot be a fighter for democracy in India, let alone a Left revolutionary fighting for the freedom of all humanity. 

- People, not regimes constitute a nation. If a regime is oppressive and undemocratic, people have every right to change it! 

- Some mock the protestors for being in a minority, claiming that the majority support the regime. But in China as in India, UK or USA, to express dissent even while in a minority proves one’s moral and physical courage. 

Come with blank sheets of paper to Jantar Mantar on 2 Dec at 3 pm - come show solidarity with Chinese, Uyghur, Tibetan people fighting for freedom and democracy! 

Come even if you’re in a minority, even if your community, your comrades hesitate to join you! Show the way of truth and justice, and they may follow tomorrow! 

- Activists Kavita Krishnan and Tenzin Tsundue, and Tibetan Youth Congress

Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence

17th February 2022

DoD Releases the Annual Report regarding Military Service Academies

Photo Source Link

Today, the Department released the annual report on sexual harassment and violence at the Military Service Academies. 

This year's Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies (MSA), Academic Program Year (APY) 2020 – 2021 consists of data on sexual assault and sexual harassment reporting; a new effort to identify cadet and midshipman peer influencers and social networks; an assessment of ongoing prevention and response initiatives; and the Academies’ compliance with Department of Defense and Military Department policy.  

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"Preventing sexual assault remains one of our highest priorities. No one should experience sexual assault.  While we continue efforts to stop these behaviors at our Academies, we encourage survivors to come forward and make reports so we can connect them with recovery care, and aid efforts to hold offenders appropriately accountable," said Elizabeth Foster, executive director of the Office of Force Resiliency. "The Academies must ensure cadets and midshipmen receive an educational experience that is free from sexual assault and harassment, and continue to develop future leaders who will ensure climates of dignity, respect, and inclusion."

Based on the report, in APY 2020-2021, the Department received a total of 161 reports of sexual assault that involved cadets/midshipmen/prep school students as victims and/or alleged perpetrators, an increase of 32 reports from the previous year. Of the total number of reports, 131 were from cadets or midshipmen for incidents that occurred during military service. The reason for increased reporting is unclear, as the Department did not administer a scientific prevalence survey this year. 

The Department seeks greater reporting of sexual assault to connect victims with restorative care and to hold offenders appropriately accountable. At the same time, the Department prioritizes prevention, and is implementing multiple efforts to stop it from happening in the first place.

"This year we found that there are influential academy students that make a daily difference helping others. But some still appear hesitant to act and intervene,” said Dr. Nate Galbreath, acting director of the DOD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. “We must do more to ensure that our future leaders have the resources and information to step up and take action to make a positive difference.”  

The Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies, Academic Program Year 2020 – 2021, a fact sheet with the topline results, and the 2021 Academy Climate and Networking Study is available on www.sapr.mil.