Our Influence Afghanistan

WOMANKIND Worldwide works hard to ensure the voices of our Afghan partners are heard by international donors and policymakers.

Impact through collaboration

WOMANKIND Worldwide is an active member of the British Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG). BAAG is a London-based network of British and Irish NGOs that operate or work through local partners in Afghanistan. BAAG also provides the secretariat for the European Network of NGOs in Afghanistan (ENNA).

WOMANKIND shares information and carries out advocacy with BAAG and ENNA. We also chair the European NGO Working Group on Afghan Women’s Human Rights, which was formed by a group of BAAG and ENNA members in March 2007 to:

Raise the voice of Afghan women and girls and women’s local civil-society groups at a European level
Share programmatic experience and knowledge
Develop a common understanding of advocacy and support strategies to promote women’s and girls’ human rights
Build the capacity of local and international NGOs, donors and policymakers to better monitor, protect and promote these rights in Afghanistan.

Ahead of the Rome Conference on the Rule of Law in Afghanistan in July 2007, the working group produced recommendations for mainstreaming the justice and rule-of-law sectors in Afghanistan.

Peacebuilding and security

WOMANKIND works with the Gender Action on Peace and Security (GAPS) group to promote gender and peacebuilding issues – and the implementation of Adobe PDF document UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the first resolution ever passed by the Security Council that specifically addresses the impact of war on women, and women's contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace.

GAPS is the only organisation in the UK that works solely to promote women’s human rights in the context of peace and security.

Facts of life

WOMANKIND continuously researches – in a series of reports entitled Taking Stock: Afghan Women & Girls – what life is really like for women and girls in Afghanistan – and how things have changed for them since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Up-to-date facts and figures keep Afghan women’s human rights on the international agenda and highlight issues that need to be urgently addressed.

Reaching new audiences

Speaking at events across the UK is a highly effective way of raising greater awareness of women’s issues in Afghanistan.

These range from panel discussions at arts and film festivals to women’s human rights events. Where possible, our Afghan partners present their work and the experiences of their countrywomen.

Anybody with email can subscribe to a regular e-bulletin with news and information on such events.

True stories

Public interest in Afghan women’s human rights remains high. As such, WOMANKIND works with journalists all over the world to ensure that Afghan women, and their struggles and achievements, are represented accurately. We have also promoted the voice of our partners and facilitated their appearances on BBC television and radio.

Last updated: 20 August 2007