Our Partners Afghanistan

We currently work with three partner organisations, supporting programmes at local level as well as helping implement longer-term policy changes.

Such partnerships enable Afghan women to:

Participate in the decision-making process through human-rights training. building their skills and gaining better access to decision-makers at a national and international level
Find solidarity and support, particularly amongst women leaders – and through building networks and support groups at a local level
Receive practical assistance with issues such as violence against women – including forced and early marriage, polygamy and physical abuse
Benefit from practical, vocational skills and literacy training allowing them some economic independence
Have access to psycho-social support if suffering from violence or intimidation
Share their new knowledge with other members of their community – and within civil society networks at national and international level
Benefit from lessons learned from WOMANKIND’s women’s-empowerment programmes in other areas of the world, particularly those in Islamic contexts

As well as providing education to women and girls, our partners have established a number of women’s and youth committees in various parts of the country which meet regularly to discuss needs and issues relevant to their local community. A key part of such committees’ role is to influence decision-making within their community, as well as advocate for women’s equal participation and protection from multiple forms of violence.

Afghan Women’s Education Centre (AWEC)

Established in 1991 to address the needs of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, the Afghan Women’s Education Centre works at community level to provide education for women and children, as well as providing psycho-social support services to women suffering from violence. Their pilot Peace & Democracy Tour led directly to the creation of peace-building workshops which include rights-awareness training, conflict resolution and issues relating to violence against women. Their extensive experience of working within male, religious and conservative communities – both at urban and rural level – has proved invaluable in developing programmes which support women’s empowerment while, at the same time, acknowledging the significant customs and traditions of their community and country. AWEC also actively advocates for long-term legislative change and promotes governmental consultation with civil society.

WOMANKIND’s partnership with the Afghan Women’s Education Centre currently focuses on:

Establishment of a Women’s Centre in Mazar I Sharif, providing training in human rights and peace-building, as well as counselling and other support services for local women
Touring and outreach work to equip women with conflict-resolution skills to engage in the settlement of disputes and peace-building initiatives at the family and local level within Mazar I Sharif

WOMANKIND also supported a project in Kabul prison:

Providing practical support and assistance to women, most of whom have been detained or convicted for ‘social’ crimes such as elopement and adultery through judicial systems that offer them little representation and are based on tradition and customs, rather than codified law. Conditions in such prisons are well below international standards and the women incarcerated have little hope of external support during their prison term or on their release.

Afghan Women’s Network (AWN)

The Afghan Women’s Network is a non-partisan association of women’s NGOs, working to ensure women’s equal participation in Afghan society. The 90 member NGOs and 3,000 individual memberslobby and advocate at all levels for women’s rights and freedoms.

The focus of the Afghan Women’s Network partnership with WOMANKIND is the Political Participation Project. This aims to raise awareness of women’s legal rights and encourage their political participation by:

Providing information and education on women’s civil and political rights
Creating training and education programmes that inform women about the new Afghan Constitution and international legislation on women’s human rights
Providing information and education on how women can participate effectively in the civil, social and political life of the country
Forming committees to provide a foundation for on-going training, group activities and campaigns, peer support and the development of leadership skills
Creating training workshops to help women take part in political processes, including elections

AWN has 14 active Youth and Teacher Committees in Kabul, Peshawar and Jalalabad, supporting vulnerable individuals, identifying ongoing challenges and working to improve their situation at a community level.

Afghan Women’s Resource Centre (AWRC)

The Afghan Women’s Resource Centre has been developing practical, empowering projects in the community for more than 25 years. They often work with the most vulnerable women – refugees, returnees – where the focus is on enabling them to become active, self-reliant members of their families and society. Working in partnership with WOMANKIND, they have created a number of training and education programmes through their community centres across the country. These programmes have focused on literacy training and education on women’s civil and political rights – including:

The new Afghan Constitution
Women and Human Rights in Islam
Women and Family Law

But the influence of the original workshops spreads much wider – women participants are taking this knowledge back into their families and communities – helping to raise awareness and encourage change. To date, the women who have received this training have conducted over 45 training workshops with over 1400 women and girls taking part.

Our Influence In Afghanistan >>

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