Afghanistan

More than 20 years of conflict have left a country devastated and communities broken, creating what is now one of the poorest countries in the world. Over the last decade significant steps have been made to advance women’s rights  – such as the provision of gender equality in the new Constitution, and  the establishment of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

However, women have not witnessed significant improvements in their abilities to enjoy their human rights:

• The deteriorating security situation since 2007 is leaving the population, especially women, without access to basic services
• Gender gaps in Afghanistan are widespread in health, in education, economic opportunities and power and political voice
• A combination of traditional customs and rigid interpretation of Shari’a Law places serious restrictions on women’s rights.

Specific challenges faced by women include:

• High levels of violence
• Invisibility of women, who are confined to private spaces, with limited  physical freedom
• Exclusion from decision making processes

Take action to make sure Afghan women have a say in Afghanistan’s future – sign our petition to Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Womankind in Afghanistan

Womankind has been working in Afghanistan since 2004. We have worked in partnership with local women’s organisations supporting their participation, improvement of services to women and raising awareness of women’s rights.

Our initial work supported projects to reduce violence against women and promote women’s civil, economic and political participation in Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar and Peshawar.

Since 2009 Womankind has been working to  increase literacy rates amongst women and girls and strengthen leadership and women’s participation in the community. Find out more about the work we are doing in Afghanistan.

Achievements to date

• We have trained 2 women empowerment committees which have now registered with the Ministry of Justice in Afghanistan and have gained the status of Community Based Organisations.
• We have involved 150 community members, as well as representatives from the district governor’s office, police officers and security officials in a campaign on the reduction of violence against women in Kabul.

Women’s voices

The power of one woman’s voice is amazing. The power of millions is mind-blowing.

One of our lovely volunteers, Akshara, has written about the way that her time at Womankind has changed the way she thinks about women's rights.

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Billboards raise awareness of Afghanistan’s End Violence Against Women law

Our partner AWRC and other Afghan women’s organizations created billboards to raise awareness about violence in each of Kabul’s districts for International Women's Day.

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Farida’s Story

“When I was just 8 years old my parents forcibly got me engaged to a 21 year-old man. They made a contract for us to marry when I turn 18."

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Back to school?

Across the country, children are going back to school this month. But do we take this opportunity for granted?

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