Sarah Fane’s Afghan Blog – Friday 13th April 2018
I landed in Kabul on Friday 13th sitting in row 13 of the plane, counting myself fortunate not to be overly superstitious. As I landed, I thought back to other arrivals over the years.
In 2001 I flew into Pakistan and managed to get a visa from the Taliban in Peshawar and fly from there with the UN into Faizabad, a beautiful city in northern Afghanistan. In the years that followed, I would fly in to Peshawar and then go by vehicle through the Spin Ghar mountains, following the wild and formidable Khyber Pass that links the valley of Peshawar at Jamrud with the town of Landi Khotal, Afghanistan. It is part of the ancient Silk Route and an important trade route between Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. Throughout the centuries, Pashtun tribes have regarded this area as their own and levied tariffs off travellers for safe conduct.
Read more about Sarah’s latest visit to Kabul HERE.
Sarah us CEO of Afghan Connection
Kabul leadership centre offers free support for women.
V-Day has committed to supporting PWCE (Promoting Women Capabilities by Education) to run an extraordinary leadership centre in the heart of Kabul. The centre is providing free, non-formal education in literacy, science, computers, family planning and English for Afghan women and girls, as well as legal, psychosocial and counseling support. It is currently serving 150 and has the capacity to serve 250.
For full click HERE.
– See more at: http://afghanwsf.co.uk/category/blog/#sthash.Xv4l49pz.dpuf
Human Rights and Democracy Programme – Funding
The Human Rights and Democracy Programme (HRDP) is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) fund supporting human rights and democracy work overseas.
The Programme aims to make a difference to people’s lives, helping to build the capacity of governments and civil society to promote and protect human rights. In 2012/13, we supported over 70 projects worldwide. Human rights, democracy and the rule of law are at the heart of the government’s foreign policy.
The HRDP concentrates on areas that are both important to us and where we consider we can best achieve the FCO’s central goal to “pursue an active and activist foreign policy, working with other countries and strengthening the rules-based international system in support of our values”.
2013/14 Programme
The areas for 2013/14 are:
- global torture prevention
- abolition of the death penalty
- promotion and protection of freedom of expression
- upholding freedom of religion and belief
- combating discrimination against women
- business and human rights
- strengthening democratic processes
- preventing sexual violence in conflict (see below for the new funding announcement)
Read the FCO Human Rights and Democracy Programme Strategy 2013-14
– See more at: http://afghanwsf.co.uk/blog/human-rights-democracy-programme-funding/#sthash.v4g0PO0F.dpuf
A website dedicated to human rights issues – published in Dari and English.
A report on the Swedish commitment to women, peace and security in Afghanistan.
Good Morning Afghanistan , is the first public service radio outlet in Afghanistan launched on 25 February 2002 , with an aim to help the democratic development of Afghanistan via promoting and strengthening freedom of speech and independent media in the country. As a free and impartial media, GMA currently consists of two daily one-hour programs of “Good Morning Afghanistan” and “Good Evening Afghanistan” being broadcast on the national network of Radio Afghanistan . GMA is aired from 0630 to 0730 hours and GEA from 1800 to 1900 hours, on MW 1107 KHz in all over Afghanistan , and on FM 93 & 105 MHz in Kabul . The program content includes news; current affairs, informative, educational, analytical, and entertaining reports and features as well as sports and music. All programs are also available on GMA’s Dari/Pashto website, which is www.gma.com.af .
Women Living Under Muslim Laws
Women Living Under Muslim Laws is an international solidarity network that provides information, support and a collective space for women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws and customs said to derive from Islam.
READ KABUL-e-NEWS ONLINE
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK:
http://a.smartmailpro.com/webv/spxhp31jr6
Afghan Connection funds and supports schools, teachers and sports opportunities, especially in rural areas. With partners it has built 36 schools across Afghanistan, which currently educate over 40,000 children.
The people of Afghanistan have lived with war for 30 years. Almost half the population are children under 14. Since 2001, the number of school children has risen from 1 million to over 9 million, 40% of whom are girls, but millions of children are still denied an education.
The children who learn today are the teachers, doctors, nurses, agriculturalists and leaders of tomorrow. The country has a chance to develop a strong economy, a stable society and its own promising future.
News updates from The Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women
Afghanistan Women Council (AWC) is a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit, non-sectarian Charity Organisation founded in Peshawar, Pakistan to support the Afghan Refugees in 1986 by the efforts of a group of Afghan women led by Ms. Fatana Ishaq Gailani. It’s aim is to assist Afghan women and children. The predominant objective of the organisation is to empower women by building their capacity, improving their health, education and living conditions and by strengthening their socio-economic status in society by their multi-lateral involvement in developmental activities. AWC has worked in Afghanistan since 1992.
Afghan Women’s Resource Centre (AWRC) (WOMANKIND)
The Afghan Women’s Resource Center began in 1989 with the goal of serving as a focal point for Afghan women by promoting their interests towards self-sufficiency and empowerment. The center offers courses in basic literacy, health education, computers and sewing classes. Since 1989, over 7500 Afghan women have been helped by the AWRC.
Afghan Women’s Skills Development Centre (AWSDC)
Afghan Women Skill Development Center (AWSDC) is a non-profit, non-government and non-political organization, established in 1999 by a group of committed Afghan women with the aim to reduce the suffering of Afghan women and children through promotion of peace and initiation of rehabilitation and development projects
Educational Training Centre for Poor Women and Girls of Afghanistan (ECW)
ECW as a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit welfare organization came into being in the Taliban’s era of ruling the country where a degrading, depressing and stifling atmosphere was imposed on Afghans. Women and girls were the worst-hit victims whose movements were badly restrained not to mention their deprivation from all basic human rights. To contribute for alleviation of women/girls’ miseries and misfortunes, a group of committed and devoted Afghan women embarked on establishing Educational & Training Center for Poor Women and Girls of Afghanistan (ECW) in October, 1997. ECW’s establishment was aimed at providing resources to Afghan women and girls to assist their empowerment in terms of economy, independence and social activity.
Founded in 1978, Global Rights is a human rights capacity-building organization working in partnership with local activists in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to promote and protect the rights of marginalized populations. Through broad-based technical assistance and training, we strengthen partners to document and expose human rights abuses, conduct community outreach and mobilization, advocate for legal and policy reform, and provide legal and paralegal services.
Humanitarian Assistance to the Women of Afghanistan (HAWA)
HAWCA is an organisation of Afghan women aiming to enhance the well-being of Afghan women and children.
Founded in 2008, Justice for All Organization (JFAO) works to strengthen the rule of law and expand access to justice for indigent women in Afghanistan.
Medica mondiale has been working on a range of projects to benefit women and girls in Afghanistan since 2002. The organisation’s workers there offer them psychosocial, medical and legal support, aiming to provide practical measures to help them deal with the trauma they experienced. At the same time, women’s rights within Afghan society need to be strengthened. The project work mainly takes place in the cities Kabul, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif. Support provided in Kandahar had to be discontinued at the end of 2008 because of the difficult security situation. In 2011, the Afghan workers took over full control of the work. An independent Afghan NGO was founded in Kabul: Medica Afghanistan – Women Support Organisation. medica mondiale continues to work very closely with Medica Afghanistan, providing both advice and funding
National Democratic Institute (NDI)
The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government
Training Human Rights for Afghan women (THRA)
Training Human Rights Association (THRA) is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization, registered with the Ministry of Economy under registration number 85.
Founded in October 1997, THRA was establised under that vision to build a society based on the principles of democracy and law through the promotion of human rights and to establish a strong movement of civil society to uphold these laws.
To achieve this, THRA’s mission is, to create awareness among women of their rights under Islam, the Government of Afghanistan and international laws.To help Afghan women know their rights and encourage them to take full advantage of exercising their rights and participate in all social affairs.
WAW is a grassroots human rights organisation dedicated to securing the protecting the rights of disenfranchised Afghan women and girls in Afghanistan and New York, particularly their rights to develop their individual potential, to self-determination, and to be represented in all areas of life: political, social, cultural and economic. We advocate for women’s rights and challenge the norms that underpin gender-based violence wherever opportunities arise to influence attitudes and bring about change.
Young Women for Change (YWC), founded in April 2011, is an independent non-profit organization consisting of dozens of volunteer women and male advocates across Afghanistan who are committed to empowering Afghan women and improving their lives through social and economical participation, political empowerment, awareness and advocacy
AWN is a non-partisan, non-profit network of women and women’s NGOs working to empower Afghan women and ensure their equal participation in Afghan society. The members of the Network also recognize the value and role of children as the future of Afghanistan and, as such, regard the empowerment and protection
Afghan Women’s Education Centre (AWEC)
AWEC is committed to promote the rights of women and children and aims to do this through its vision: “Establishing an environment free of violence and discrimination, enabling women and children to access their human rights within the country, based on concepts of civil society democracy, justice and gender equity”.
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)
Defending human rights worldwide