Katalog dobrych praktyk i narzędzie do mapowania lokalnego by Active Women Association

I. Acknowledgements

This <Good practice catalogue and local mapping tool> is the result of intensive work by youth workers, trainers and volunteers during the project “ Young women for social change” that was implemented in Afghanistan and in Poland so as to strenghten capacity of youth organizations active in the field of women empowerment (570255-EPP-1-2015-2-PL-EPPKA2-CBY-ACPALA) organized with the support of Erasmus+ grant, granted by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Training Manual by the partnership “Young women for social change” is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

TABLE OF CONTENT

I.Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................2 II. Project summary...........................................................................................................4 III. Women Organizations in Afghanistan...........................................................9 IV. Local mapping tool and good practices....................................................25 V. Video and film resources....................................................................................117

II. Project summary

Human rights and fundamental freedoms promoted so strongly by European Union should be birthrights, but across the globe some countries / such as Afghanistan/ fail to accord human rights to women. Women are often victims of human rights abuses. Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s human rights are abused when they can not participate in decisions that affect their lives and are denied political participation and fair representation, when they are prevented from going to school or receiving health care, when they face discrimination in employment, when they suffer from violence within their homes, when they are subjected to harmful traditional practices. Afghanistan has experienced some dramatic changes.The constitution has made women and men equal citizens under the law and mandates that women make up 25% of the new parliament. However, despite this relative improvement, the country today stands at a tipping point. Girls are often the most marginalized and vulnerable. The lite-

racy rate for females over the age of 15 is 12.6% compared to 43.1% for males, and only 40% of females attend primary school and 6% attend secondary school. Currently, there are 70 private universities in Afghanistan; over 200,000 students attend college — but only 18% are women and 82% men. Islamic fundamentalism continues to influence the Afghan government’s policies on women’s rights. Violence against women and girls in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse remains prevalent. Afghanistan has one of the highest proportions of young people in the world. However, while more than 70 percent of Afghanistan’s population are under 25 years of age, young people’s voices are rarely heard. Therefore, youth education is one of the biggest and most important tasks for the future. Recognition of women’s rights began in some countries as they evolved from feudal into more representative forms of government. Since many years women’s movement and women organizations in Europe and USA has been promoting women’s rights contributing with their “positive discrimination actions” to women’s advancement. Many valuable things have been done to evaluate the status of women and formulate strategies for women’s advancement. Special place has been given to the role of young women as the key actors of social change, justice and gender equality.Young women all over the world reject the label of victim and recognize that living with challenges makes them the

best qualified to lead change and provide solutions for those situations. They are change agents and their leadership can bring vitality, creativity and courage for social change. They have the power to inspire and mobilize others for positive action. They can encourage the questioning of systems and beliefs that limit lives and choices. With courage they can confront even the injustices that have been in place long before their lives began. By their leadership young women ensure that social change will not stop when the generation before them is no more, but only when peace, justice, health, human dignity and care for the environment has been achieved everywhere, and for everyone. By supporting young female leaders all over the world we ensure that their leadership remains strong in the face of unfair gender and age biases, and maximise the power to change. In the global world there is a need to build a bridges of cooperation between youth educational organizations and institutions with the same goals and aims, so as to face solid problems that endanger democracy and performance of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights. By working together youth women organizations from all over the world â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Europe, USA, Middle East - can help each other grow, maximize the strengths and fulfill the potential of young female leaders as change makers. By working together, sharing know-how, exchanging experiences, good practices, methodologies - organizations from various cultural and

social contexts involved in young women’s empowerment educational and changes created a synergy that may result in effective and long-lasting, sustainable social change in global world. Women organization from Europe - Active Women Association - by the means of this project learnt and got transnational and intercultural capacity that now will enable them to realize their mission in global context, not only locally/nationally. Afghan organizations learnt a lot about non-formal learning methods and new, innovative approaches in women empowerment education that now may implement in their work. There is urgent need for transnational cooperation between European, International and Afghan organizations, so as to build capacity in efficient education and empowerment of Afghan young girls who can become key actors of social change. The project allowed partner organizations to share experiences, knowledge and know how by the implementation of the different activities and transnational mobilities in the field of youth empowerment and leadership. Objectives of the project: • Provide and broaden skills, approaches and methodologies for running leadership trainings for young women • Support development of learners - young women’s skills in social and political leadership • Support partners‘ efforts to foster youth and women organizations to participate fully in the social transition and economic life of their society • Build intercultural capacity of civil society organizations to advocate for women’s participation in social transition and decision-making processes • Raise awareness, discussions and knowledge exchange among young local leaders on relevant European values, from a local and regional perspective, bringing EU opportunities to Afghanistan Project activities: • youth workers kick-off meeting in Kabul • 20-days long leadership training for young women leaders in Afghanistan run by Polish and Afghan non-formal education trainers indoor and outdoor by the means of active and experiential learning methods. For more, please have a look at the Training Manual /project publication/ • trainers working group on quality of the learning results and intercultural issues / Afghan and Polish trainers/ • networking activities in Poland and Afghanistan - youth workers meetings with wo-

men’s rights activists and civic leaders, women empowerment educational organizations and providers / e.g USAID Promote Program/ • contact making seminars for youth workers in Poland and Afghanistan - e.g with network of women’s right journalist in Kabul, Afghan progressive politicians, political affairs officers of United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, media / e.g Salam Watandar radio station/, Women News Agency in Kabul • youth workers’ cultural and social preparation before the activities in Afghanistan / materials, publications, movies, meetings/consultancy with experts on Afghanistan, participation in seminars on women situation in Muslim countries/ • Afghan youth workers mobility < study visit, contact making seminars> in Poland in September 2017. • Production of documentary film Sisters /30’,41’/ with Polish and English subtitles. Polish premiere of the documentary movie SISTERS in Poznań, Cracow, Warsaw. Organization of the panel educational discussions around the movie Sisters with the participation of heroines and Afghan youth workers. Dissemination of the movie at the international documentary movie festivals / e.g Against Gravity in Poland, Visions du Reel in Switzerland, Beirut International Women Film Festival, Movies that Matter Film Festival in Holland, Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival, Film Mor in Istanbul and many more/.

III. Organizations active in the field of women empowerment in Afghanistan

ACTIVE WOMEN ASSOCIATION Active Women Association /2002/ is a Polish non-governmental organization that acts for gender equality, promotion of women’s rights and women’ s empowerment. The organization acts on local, regional and European level with the goal of broadening the scope of activities transnationally. AWA was formed to promote women’s participation in the social, professional and political life, to introduce the idea of self-development and non-formal education among women and girls. Our goal was to take actions towards ending violence/domestic violence by raising women’s rights awareness, empowerment, counseling and non-violence communication ( NVC). The organization has became strongly engaged in intercultural activities and intercultural projects, developing partnerships in the global world / Morooco, Asia/. We want to cherish cultural and multicultural diversity learning about challenges and conditions to development of human potencial and gender equality, that’s why we create opportunities to build AWA’ intercultural capacity, raise skills and broaden expertise to work in different cultural and social environments. AWA has implemented 65 civic and educational projects in the fields: senior/women/youth civic participation, women empowerment and enhancement of female political participation, women on the labour market, personal development, NGO professional skills of civic leaders, youth mobilities in frame of European Voluntary Service, exchange of know-how and learning methodologies among youth and adult education staff, intercultural trips to Morocco, Indonesia, Scandinavia, empowerment in the nature and nature-based and holistic education.

KEY PROJECTS

2015-2017 “Young women for social change” Capacity building in the field of youth Erasmus+ Programme. This is partnership project with organisations from Afghanistan, USA and Poland. The aim is to empower Afghan young female leaders by the implementation of leaders gender-oriented trainings in Kabul. Secondly, the project is oriented towards building the capacity of the organisations in effective running of transnational projects for young women in developing countries. 2015-2017 “Empowerment through education – gender equality and political leadership” –Strategic partnership of the adult education staff. Erasmus+ Programme. Partner organisations: USA, Ireland, Finland, Czech Republic. Exchange of good practices and know-how in the field of empowerment education for women’s political leadership. Production of intellectual outputs: e-platform, research, training programmes. 2013-2017 “ Seniors decide! - Seniors Council for civic participation in Sosnowiec city”. Three editions of the projects. Goal: establish, develop and strenghten civic dialogue institution of Senior Council in Sosnowiec city in Poland. Performed actions: workshops/trainings for effective public activism, setting the standards and procedures for work and cooperation, lectures, civic artistic actions, civic consultancy processes, community building methods, conferences, dance balls&celebrations, bike civic participation. Great success and achievement on European scale! Financing: ASOS Fund / Ministry of Social Affair in Poland/. 2013-2015 “Empowered women change the world” – Senior volunteer project, LLP Grundtvig Programme. 5 weeks-long exchanges of 12 senior women 50+ and their voluntary work in favour of local community in Active Women Association in Poland and Anafi Association in Rome /Italy/. 2014 Mobility / Visit and Exchange of Adult Education Staff in Madeira Island / Portugal/ / 3 months. Type of activity: job shadowing, training assignments, trainings for local leaders, counselling on fundraising. Participant: Monika Sobańska – Vice President. LLP Grundtvig . 2012-2017 The European Voluntary Service (EVS) – Youth in Action, Erasmus+ Programme, provides young Europeans with the unique chance to express their personal commitment through unpaid and full-time voluntary activities in a foreign country within or outside the EU. In this way, it seeks to develop solidarity, mutual understanding and tolerance among young people, thus contributing to reinforcing social cohe-

sion in the European Union and to promoting young people's active citizenship. We have hosted 8 volunteers from Georgia, France, Turkey, Latvia, Spain who run the project in gender education and women’s rights in Sosnowiec. Since 2012 we have sent as well 25 young people to do voluntary service in European and Partner countries. 2010 – 2015 Women Expeditions in the world: Arte Morocco and Arte Bornholm Arte Morocco is an expedition for women who are curious of the world, different cultures and their customs. Women who are open for a new adventures and experiences during common tour across Morocco. They will climb to the top of the highest mountain of North Africa Jebel Toubkal (4167 meters high). Later participants will visit Marrakech and take part in the Gnaoua Music Festival at the Ocean in Essaouira. Arte Bornholm project joins both: bike trekking across Danish Island, entertainment, creativity development and art therapy in outdoor. Except for wandering across the island women create natural art in Scandinavian landscape- on the cliffs, stone rings, valleys and Vikings’ castles. The expedition is addressed not only to women’s muscles but also to women’s imagination, women who like wandering and discovering their ability to create. 2012-2015- Come back to Paradise - spiritual expedition to Bali and Gili Islands / Indonesia/ In paradise landscape of Bali and Gili Island, participants experience spontaneous dance, laugh and taste exotic tradition of places. They visit Bali Art Gallery, have massages in Spa centre, meet Shaman, see Ramayana performance, walk to Agung volcano-Gods’ Mountain(3142 meters high) and sightseeing the most important temples: Tanah Lot, Pura Luhur Uluwatu and Pura Goa Lawah.. The purpose of this excursion is to experience balinese mentality and magic culture, develop joy of life and sensuality. 2010-2012 “Let's make politics female – educational activities enhancing women participation in public life”, LifeLong Learning Partnership, LLP Grundtvig Programme. The project lasted two years and brought together partner organisations from four different countries: Active Women Association from Poland, Women's Committee of the Regional Council of Ostrobothnia from Finland, Fórum 50 % from the Czech Republic and AENAO from Greece. The aim we all shared was to increase women's participation in politics. By sharing our knowledge and experience, by learning from each other and from others and by creating a vivid network across the four countries. We had the great opportunity to learn more about each others countries, the position of women in the society and in politics, about its culture and much more. More: www.femalepolitics.eu

2012: Grundtvig Workshop "Decided, so I'm - empowerment of women over 50 years old". LLP Grundtvig Programme. The purpose of the project â&#x20AC;&#x153;Decided, so I amâ&#x20AC;? was support women 50+ to became active participants of social life using all their rights, opportunities and available resources. We invited 18 women aged 50 and more who are already either at the end of their work career or already retired, who raised their children and are not anymore responsible for home environment. Workshop consisted of 5 days empowerment training 7 hours per day. Activities were focused on individual development of participants in area of gender awareness, networking and building support groups. Training was led by gender trainers experienced in empowerment and cooperating with Active Women Association for the last couple of years for improvement of women's rights. 2008, 2009, 2012 - The "Circle of Creativity - wake up your creative personality" was a series of workshops designed for people seeking alternative forms of leisure and self-development, eg. Vedic Art â&#x20AC;&#x201C; intuitive painting, body work, arte recycling, creative singing, spontaneous dance. The project was designed to encourage beneficiaries to explore their potential and develop creative interests by experiencing a variety of methods and self-development. 2009 - Kinoko - Socially Engaged Film Club - the project included a series of meetings for young people from secondary schools in the Silesian region. Aimed to encourage young people to get to know the social problems associated with: gender equality, sexual minorities, cultural and religious differences, refugees and migrant workers, trafficking and stimulate debate on these subjects. Meetings included presentations introducing the subject of documentary films belonging to the film library of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and moderated discussions to sensitize young people to the problems of contemporary Europe. Project was co-financed by the EU's Youth in Action Program. 2009 - "Working mother, still loving mum" - a project for mothers returning to work after giving birth and raising a child. The project participants could benefit from various forms of support - motivational workshops, individual consultation with the guidance counselor and psychologist, training in time management, creative problem-solving, negotiation, reconciliation of social and professional, and personal development. A childcare was provided. 230 women has attended in a series of workshops. The project was co-financed by the European Union under the European Social Fund (PO KL Measure 6.1.1). 2009 - "For the common integration - support of local activists in the community Brenna" - the project was aimed at rural leaders in the district of Brenna. It included

a series of five two-day workshop, during which participants gained knowledge on how to mobilize community residents and encourage them to act. The workshop was devoted to the issues of skills and development of leadership for effective cooperation, innovative methods of social change and respond to problems that arise among people and raising funds for social activities, planning project was co-financed by the European Union under the European Social Fund. 2008 till present - Family Rights Information Center - the project was completed much of the assistance, support families and contribute to the spread of the rights of citizens. The main task of the center was to help disfunctional families, who suffer from consequences of alcohol abuse and domestic violence, by delivering them free law counseling and psychological advise. The project was financed by the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Municipality of Sosnowiec. The center also started a support group for women in the course of a divorce or after a divorce. 2008, 2009 - Feminostrada- film review on womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s issues - presenting works beyond the boundaries of conventional cinema. The annual festival screened several films and makers of fine artists and blocks of short films from the festival Davis Feminist Film Festival, showing notion of femininity in history, age, ideas, stereotypes and psychology. 2008 project "Eyes wide open - preventing violence against women and girls." Aim was to weaken the phenomenon of violence against women and girls in the Silesia region by enhancing the sense of security among women particularly vulnerable to violence, raising awareness and promoting the joint anti-violent and assertive behavior among people at particular violence risk group. Granted from the Polish Ministry of Labour and Social Affair. 2008 - "Select the third sector and work with passion! - Dissemination of project results Cyber-hand in Silesia." Project aimed to encourage young people - mostly students and graduates of the Silesian University - to work in associations and foundation, and show that the professional work of non-governmental organizations can be creative and important - because its effect is to change the world for the better. The project was conducted preliminary meetings and presentations at universities in Silesia on the third sector and its characteristics, workshops on planning and management of social change presents specific work in the third sector and its benefits. This was followed by planning of community projects. The project was co-financed by the European Union under European Social Fund / EQUAL/. 2006, 2007 - Regional Coordination of Action Competition Acacia, which resulted in 16 women throughout the country received the award for promoting the development of civil society in local community. More info: www.akcjaakacja.org.pl

2007 - implementation of the project "You are not alone" - support for single mothers at risk of social exclusion ", funded by Kompania Piwowarska in the campaign" It's Worth.” 2007 - to joined the nationwide public campaign "Done - appreciated - many worth ..." to appreciate the domestic labour of women. Association worked as regional coordinator in the province of Silesia. More: www.kasakobiet.oai.pl. For very active input in the campaign Mrs Sobańska, president of the Association of Halina was awarded the Diamond Brushes 2006, 2007, 2005 - the project "Academy of Leaders and Social Animators". The project has been organized training in social skills for 30 women who want to work in the third sector and public life. Created as rapidly running club leaders, whose task was to initiate events and social projects in Silesia. The project was granted by the Civic Initiatives Fund of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. 2006 to today - the coordination of the "Blue Network” - the objective: to develop and strengthen the network of assistance for victims of domestic violence. The project was subsidized by the Phare 2003 - Co-Grants Fund for Institutional Development. www.porozumienie.niebieskalinia.pl 2005 - action "Safe taxi for women" - to carry out the autumn edition of the project started in March 2004, the project was organized discount taxi rides for women after 10. p.m. In order to ensure safety of women returning home in the evening taxi drivers taking part in the campaign are required to pay women at home or wait until the woman to the house entrance. 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 – organization of the Silesian-edition of the Development and Entertainment Festival for Women PROGRESSteron. During the festival, organized 300 workshops, lectures and presentations prepared especially for women, for their personal and professional development. (eg. self-defense, assertiveness, public speaking, intelligence, financial, health, art therapy, choreotherapy,). The festival was held simultaneously in 10 Polish cities, including Katowice and Sosnowiec, where the event was organized by the Association of Active Women. In Silesia about 1000 women took part in this venue. The festival took place thanks to the financial support of the City Council in Sosnowiec, and the Marshal's Office in Katowice. 2005 - 2008 - implementation of tasks Partnership for Development "FENIX strengthening the social economy", under the EQUAL Community Initiative. Project with the Helping Hand Foundation and three partners. The project is created in Silesia social cooperatives for the unemployed or threatened by unemployment due to maternal or paternal duties.

2005 - Accession to the project "Cheer up. Integration and reintegration of women the labor market"- PHARE 2002 Economic and Social Cohesion Development of Human Resources. Project aimed at the integration and reintegration of women. The Association was a local ambassador and co-organizer of the project. Website: www.aktywnekobiety.org.pl

SHUHADA ORGANIZATION (SO)

Shuhada Organization (SO) was born from the ashes of a destroyed Afghanistan by the Soviet invasion. It was a sign of determination, resolve and commitment to a human society which faced an existential threat from the invasion and war. The organization was founded in August of 1989 by a young, committed woman Dr. Sima Samar who personally experienced and went through negative effect of war and destruction. A physician by training and human rights and women rights activist, Dr. Samar fled Kabul after her husband was forcibly disappeared by the Communist Regime and she was in immediate danger. She took refuge in Jaghori district of Ghazni and started her work by helping people through providing them medical treatments. Soon she found it difficult as she became target of persecution and intimidation by military groups in the area, so she had to flee again to Pakistan in November 1984, Quetta Pakistan, where she never stopped her service to refugees like herself. Her training background as a medical doctor, her commitment as human rights activist, her experience as a refugee and victim of human rights violations and continued war provided her the motive, the strength and tools to start on humanitarian front of resistance by focusing only to help and to provide services to civilian people. So, Shuhada Organization was founded and grew out of this context until today. Shuhada Organization (SO) as an Afghan NGO was established to work for welfare and progress of Afghan citizens with a primary focus on support and empowerment of women and children. The organization was founded to address the crisis of absence of health, including the reproductive health care for Afghan refugee women and child-

ren and education programs to them and soon after the establishment of hospital and schools for Afghan refugees in Quetta, Pakistan, Shuhada Organization expanded its work inside Afghanistan with establishing Hospitals, clinics and schools for boys and girls. Its activities have expanded in the areas of training of medical staff particularly female nurses and midwives as it was the only means to better human resource for reduction of mother and child mortality. Shuhada projects were and are always in accordance with the high standard, commitment and responsive to the basic need and requirement of the Afghan refugees outside and the people inside of the country. After the fall of the Taliban regime Shuhada also expanded its focus and work on human rights, women rights and community empowerment, women inclusion and participation in election and democratic process in the country. These work and projects were and being conducted through literacy course, training on gender, human rights and democracy. As a result of these work and projects, women are more active, better informed and participating on public affairs including elections, public work, economic activities and social and cultural affairs. Shuhada is governed by a board of directors and committed executive leadership. The current executive director Mr. Abdul Rauf Naweed has been with the Organization since its establishment and has a very strong background on NGO and humanitarian work. The organization pursues the following vision and mission: Vision The SO vision is to strive to see an aware, prosperous and healthy society in Afghanistan through providing high quality services in line with the principles of democracy, rule of law, social justice, peace and non-discrimination. Mission Provision of good quality services in the health, education, human rights, women rights and empowerment of local community and democracy sectors. To this end, SO has a common slogan which says â&#x20AC;&#x153;working for a better tomorrowâ&#x20AC;?. Working for a better tomorrow is not only the slogan, it makes the philosophy of SO too. Key projects Learn, Speak and Spread - Empowering Women Through Support of Independent Media" Women's Rights Awareness - Literacy and Legal Assistance Programs for Women Sustainable Livelihood and Literacy Program for Women and Girls

Shuhada Organization has been a revolutionary force in pioneering girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; education and general public education in the areas it could operate during Soviet invasion, civil war and even during Taliban. It has built, extended and renovated 120 schools and provided education to 97,560 students (52. 2 % girls, 47. 8 % boys); 7,430 boys and girls graduated from Shuhada schools. 6,550 boys and girls of these schools were enrolled in a higher education institutes. 1,470 students got their bachelor degree, six students were sent abroad for the completion of their higher education. 4,280 students completed their education and found jobs (based on SO research in 2011). 9,027 teachers received training in teaching skills and teaching methodologies, in order to improve the quality of education tried to establish small scientific lab and library for the schools. Moreover 49,300 women and girls received education in the basic literacy training courses; and 376 young girls attended the English and computer course in different part of the country and almost all of them got job with governmental and non-governmental organizations. Six Girls were gone to Italy for their higher education from the schools in Quetta and Afghanistan. The Girls schools which was run by SO were the only high schools for the girls during the Taliban regime. The effect of Shuhada run girl schools are obvious now by the sheer number of girls studying at Kabul University and populating its dormitory. They are the girls coming from the schools which were run by SO, compose a higher portion of the dorm residence than any other district in the country. In 2014, beneficiaries of Karte-Solh co-education high school were 2053: (1059 boys and 967 girls and 27 teachers) and beneficiaries of GIHE were 2,394: (1,366 male and 749 female students, 88 male and 8 female instructors, 23 male and 9 female substantive staff, 17 male and 3 female supporting staff and 26 female and 105 male English course students) and 212 girls benefited from GHIEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scholarship. SO has operated four orphanages for 161 children and widows from whom 3 girls and 7 boys graduated from high school in 2014 and these four orphanages are run by 4 teachers, 5 administrative and 15 supporting staff. A number of 23 boys and girls finished their first, second and third year of their universities in different fields inside and outside of the country, and from whom two boys got their Simi and higher education bachelor degrees in 2014. Website: www.shuhada.org.af

WOMEN EMPOWERED AFGHANISTAN

WEA is a nonprofit corporation that is seeking to promote peace, democracy and human rights in Afghanistan by increasing women’s legal awareness of their rights and empowering local agents of change to advocate for women’s rights. WE-Afghanistan was established in Massachusetts in 2013 and received 501 (c) (3) status. It is also registered in Afghanistan under the registration number 410 with the Ministry of Economy in Afghanistan as a nonprofit. WE-Afghanistan is mostly run by women and currently has around 16 employees of which 11 are women. Our programming expands girls’ and women’s access to the media and national and local political processes, and their abilities to use these institutions to promote the change that they want to see, through advocacy and leadership trainings and workshops. By empowering change agents within local society, WE-Afghanistan will sow the seeds of long-term, sustainable progress. In this country of 30 million people entrenched in conflict for four decades, WE-Afghanistan employs a unique approach to train and enable community activists to shift societal norms. While many NGOs provide material goods, WE-Afghanistan's projects instigate lasting change by promoting women's participation in society and training women leaders. Our Media Advocacy Program trains young human rights journalists and activists, with a focus on young women, to use the media to increase public awareness of women’s rights. The program serves participants’ direct needs by developing their professional capacities, while enabling them to promote lasting societal change via their access to media platforms. This project of WEA won the most innovative and creative project award for the best approach to solve social problems at Istanbul Summit in May 2014. Recently, WEA in partnership with New Line Organization (NLO) implemented the “the first 100 days of President” project to advocate on behalf of women’s political participation and to put pressure on the new administration of national unity government to work towards women’s rights and democracy in Afghanistan. The purpose of this project was to call on the new president and the chief executive of the national unity government to bring women’s rights to the top of the administration’s agenda. A series of public demonstrations and a closed-door meeting with Afghanistan’s First Lady, and

a meeting with members of parliament took place to highlight the need and civil society’s ever-growing demand to protect and promote women’s rights in Afghanistan. For women and girls to succeed in today's economy they need to be empowered. WEA’s projects provide them the opportunity to improve their own lives. For example, last year, we trained 27 young human rights’ journalists and activists, with a focus on young women, to use the media to increase public awareness of women’s rights. The program served participants’ direct needs by developing their professional capacities, while enabling them to promote lasting societal change via their access to media platforms. The “Leadership program” is another project designed to increase women’s leadership skills and encourage women’s participation in Afghanistan’s political realm through networking with women parliamentarians and women leaders, and through leadership courses customized to enhance the self-awareness of their leadership skills. This will provide them the opportunity to stand on their feet and create opportunities for themselves and other women and gain access to economic opportunities. Women Empowered Afghanistan implements projects to promote women's rights in Afghanistan and to empower women and girls in Afghanistan through journalism training, leadership training programs, women's capacity building through seminars and workshops as well as training leaderships and management courses to women politicians and diplomats. Our peaceful demonstrations included more than 1800 people. Women's Rights and Leadership Training Programs for Women and Girls WEA strives to bring lasting change toward a peaceful society with equal rights for all. Our projects will achieve this outcome by empowering local change agents to advocate on their own behalf and on behalf of women more broadly to change societal behaviors, perceptions, and attitudes. The Western media debates women’s rights in Afghanistan but few NGOs promote community and societal change to advance equality. Moreover, while most advocacy-focused NGOs target policymakers directly, WEA aims to build a network of local advocates who can change the fabric of their society. By merging programs that meet women’s immediate needs; from leadership to journalism skills and beyond, with those providing legal awareness and advocacy training, WEA will create a sustainable cadre of change agents working at all levels within Afghan society. Women's involvement in business and in leadership roles and the full participation of women is essential for the betterment of society. The idea, that women in influential positions will improve social, economical, and political situations, has been around for a long time. However, still in Afghanistan, men are unwilling to share power. Our program is based on a very pressing and timely message: Afghanistan needs more women leaders. Website: www.weafghanistan.org

ASHNA

ASHNA International is a non-governmental which work for the sector of Social Affairs, Women Development, Health and Emergency, Agriculture and Water Supply, Education and Vocational Training Programs and Global Youth Development Programs to provide education and training for the youth boy and girl including Capacity Development Training program, Leadership Management Development, Fellowship and intership training program and other training opportunity that promote youth development in Afghanistan, India and Nigeria since the establishment, ASHNA International implemented many projects inside Afghanistan, In 2013 we expand our partnership from one to 50 partners around the world, Which includes Institutions, Governments, Universities, United Nations Agencies, Schools, NGOs, IMUN Organizations, companies and we have over 50,000 youth members in our network. We have a radio station to broadcast education program to educate the youth especially the women and other social network . ASHNA regular activities is basically on youth empowerment and development program especially on education and training including Capacity Building Training, Leadership Management, Recruitment of student to standard foreign university on partial scholarship basis, mobilise potential youth delegates for internship and fellowship program to our foreign partner abroad, organise Model United Nations for the youth to educate and discuss the global crisis with our youth members. Website: www.ashna-international.org

AFGHAN WOMEN’S EDUCATION CENTER (AWEC)

Afghan Women’s Education Center (AWEC) gives support to women in prison. The doctor checks sick detainees twice a week regularly and sometimes conducts extra visits to the prison when needed. In general women prisoners were not able to access medical assistance, but now an Afghan female doctor is allowed in both the Kabul and Mazaar detention centers to visit regularly providing treatment and medicine for women-prisoners twice a week. Mission: “To promote human rights and work for gender equality and abolishment of any kind of discrimination and violence against women and children.”

It aims towards: • Awareness raising and advocacy • Social Service delivery • Capacity building, self-sufficiency and sustainable development initiatives Objectives:

• Increase social awareness and support social development by creating support networks and increasing social work • Work for social economy in rural community through the creation of community centers • Increase self sufficiency in women and children through income generating projects and skills developing projects • Improve the living conditions of marginalized groups of women and street working children • Improve the health and psycho-socio wellbeing of women and children Website: www.awec.info

AFGHAN WOMEN’S NETWORK (AWN)

Afghan Women's Network is the foundation for Afghan women's movement, which serves as a stable network for growth of those women's organizations they are active in the country. Afghan Women's Network has active and considerable presence in Kabul, Herat, Balkh, Kandahar, Bamyan, Paktia, Nangarhar and Kunduz, and is also active through its member in other provinces of Afghanistan. Afghan Women's Network works as the umbrella for its member organizations. As well as projects related to issues (gender-based violence, strengthening of youths and education for girls) implement with coordination of its member. Afghan Women's Network has over then 3500 individual members and 125 women's organizations in its membership. Website: www.awn-af.net

AFGHAN WOMEN SERVICES AND EDUCATION ORGANIZATION (AWSE) Mission & Vision

Since 2001, Connect has supported effective Afghan women educators, doctors and health workers, lawyers and judges, and women in business, with: • Direct financial support • Human rights and voter education training • In-depth, year-long business training to help expand and strengthen the organizations they run They continue to do vital work for their people across the length and breadth of Afghanistan. We continue to Connect them with supporters like you.

We are creating a dynamic new internet forum where these courageous women’s voices can be heard. They will speak the hard truth of Afghanistan but also speak of the little-known and under-reported, ongoing successes Afghan women have achieved— • Across the professions and in politics • Across ethnic boundaries, across their troubled and beautiful land. Some of these women are in powerful positions of authority, across a wide spectrum of vivid professional and personal experience. We also include the voices of women poets, fiction writers, essayists – leaders, too, for they also speak the truth of their country in powerful ways. Listen to their voices and you will come to know Afghanistan and its vibrant people in a new way. We all know, even as the western military presence wanes, that Afghanistan and the Middle East will continue to play a major part in everyone’s future. These accomplished women can give you a new perspective, and new understanding of critical issues facing all of us. Their words can inform both our thinking and our participation in world events today. Website: www.afghanwomenconnect.org/afghan-women-services-and-education-organization-awse-3

AFGHAN WOMEN'S MISSION A PROJECT OF SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS (SEE)

The Afghan Women’s Mission was founded in January 2000 by a small group of Americans to support the humanitarian and political work of RAWA. Projects include many programs run by Afghan women including Malalai Clinic, schools, orphanages, agricultural programs, demonstrations and functions in support of women’s and human rights. We are an all-volunteer organization based in the United States. The Afghan Women’s mission fall into three categories: • Health Care: establish and operate free health centers serving primarily Afghan women and children. • Education and Empowerment: support schools and other programs for Afghan refugees to alleviate emotional suffering and decrease illiteracy and joblessness; and to empower Afghan women to build sustainable livelihoods.

• Awareness: conduct campaigns to increase public awareness on women’s and human rights and related issues in Afghanistan and Afghan refugee camps.

PAIWAND E EMROZ SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (PESCO)

Paiwand e Emroz Social and Cultural Organization (PESCO). PESCO has been working in Afghanistan since 2009 where they implement different projects on development, women rights, human rights, advocacy, and specifically gender equality. Gaisu Yari / heroine of the movie Sisters from the project “Young women for social change”/ has been working as a Program Manager within the organization in the past year, implementing two project of USAID of Creative International in Afghanistan. The projects were mainly training based approach which are to train jobseekers and employees of Private Sector Entities in Marketing and Financial Management. PESCO also has a great background on advocacy, leadership, and gender trainings across 15 provinces of Afghanistan. PESCO has also implemented UNDP project in seven provinces of Afghanistan.

Can Muslim Women Be Feminists?

Zainah Anwar, Executive Director of Musawah

Rabat – The word “feminism” in Muslim countries often raises tensions. Many people believe that Muslim women cannot be both religious and feminist, claiming that the fundamentals of feminism are absolutely opposed to those of Islam. By Safaa Kasraoui – December 10, 2017 According to prominent Malaysian Muslim feminist Zainah Anwar, nothing could be further from the truth. Morocco World News met with Anwar, who is also the executive director of Musawah, a Malaysia-based global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, in Rabat to discuss gender equality within Muslim communities.

What do you think about the idea that women cannot be both feminists and Muslims? This is actually a common problem in many Muslim countries, where many people will tell you that you cannot be both, a Muslim and a feminist. Musawah is trail blazing in telling the world, and especially young Muslim women today that indeed they can be both – Muslim and feminist. It is because so much of the discrimination against women today and the resistance to demands for law reform is justified in the name of Islam that led me and my friends to engage with the religion, to find if it truly is unjust to women. For Sisters in Islam (SIS) the organization that I co-founded some 30 years ago in Malaysia, polygamy was one of the first issues we had to deal with. As Muslim women, we were led to believe that Islam allows men to marry 4 wives. But we know how much unhappiness and injustice polygamy brings. It did not make sense to us that this could be what God, the Just, intended for women. We decided to go and read what the noble Quran is saying about polygamy. And for the first time we realized that the same verse that allows men to marry four, states clearly that “if ye fear that ye cannot do justice (to so many wives) then marry only one.” Thus, how come marrying two, three or four women is universally acknowledged as a man’s right, while the command to marry only one wife if the man is not able to be fair, is not? Who decided that marrying two, three, or four is the law of Islam, while marrying only one is not? I think the real issue is the question of who has the right to decide which verse should become a source of law and practice and which one should be pushed aside and ignored. In this process, whose interest is promoted and protected, and whose denied? Obviously, it is men who are in power and in authority who choose polygamy over justice and kindness, who use their own interpretation of the Quran to justify their desire for multiple sexual partners. This led us to think about the issue of authority. Who has the right to interpret the Quran? Who has the right to choose which interpretation will be used to govern our lives. Do you think that women’s voices are heard regarding this issue? In every democratic Muslim country where Islam is used as a source of law and public policy, everyone has the right to speak out and to contribute to how Islam is understood and how it is used to regulate our lives. We all have the right to debate, to question, and to challenge whatever causes injustice in our lives, what more when it is Islam that is used to justify that injustice. This is one of Musawah’s main objectives: to come up with a rights-based understanding of Islam that is rooted in the principles of justice and equality and kindness, all universal principles entrenched in Islam. Anything that is done in

the name of God must be just. Any interpretation that leads to injustice for me cannot be Islam. Do you believe that Islam is a misunderstood religion? Absolutely. On one side, we face Islamophobia, with non-Muslims saying Islam is a religion that promotes terrorism, violence and discrimination against women. On the other side, we have Muslims themselves who reinforce these stereotypes by proclaiming their unjust actions in the name of Islam. They loudly claim that women and men are not equal, and that men are always superior to women. In reality, some men are better than some women and some women are better than some men.Women are not genetically programmed to be inferior to men. Can you explain your point? The patriarchal misogynistic “Islam” that has been taught to us doesn’t match reality and does not make sense to women’s lives. There is a disconnect between the ideology, the law, and the reality of women’s lives. Women today are educated, they work, they are leaders, they are financially independent. And yet, we still hear on television, radio, and in mosques that women are inferior to men. This does not make sense. Muslim family laws still discriminate against women on the basis of this ideology. But the reality is that women today are also providers and protectors of their families. Families today need more than one income to survive. And yet the law does not recognise this reality and still assume that only the man is the provider and on that basis he is privileged and accorded rights women do not get. And when the men fail to provide and to protect, he does not lose any of his privileges. What we are struggling for is not for women to take over from men and be the dominant person in a relationship. What we want is marriage as a partnership of equals. What is your message to non-Muslim people who claim that Islam encourages domestic violence against women? The challenge that we are facing is that many Muslim countries reinforce this patriarchal misogynistic understanding of Islam. I do not blame non-Muslims for having this misconception about us when we have leaders who oppose women’s efforts to criminalise domestic violence by saying this is against Islam. We need the Muslim world to take the lead in promoting gender justice, instead of being behind the rest of the world and then justifying it in the name of Islam. If we are true to our faith which granted women

revolutionary rights that did not exist in the seventh century, we really today should be at the forefront of the women’s movement. What measures should be taken to diagnose these common misconceptions? We need to bring to the foreground scholarship and activism that stand for the possibility and necessity of equality and justice for women in Islam. In the Muslim world today, women are at the forefront of reform, pushing for a new understanding of Islam. This is exactly what Musawah is doing: producing new rights-based knowledge in Islam, and questioning the patriarchal assumptions that men are superior to women and have more rights, that they are our guardians and are entitled to our obedience. That they can beat their wives and get away with it. All these misogynistic ideas that we have been fed are now being challenged by scholars and activists in the Muslim world. Do you believe that some Qur’anic verses are inferior to women in terms of inheritance? There are a few verses in the Qur’an that are used to justify women’s inferior status. But there are differences in opinions and interpretations regarding any verse in the noble Quran, like what I have mentioned before regarding the issue of polygamy. In the end, it is about who has the power to decide and to interpret the verses. There are incredibly empowering verses in the Quran about justice and equality and compassion between men and women, that men are women are each other’s friend and protector. Why can’t these verses be the source of values to frame the relationship between men and women. Those interpretations used to justify discrimination against women are man-made decisions. So far it has privileged men because it was interpreted by men. Do you think that women are on the move to challenge these issues? Women’s lives today have changed. They are no longer passive recipients of knowledge. Women are now challenging these issues. They read the Qur’an for themselves, learn about the construction of knowledge in Islam to understand the legal tradition in order to fight misconceptions. It is sad that until today, so many positive principles and values in Islam are still being ignored, such as love and compassion (mawaddah wa rahmah), serenity (sakinah), dignity (karamah), consultation and mutual consent (tashawur wa taradi), justice, fairness, and equity (‘adl, qist, insaf), kindness (ihsan), and that which is commonly known to be right (ma‘ruf). Why aren’t these principles used in law and practice? How can beating women be a principle of Islam? How can supporting child marriage be a principle of Islam? I totally

find it outrageous that so much harm is caused in the name of Islam. How did you become interested in feminism? I never understood why men are treated differently than women, just because they are men. That did not make sense to me. For instance, at home when we were children, my brother never had to do housework. And I have never understood why. I was taught by mother to cook, to make beds, and to clean the house, while my brother did not do any of that. I always protested that this was not fair. From young, I always questioned whatever did not make sense to me. So when the discrimination against women is justified in the name of God, I felt compelled to question this as well. I grew up believing in a just God and a just Islam. Discrimination against women was culture and tradition. To say that it is Islamic is an affront to my belief in a just God. What do you think of Morocco’s stance regarding women rights? Morocco’s Mudawannah (personal status code or family code) is regarded in the Muslim world as a very progressive piece of legislation. The Moroccan family code was inspiring for Musawah as it grants both men and women equal rights in the family with both being responsible for the wellbeing of their family. If Morocco can reform the family law in such a way, why can’t other Muslim countries do it? Morocco’s Mudawannah is a milestone. The campaign and the framework used by women groups in Morocco to ground their arguments for equality between men and women in Islamic teachings, human rights principles, constitutional framework and the lived realities of today inspired Musawah’s Framework for Action. If you have to deliver a message to women around the world, what would be this message? I always ask women to stand up and speak out because if we do not speak up and stand up to face the challenges confronting us, nobody else will do it for us. I also stress the importance of acquiring knowledge. It is knowledge that will give us the courage to stand our ground when we are attacked. For we will be attacked as going against Islam. But this is the 21st century. There can be no justice without equality in today’s world. It’s as simple as that. What are Musawah current and future projects? We have just completed a knowledge building project on rethinking the concept of men’s authority over women in Muslim legal tradition, with several publications to push

for the possibility of reform towards equality and justice. We continue to strengthen women’s voices at the regional and international levels with our short course on Islam and Gender Equality and Justice (I-nGEJ). And we engage critically with the UN system to hold governments accountable to their treaty obligations, in particular on their commitments to CEDAW. We are excited about our work and the hope it brings to many people, especially young women. We believe that we represent what it means to be Muslim in today’s world.

Afghanistan's 'American Idol' is the voice of a new generation — and Muslim clerics aren't happy about it By Pamela Constable, The Washington Post, December 1, 2017

KABUL — The TV studio was full of young men in their mid-20s, most wearing trim beards, stylish haircuts and jeans — the uniform of Afghanistan's new generation. In a country ravaged by war and hardship, they are dreaming of stardom. Their path to fame is "Afghan Star" a wildly popular prime-time show that has become the voice of their generation: Afghans born in an era of religious conflict and raised in a conservative Muslim society, but exposed to Western culture and eager to join the modern world.

"Music has always been in the blood of Afghans, but it was silenced for a long time," said Massood Sanjer, program manager for Tolo Television and a founder of the show, in its 13th season. " 'Afghan Star' has created a revolution in music at the same time the country has moved to democracy." But not everyone is thrilled by the show's success or message â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially the exposure of young women as performers on national TV. To some conservative Muslim clergy and elders, "Afghan Star" represents a threat to the country's religion and values, and is part of what they see as a broader cultural trend of abusing democratic freedoms to promote vulgarity. In the past month, public protests against the show have been held in Kabul and Herat, a large city near the border with Iran. In Herat, several hundred Muslim clerics and others rallied to stop auditions from being held. After negotiations with the help of local officials, Sanjer said the tryouts were conducted in a room at the airport. In Kabul, a group of clerics and Muslim scholars rallied last week at a large mosque and unsuccessfully petitioned the government to stop the show. Auditions were held as planned this week inside the Tolo TV studios, a block-long, tunnellike compound that is heavily guarded to protect against terrorist attacks or other violence. "We respect the media and appreciate their work. It is a big achievement for our country," said Abdul Basit Khalili, a religious scholar at the rally. "But some media run programs that are not sound, and one of them is 'Afghan Star.' It seduces the youth and pushes the country into a deeper crisis. We want programs that teach science and technology, not ones that deviate them from the right track." Similar protests have been held against other entertainment events, most recently a performance at a Kabul hotel in August by Afghan pop singer Aryana Saeed, who lives in London and is known for her revealing stage costumes. Religious protesters tried to block the hotel driveway, saying Saeed was promoting immorality, but fans in the audience called her a courageous pioneer. Such incidents are part of a cultural conflict that is playing out across this traditional Muslim country as it bursts into the 21st century after decades of war and isolation. Much of the tension surrounds gender mingling, which is forbidden in Afghan society. Parents try to prevent their daughters from talking to boys on cellphones; young men download European porn; and elopement is becoming more common. Afghan television has become a lightning rod for attack, with denunciations of female newscasters wearing scarves that fail to cover all their hair, and of foreign soap operas and movies that depict women in alluring dress, performing sensual dances, or entangled in illicit affairs. Tolo has been at the forefront of such controversy, and it has been a target for terrorist violence. In January 2016, a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Tolo employees, killing seven people and injuring 26. Last week another TV station in Kabul, Shamshad,

was targeted by a suicide bomber and gunmen, leaving one person dead. The Islamic State claimed both attacks. One of the critics' main complaints against "Afghan Star" is that it shows women performing on stage. But Sanjer said most of the contestants sing traditional Afghan songs and that the show is popular with people of all ages. At night, he said, "entire families sit together and watch it, and they vote for their favorite contestant." During an evening of auditions in Kabul this week, one nervous young man sang a melodic Sufi poem in Afghan Dari, accompanied by musicians playing the harmonium and drums. Another young man performed a more confident, amusing song but was slightly off-key. A panel of judges commented after each act. Several contestants waiting their turn to go on stage said they thought the criticism of "Afghan Star" was misplaced and that the country faces far more important issues of concern. All said they were excited about performing and that they did not see how it conflicted with their faith. "We have a lot of serious problems, like bombings and kidnappings. If the mullahs were demonstrating against them, I'd be at the front of the line," said Usman Jaheri, 24, a contestant from Herat. "I love music because it expresses emotions. This show should be at the bottom of their list." Only one woman was waiting to audition that evening â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sohaila Haidery, a 23-year-old fashion retailer who lives in London. She said she passed her preliminary audition online and was flown to Kabul for the elimination round. The station brings all finalists here and lodges them in guest rooms in the Tolo compound. "I have a passion for music," said Haidery, who planned to perform traditional Afghan folk music. "I believe women should be able to do what they want, and I am here because I want to be a reason for others to come out and perform."

Sisters4sisters Sisters 4 Sisters is a mentorship program for young Afghan women that supports them in building confidence, defining their goals, achieving academic success, being active and healthy, and expanding their life experiences and exposure to other women. It has created a one-on-one mentorship for the girls, and are recruiting mentors around the world to be assigned a "sister" who you will communicate with and support over the next 6 months (and beyond!). https://afghanistan-parsa.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b0d9d75874e5459b0066710e1&id=409677dcb0&e=cd9cdfeb58

This Grandmother Opened a Gym for Women in Afghanistan by Ruchi Kumar, November 17, 2017 A lot of them are required permission from their families, especially their male guardians, to be able to go. I was unsure of what to expect the first time I stepped into a women’s gym in Kabul. While I've known a lot of women in Kabul to be vivacious (contrary to how the media often portrays them)—especially in gender-segregated spaces—there are still few who are considered to be athletic. Of course, there are Afghan women who’ve consistently broken stereotypes and excelled as athletes, yet they remain a minority that has to continue to struggle against a system that works against them. As I approached the tiny office of the gym instructor at the end of a wide room filled with all sorts of exercising equipments and the women working on their gains, I wondered if we were still in Kabul. Many were dressed in tracksuits with matching sneakers, others in shorts and tank tops, and yet others in the traditional salwaar kameez native to this region. There was music playing—Justin Bieber, I think—and there was a lot of chatter. In the corner, there was a crib that held three children between the ages of 1 and 3 being

looked after by a teenage girl who also appeared to be running the juice bar next to it. As I changed into my basic gym wear, I noticed that the coat rack held long black coats, black abayas and the blue burqas. A lot of the women tell me they’re required permission from their families, especially their male guardians, to be able to go to the gym. This also meant that, for some, attending the gym was an act of defiance—moving in and out of the establishment discreetly and anonymously. That day, I met Parwin Sofi, a 70-year-old grandmother who has been running a women’s gym for the last ten years in Kabul’s Soviet-built settlement of Macroryan. Sofi has been on women’s health and fitness for more than four decades—roughly the same period as the war in Afghanistan. “I used to be a very good volleyball player in high school and played for the national team. Later I started coaching younger girls, but had to stop when the war started,” she recalls.

Sofi’s passion for sports not only enabled her physically, but also empowered her mentally—she didn’t give in easily to the demands of the male-dominated society around her. It gave her the strength to continue practicing and training, often in secret. As she shares her story, several young women enter the gym—a wide barn that, at one point, was a yard for the men’s gymnasium next door. “This was the only space that we could find. For a long time, it didn’t even have a roof," she recalls, "so we had to shut it down during rain and snow." The setup is simple: A concrete floor covered in colorful, handmade Persian carpets. There are two elliptical trainers, four stationary cycles, and four treadmills, as well as an assortment of dumbbells, hula hoops, and other exercise equipment used by about 100 women every week. “Some of the equipment was bought with the donation of the community, but I paid for the roof on my own,” she says, helping one woman onto an ab machine. Then she drops to the floor and demonstrates a yoga posture—uttanasana—bending her torso to touch her feet with the agility of a ballerina. She has stamina that even the youngest women in the gym can’t match. They giggle a little at the idea of replicating the pose, but follow her lead. Despite the years of conflict, Sofi never left Afghanistan. “During the worst of times, the Taliban regime, my husband and I decided to move to Kandahar,” she says, referring to the ancient city used by the Taliban as the capital. Sofi began her work there as a midwife and later as a nurse at a time when there were severe restrictions on working women. As Afghanistan slipped further into war in the early 2000s, Sofi observed that the opportunities for women to have access to such spaces was dwindling. “Afghan[s] have so many health problems; issues with stamina, back pains, joint pains. It [could be] because a lot of them have closed lives at homes with little to do with the outside. Even the streets are unwelcoming to them and they often don’t get to walk as much as they should,” she says. “This apart from the general gloom and depression that surrounds their daily life.” Some of Sofi’s clients are referred by doctors who’ve diagnosed women with depression and other mental health conditions. “The rockets might not have damaged their homes, but have surely damaged their psyche,” she says. “Exercising twice a week for a couple of hours can greatly help women with physical as well as mental well-being,” she says. Despite being a respected figure in the community due to her years of work—and one failed attempt at running for parliament—it was hard at first for Sofi to convince women to join the gym. “A lot of my initial clients came recommended from doctors in the neighborhood who knew me well,” she says, adding that her oldest son is also a doctor practicing in India. “Eventually, the word spread and now women come to me because they’ve heard about the benefits of going to a gym."

She recalls one case—three sisters who were recovering drug users. Women in Afghanistan who fall to addiction are treated very unkindly by the public, and are often exploited by the system meant to protect them. Sofi made it her goal to get on their cases— one was in her teens and the other two in their 20s. “I would take a taxi to their house every day to pick them up, bring them to the gym, exercise and feed them, and drop them back. I did this for six months, and then the girls were able to travel on their own,” she says. Eight years later, not only have the girls fully recovered, but they've also made successful careers for themselves. “One of them has moved to Germany for work,” she says, smiling. For a lot of women who visit gyms like Sofi’s, however, it becomes not just a place for fitness, but a space for camaraderie. “There are days when we simply get together at the gym for a potluck meal of healthier versions of Afghan delicacies,” says Mina, a 28-year-old housewife who visits at least four times a week. “It helps us feel [like a] part of a community.” That's one reason why Sofi says she has no plans to retire. "Even after raising kids who’ve made successful careers," she says, "I have much left to do."

From Afghanistan to Key West: "A Thousand Splendid Suns" Becomes An Opera" By Alicia Zuckerman, November 17, 2017 The women from the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns first came alive on stage in Key West, in a workshop version of the opera's first act. A Thousand Splendid Suns was Khaled Hosseini's follow-up to his bestselling first novel, The Kite Runner. Before writing A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini spoke with women in his native Afghanistan about what their lives were like. From that, in part, came a story about oppression and brutality against women, spanning generations. Across the world, in New York state, the composer Sheila Silver borrowed the book on tape from the library, and as she listened, immediately imagined it as an opera. She was concerned the book might be too complicated for an opera; onstage, it would have been just two or three hours. But she couldn't shake the idea. She eventually asked the librettist Stephen Kitsakos to read the book, and they were convinced they could pull it off. Hosseini had two requirements when he gave Silver permission: that when the characters wear burkas in the book, they were burkas onstage (singing through a burka presented some challenges, but they figured it out), and that the Koran be handled with respect. The opera is being developed with support from American Opera Projects, and the

second act is about to have its premiere as a workshop performance this weekend in upstate New York (Nov. 18) and in New York City (industry performance, Nov. 19). Act One premiered at the Studios of in Key West. You can watch that video here: http://wlrn.org/post/afghanistan-key-west-thousand-splendid-suns-becomes-opera

Alternative schooling opens doors for Afghan girls and women But community-based schools such as Markaz-e-Amozish in Kabul are struggling as funding dries up and the government drags its feet on providing support by Ruchi Kumar, November 11, 2017 A group of girls and women pore over their books by the light of the weak winter sun pouring in through a window. The tiny classroom has neither electricity nor heating and the students huddle close together on toushaks, cotton-stuffed mattresses popular in Afghan households, to keep warm. “When it starts to be more cold, we will have to stop classes for a few months,” Maryam, their teacher, tells The National as she sits at the head of the classroom in Markaz-e-Amozish — Local Centre for Learning — a community-based school in Kabul’s

destitute Dasht-e-Barchi district with more than 250 female students. The students in the classroom range in age from 12 to 40. Zakia, the oldest and also the most enthusiastic, recalls the day she decided to go back to school. “I was in the market and lost my way, and I couldn’t even read any of the sign boards. I was so embarrassed and scared to have to ask for directions back to my own home,” she says. She says she now realises the importance of education for women. “Working women should be literate so they are not cheated out of their hard-earned [money] just because they can’t count or keep record.” For many of the older women at Markaz-e-Amozish, their education was cut short during the war against Soviet occupation in the 1980s. The younger ones were born into communities that upheld conservative patriarchal views and opposed women’s education. Schools such as Markaz-e-Amozish, have provided these women with safe spaces to learn and develop. “When I moved back to Afghanistan from Iran in 2003, I knew I wanted to work with Afghan women and help improve their lives,” says Masouma Qambari, the school's founder, as students recite their Dari lesson from tattered second-hand books. Ms Qambari’s family fled to Iran when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979,

just before she was born. With her parents’ support, she returned to Afghanistan with skills in midwifery and maternal health care. “However, once here, I realised that the women needed more basic assistance, like literacy and vocational training,” she says. She worked at an aid organisation for a few years until she had enough money to launch Markaz-e-Amozish in 2011. According to recent report released by Human Rights Watch in Afghanistan, schools such as Markaz-e-Amozish, known as community-based education centres, or CBEs, have been effective in increasing enrolment and improving test scores, especially for girls. One study in Ghor province found that these schools has succeeded in eliminating the gender gap in enrolment and in dramatically reducing the gender gap in test scores. “The main reason many girls attend a CBE rather than a government school is often distance,” says Heather Barr, a senior researcher on women’s rights at HRW. Girls are also denied admission to government schools if they are considered too old, she says. Other challenges include unsafe routes to school, lack of female teachers and high tuition fees. CBEs are often supported by foreign donors and the community. Ms Qambari says one of her early students was 12-year-old girl from Bamiyan who was being forced to drop out because of her marriage to an older man who did not approve of her getting an education. “The community, including neighbours and relatives of the husband, stepped in and counselled him to allow her to attend my school, and he reluctantly gave in,” she says. “Today, six years later, this girl is preparing to enrol in university.” It has been a long road for Ms Qambari and her school, which has survived attempts to shut it down by people who do not believe girls and women should have an education. “In 2009, when I was still trying to register the school, a parliamentarian, who I won’t name, held a gun to my face asking me not to work on this project,” she says. “I, of course, went to the courts and persisted [with my project], and he is in prison today for different crimes." Corrupt officials assumed she wanted to set up the school to siphon aid money, and so they tried to extort from her. “They were not very pleased when they realised that my intentions were genuine,” she says with a laugh. Her face turns solemn as she pleads for support to keep the school going. Funding is starting to dry up, and there is little help from the government. “We need trained teachers, equipment and other resources, but most of all we need something as basic as an electricity connection,” she says.

“Recently, Unesco [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation] donated four computers to our school, but we don’t have an electric connection to operate them.” Government officials say they recognise the benefits of community-based education but cannot afford to support it. “There is not enough for the existing formal schools — we can’t add more. We need to be honest,” a provincial education official told HRW researchers. “There is no government plan to fund CBEs. The foreigners pay for them.” Ms Barr accepts that government is overwhelmed, but says gender discrimination continues in the state school system "in terms of the number of girls’ versus boys’ schools”. There is also a clear gap in the allocation of resources, and a failure to prioritise infrastructure vital to girls' schools, such as toilets and boundary walls. “These are disproportionately affecting girls’ access to education; so resistance to supporting CBEs, which we know are particularly effective at reaching girls, may be another form of discriminatory decision-making,” she says. The Afghan government did develop a policy in 2012 that was supposed to facilitate community-based education in the government school system. However, it was never implemented. “The government is now in the process of revising that policy, and the key will be to see whether the new policy is an effective one that prioritises girls and is implemented,” Ms Barr says. Meanwhile, Ms Qambari’s school continues to foster hope among the young girls and older women from Dasht-e-Barchi. When asked if they see a future president of Afghanistan among them, the students in Maryam's class responded: “Why not?”

Afghan Girls and Women Run in Mixed-Gender Bamiyan Marathon

by Kelly Cobiella, November 13, 2017 KABUL, Afghanistan — Under a brilliant blue sky at the foot of where the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan statues once stood, nearly 200 girls in headscarves of every color jockey for position at the starting line. The announcer counts down, "five, four ..." but the girls can't contain their excitement and they're off early, running in the third annual Bamiyan Marathon and 6 mile race alongside the men and boys — the only mixed-gender sports event in Afghanistan. Sixteen years after the fall of the ultra-conservative Taliban, it's still culturally unac-

ceptable for women in most of Afghanistan to ride a bike, go for a run and, in some cases, pursue an education. "When I saw boys, they were free, they can run, they can go everywhere and I [wanted] that too," said runner Raihanna. The 21-year-old grew up in a village in the mountains of Afghanistan’s central Daikundi province, the daughter of a sheep herder. From a young age, she pushed her parents for the same rights as her brothers. "They said this is our culture, a girl should be in the house and they should wash the dishes, they should [raise] children,” she said. “My father was angry with me and said, ‘You should have a long skirt’ and, ‘You shouldn't wear short clothes, you should be a wife.’ But I didn't accept that because I want to be free." Raihanna convinced her parents to allow her to move to Kabul and study at the university, where she cut her hair short, wore what she liked, and discovered another passion. ‘Free to run’ It is dawn in Kabul and an unmarked bus has pulled up to Raihanna's home. She piles in with the other girls, all dressed for a morning jog. They're ferried to a safe place where they jump out and hit the road running. These regular runs wouldn't be possible without a non-profit called Free to Run, started by corporate attorney turned human rights lawyer, Stephanie Case. "When I took a job in Kabul I was told I'd have to give up running," Case says. She was training for an ultra-marathon at the time — confined to a secure compound with a half-mile stretch of road as her only training ground — raising money for victims of domestic violence in Afghanistan. "Getting to know the women, I realized ... women didn't care about the money I was

raising, they wanted to run,” she recalls. "They wanted to do all the things that I just assumed was a Western concept — sports, running." In three years, the group has expanded from a handful of women and girls to more than 100 today, and operates in three provinces, relying almost solely on donations from the running community outside of Afghanistan. "You can see the transformation even from the first run or the first hike,” Case says. “We see them get a lot more confidence, become a lot more outgoing and make plans for the future." Defiance "When I run, I feel strong," Raihanna says, running her first marathon at an altitude of 8,500 feet in Bamiyan. The province is among the safest in the country, with a majority Shiite population and the country’s first female governor. Still, traditional ideas about women and their role in society remain. At the first marathon, some onlookers threw stones at female runners. At the second, a man on a motorcycle tried to run a woman off the road. The marathon route was once overlooked by the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan, 150foot statues carved into a cliff, but they were dynamited and destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. "The Taliban say the woman can't go outside, the woman should be in the house, the woman should wash the dishes,” explains Raihanna, saying some of the militants would kill her for daring to defy those customs. "This is hard for me, that I should go outside and run … but I want to do it.” She runs in a headscarf, sunglasses, and hat pulled down low, and stays close to other women and girls for safety in numbers. This year, 12 women and girls left the marathon starting line. All 12 finished, and not a single rock was thrown. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/afghan-women-run-mixed-gender-bamiyan-marathon-n817236

Supporting Afghanistan’s women farmers Nov 09,2017 One of the key priorities of ICARDA activities in Afghanistan is raising the capacity

of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s women farmers. With funding from AusAid, the Center recently conducted training with the staff and community members of Action Aid, an international NGO based in South Africa and working across 45 countries to tackle poverty. The focus of the training was milk processing, dairy value addition, animal vaccination, and effectively identifying market opportunities. Initial discussions included: milk quality control, quality assurance, milk quality/density tests for grading, standardization, basic requirements for milk processing, storage and transportation. Subsequent sessions involved practical training covering procedures to accurately measure the quantity of milk, test its purity, and check for possible contamination; and the methods needed to produce value-added products, including cheese and yogurt. Participants were sensitized about the important role they could play in improving income and family wellbeing; the role that women play at the national and international level to manage livestock and other income generation enterprises; and the laws and charters introduced to promote gender actions at all levels and protect marginalized women from any human rights violation. The women were encouraged to adopt the activities in their own households and educate their neighbors. Pre-training awareness levels and post-training learning were assessed through pre and post training tests for all 24 participants, and there was 58% average increase (pre-test score 11%, post-test score 69%) in knowledge among participants.

http://www.icarda.org/update/supporting-afghanistan%E2%80%99s-women-farmers#sthash.et8bnuHB.dpbs

Painting Life By Stephen Wilson, November 7, 2017 And so lives the eternal question: Does life imitate art or art imitate life? In this case, yes. Your mother is crying. Use the paint and paper before you to tell us why. You pick up a paintbrush and open tubes of paints. Soon strokes and swirls begin to shape your answer. On your left you see a painting of a car accident. On your right you see a house in disrepair. Looking down, the smoke and debris of an explosion fill your paper. The street children of Kabul, Afghanistan, used art to express themselves under the helpful direction of Fatima Akbar ’18. The assignment above, demanding more intensity and trust than typical assignments, was one exercise the children completed during a two-and-a-half-month summer project funded by the College. A women’s and gender studies major, Akbar understands the transformational power of art. She studied with Bonnie Winfield, former director of community partnerships for Lafayette, at the local prison in Easton, where women used art therapy techniques to aid with their rehabilitation and self-awareness. Through a $1,000 stipend provided by Annual Fund donations, Akbar partnered in Afghanistan with Home for Street Children, a school operated by former journalist Baqi Samandar. Children ages 4-18 make their way to the school. Some are consistent in their attendance, but most are not. These children often choose to work because they have parents who need help or no parents at all. Depending on their age, children might sell cigarettes and gum on the street or sell services like house painting. They earn between 50 and 100 afghanis (afs) a day, roughly one or two American dollars. Lack of a quality public school system doesn’t help either. Children often feel their time is better spent making money for their families. “Once on the streets, children turn to work or gangs,” says Akbar. “The Home for Street Children provides an education, meals, and a family relationship that many children lack.” Relying solely on private donations, the school welcomed Akbar’s programming. She offered two-hour morning and afternoon sessions, open to all. Thirty to 40 students regularly showed up. Most were boys since families often don’t allow their daughters to work or beg on the streets.

“Students could drop in and have a moment to feel like a kid again,” she says. “The art allowed them to relax, express their emotions, and be themselves.” Many students worked with abstraction. Others struggled to paint the perfect apple. Their happiest moments came with conceptual assignments: Paint your happiest moment or paint why your mother is crying. “The younger students really became engaged in the process, making messes, trusting themselves, and acting liberated,” she says. “The older children wanted to develop a new skill. A handful of them were naturally gifted and showed amazing talent.” Students painted their own ideas too. Animals, houses, food, and even a few Western characters like Cinderella and SpongeBob SquarePants. As the summer wore on, Akbar asked local artists to help her curate a juried show. “I was too close to the children to select the artists and the art,” she says. Akbar used what little was left of her grant to purchase black paper to frame the artwork and then displayed it on walls, trees, and boards in the courtyard. On opening night, all the children were there. Add to that local media and 50-60 local artists and social activists. The children were excited or upset, depending on which work made it past the jury. “They were so cute,” she says. “It was bittersweet for me. Yes, I opened a new door

for many of them, but my class was a short-term solution to a bigger problem. I want to address child protection laws, ways to support needy families, and a broken education system.” Despite her desire to do more, Akbar celebrated the art exhibit’s success. Each painting was on sale for 500 afs, about $10. The guests were passionate about the work and raised more than 8,000 afs. That $160 went right back to the school to help future programming. Akbar bought artwork from one of her favorite students, an 11-year-old girl. The image is of a house with a big pink tree in the yard. “I love how hopeful she was, and the colors she used captured it,” says Akbar. “She could be a young girl who drowns in her life under the difficulties she faces, but she was kind and open.” Many of the female students looked up to Akbar. She, though, held all students in higher regard. “These kids are the most important group in Kabul,” she says. “Soon they will vote and help the country, so they need to be educated into strong adults.” The kind of adult who, like Akbar, will return home after college and find a career at an organization that will help children and women. https://news.lafayette.edu/2017/11/07/painting-life/

Our Businesswomen October 4, 2017, The Afghanistan Times The long agony for Afghan women ended with the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001—a darkness area in the history of our country. Since the overrun, conditions of Afghan women have changed dramatically, in which we have women employees from presidential palace to CEO office and all over government and none-government organizations. But it yet to be improved completely as still condition of women in the country is in need of urgent attention. But at the same time the government is making efforts to recover from the effects of utter desolation and destitution by improving its nation living-standard, in which improving the condition of women is a priority of the National Unity Government. For instance, establishing of Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries (AWCCI) that recently launched its work can be taken as a step toward improving women’s condition. While government authorities announced backing; the AWCCI was formally inaugurated during a special ceremony by First Lady Rula Ghani, women’s affairs minister, Delbar Nazari and a number of other officials,

with asking people to utilize Afghan women’s products. It worth mentioning that more than 850 businesswomen were registered with the AWCCI amid at promoting women’s trade and resolve their problems. Indeed, many women have been engaged in different business, in which AWCCI could help them in those areas they are facing problems. Despite this is a great opportunity for Afghan businessmen, the AWCCI is considering a new season in development of commerce in the country. Viewing this, the government should not abandon AWCCI, and in spite that, we, the Afghan masses should also play our parts by buying products of our Afghan businesswomen aimed at promoting their business. Not only this, but we also proud of having tradeswomen. At the same time, the ministries of commerce and economy should further increase women’s role in businesses and entrepreneurship development in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries should also come up to the fore to help Afghan businesswomen. It is quite obvious that Afghanistan’s success will be measured by women’s progress. Now those days gone when Afghan women were fighting for their lives by using some unconventional tactics. However, there is no denying to the fact that we have a long way to go before we can catch up with the rest of the world, but the government has been working hard to improve women’s condition. Women would be more encouraged to engage in business and industrial activities, and the inauguration of the trade board is important for women’s leadership in their economic self-sufficiency. The government has to ensure further women’s participation in economic spheres and play close attention for development of women’s commerce. http://afghanistantimes.af/editorial-our-businesswomen/

Afghanistan's All-Female TV Channel Surges Ahead October 19, 2017 Zan TV is Afghanistan’s first and only TV station run by and for women. When it went on air in May, some Afghans doubted that it would succeed. Five months on, the station’s ratings are soaring. RFE/RL’s Frud Bezhan met some of the professionals who are braving the threat of violence in order to break new ground for Afghan women. (Camera: Ahmad Massoud) https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-women-zan-tv/28804478.html

Women entrepreneurs join Startup Revolution By Javed Hamim Kakar, October 19, 2017 KABUL (Pajhwok): The first group of young female entrepreneurs graduated today from Startup Valley, Afghanistan’s first private business incubator, the USAID said on Thursday.

Of more than 150 applications and 30 selected candidates, 17 young women completed the incubation programme and are now taking their business concepts to market. Operated by AGHAEZ Professional Services and supported by USAID: Promote Women in the Economy (WIE), Startup Valley encourages the entrepreneurial mindset in youth, especially female university graduates. Susan DeCamp, director of USAID’s Gender Office, hailed young entrepreneurs as the future of the country and the forefront of economic development and sustainability in Afghanistan. “We congratulate the hard work and entrepreneurial vision of these young women,” the director said in a statement from the USAID. Ten of the new companies already registered have a presence in Kabul, and are generating income; the others are in the process of incorporating. The new business concepts include mobile applications, a health centre for women, landscaping services and a seeding and agriculture venture, the statement added. Startup Valley and WIE will provide six months follow-up support including advisory services, networking, assistance in procuring office space and relevant technical help. A second group of 26 female entrepreneurs, ready to enter the second chapter of Startup Valley, will attend workshop sessions and receive coaching and mentoring besides taking part in networking and learning opportunities. They will benefit from the skills of entrepreneurs who have already navigated the startup and launch process. The incubatees will validate their ideas, develop business models, conduct market research, develop viable products and finally launch their startups. Executive Director of AGHAEZ Professional Services Ahmad Fahim Didar said: “We believe that by nurturing a startup ecosystem in Afghanistan, we will contribute to the economic growth of the country by helping reduce unemployment… https://www.pajhwok.com/en/2017/10/19/women-entrepreneurs-join-startup-revolution

Traditional Dresses Attract Young Fans In Afghanistan By Zarmina Mohammadi, September 28, 2017 A small business investor, Hamida Safi, says she has invested in designing local dresses in order to boost the Afghan culture and introduce it to the world. Traditional dresses in Afghanistan have become more popular with the younger generation in recent years. Hamida Saafi is a fashion designer who started designing local dresses several years ago - designs that have won the hearts of many women in the country. She said she started her business without any support from any institution. Saafi says introducing local dresses with new designs is aimed at boosting Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture abroad and reducing the number of dresses imported from other countries.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We entered the market with a small investment. We want to be different in terms of quality of design of our products,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Another designer, Hilal said she started work with her coworker six months ago. She says she has learnt to weave and design different types of local dresses during this period. Experts say that in recent years many women in Afghanistan have invested in medium and small businesses – a move which has had a significant impact on boosting the local economy. http://www.tolonews.com/index.php/business/traditional-dresses-attract-young-fans-afghanistan USAID Empowers Young Female Medical Technicians

Kabul, Afghanistan – Thirteen young women are among the first to graduate from USAID Promote: Women in the Economy’s (WIE) Forward Together Scholarship Doppler Ultrasound course. Held at the Ariana Hospital, the subsidized course gave participants the skills needed to operate an advanced ultrasound machine, which uses color imaging to diagnose a wide variety of health issues, including heart diseases or healthy or complicated pregnancies. “There is a strong need for qualified technicians in the Afghan medical sector that can deliver high quality diagnostic services. Having more qualified females will increase access to much needed medical services for all Afghan women”, said Susan Decamp, USAID Gender Office Director. This year alone, nearly 100 young women in Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif have enrolled in, or have graduated from ultrasonography, CT scan, and other medical technology courses through WIE’s Forward Together Scholarship program. WIE also coaches its graduates to find jobs or residency programs in clinics and hospitals. Since the start of the WIE program in 2015, 880 beneficiaries have either completed internships in the healthcare sector or have full-time jobs in 200 medical facilities in 30 provinces. “Today, we congratulate these young women. Our country needs more qualified women medical technicians”, said Dr. Abdul Wahid Sidiqi, the owner of Ariana Hospital. “They can now provide valuable medical services to our patients. With almost $17 billion spent on development programs in Afghanistan since 2002, USAID provides the largest bilateral civilian assistance program to Afghanistan. USAID partners with the government and people of Afghanistan to ensure economic growth led by the country’s private sector, to establish a democratic and capable state governed by the rule of law, and to provide basic health and education services for all Afghans. Development Outreach and Communication Office USAID | AFGHANISTAN.

Skate Girls of Kabul exhibit tells 'story of Afghan girls helping each other' Aga Khan exhibit captures the fascinating stories of resilient, young skaters, empowerment and 'the future' of a war-torn country. By Gilbert Ngabo, Metro Published, September 10, 2017 British portrait photographer Jessica Fulford-Dobson had a hard time believing what she was reading. It was late 2012 and she had stumbled upon a "two-inch column" in a London newspaper about a skateboarding program in Afghanistan. "I thought: 'Did I read that right?'" said Fulford-Dobson, remembering how she couldn't associate Afghanistan, a country where it's taboo for women to ride bikes, with young women on skateboards. "Here's this conservative country where all I've heard is doom and gloom, and there was this little ray of hope for these girls. "It was a beautiful and fascinating story." The fascination led her to Skateistan, an international charity that uses skateboarding as a way to empower and educate young girls in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa.

Over the coming years, Fulford-Dobson travelled to Kabul multiple times to capture hundreds of portraits of girls skillfully gliding on ramps or standing triumphantly with the boards. Skate Girls of Kabul, an exhibition featuring some of those candid images, is making its North American debut with a stop at the Aga Khan Museum in North York. Fulford-Dobson has also published a book under the same name, telling stories of a skateboarding culture for the young girls in Kabul. Through her work, she saw firsthand the way skateboarding has helped young girls make their presence felt in a community that gives boys more room for growth in major sports like cricket and football. "It's just this little board with wheels and it's not seen as a sport in their culture, but it helps these girls build resilience and bounce back and be tough and strong," Fulford-Dobson said. And for a country like Afghanistan where the dominant story is about horror and war, skateboarding allows the girls to avoid being seen just as victims. "Standing there, the joy and the thrill and the excitement in their eyes is so intoxicating," added Fulford-Dobson. "It's the story of Afghan girls helping each other. It's the future."

Skate Girls of Kabul September 5, 2017 to October 8, 2017 “It’s hard not to think of Afghan girls skateboarding as an unlikely clash of cultures. But when you see these children tearing around the skate park, shrieking with laughter, your preconceptions drop away... I hope that this collection captures something of their spirit: their joy in life, their individuality, and their community.” — Jessica Fulford-Dobson. Award-winning British photographer Jessica Fulford-Dobson travelled to Afghanistan in the summer of 2013 and the summer of 2014 to document young girls participating in a unique program called Skateistan — an international NGO founded in 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan, to provide girls with a place to skate safely and a route into education. Fulford-Dobson visited Skateistan for a total of six weeks and her engaging photographs from her time there deftly undermine cultural, religious, and gender stereotypes. Collected in a book called Skate Girls of Kabul and now exhibited in the Aga Khan Park, these photographs present an uncomplicated celebration of childhood and girl power. Guest Curator Marianne Fenton

Artist Jessica Fulford-Dobson Jessica Fulford-Dobson is a freelance, London-based portrait photographer who began her career in the year 2000. Her photographs have since been published in newspapers and magazines worldwide, including the Telegraph Magazine and British Vogue, as well as being exhibited in New York, London, and Prague. In November 2014, out of over 4,000 submissions, Jessica’s portrait of “Skate Girl” won second prize at The National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize Award, where it was exhibited for the first time. In April 2015, Jessica had her first solo exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, London. Skateistan is an award-winning international non-profit organization empowering youth and children through skateboarding and education in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa. Through their innovative programs, Outreach, Skate and Create, Back-to-School, and Youth Leadership, Skateistan aims to give youth the opportunity to become leaders for a better world. https://www.agakhanmuseum.org/skate-girls-kabul

Women flood stands in Afghanistan AFP, KABUL, October 9, 2017 Shiba Rahimi, a pale pink hijab covering her hair, sits forward in her seat and does a shrill two-finger whistle at the male soccer players darting around the all-weather field in Kabul. The university student is one of dozens of soccer-mad women sitting in the female section of the Afghan capital’s main stadium enjoying a rare opportunity to have fun in public in patriarchal Afghanistan. “Women are not harassed or bothered by anyone here. It is a good place for women,” 21-year-old Rahimi said as she sat with her family watching the Afghan Premier League (APL) clash between Toofan Harirod and Simorgh Alborz. A cross section of women — students, professionals and grandmothers — held red “Goaaal!” posters and waved Afghan national flags as they screamed the names of their favorite team, their faces beaming. Women, some partially veiled to only show their eyes, trickled into the stadium throughout the game. To reach their segregated seating next to the VIP section, they must walk past a men’s stand under the gaze of scores of eyes.

It is a scene that would have been unthinkable during the Taliban’s repressive and misogynistic regime when women were largely confined to their homes and, when they did venture outside with a male escort, hidden from view under burqas. The ground where the game is underway is close to the old stadium where matches held under the Taliban’s 1996 to 2001 rule featured public executions with criminals hanged or shot and thieves’ hands cut off. In the 16 years since the Taliban was toppled by a US-led invasion, women have been allowed to attend men’s matches and even play the sport. Only a few female supporters went to games in the beginning, but as memories of the Taliban years faded and women players and fans appeared more frequently on television, they began showing up in greater numbers — but only with the permission of their husbands and families. Still, that is greater freedom than women in some other Muslim countries, such as neighboring Iran and Saudi Arabia, enjoy. Morsal Sadat is one of the lucky ones. The 16-year-old high-school student said her family lets her play and watch soccer. “I came here to watch and learn some new tricks from our players,” Sadat said. Despite being vastly outnumbered by men in the 6,500-seat stadium, the enthusiastic female fans overshadow their male counterparts with their exuberant support. The men do not appear bothered by their female counterparts — some even use their proximity to girls to flirt through the barrier. Afghanistan has made strides to promote women’s soccer — it has a national side and three years ago launched its first all-women’s league that ran in parallel with the men’s APL. However, this year the female teams were sidelined by a lack of funding. Security is a major concern for spectators attending sporting venues in Afghanistan, where large gatherings of any kind are often targeted. During last month’s Shpageeza Cricket League, a suicide bomber blew himself up meters from the stadium, killing three people. However, in a nation where daily life is often interrupted by deadly attacks by insurgents, the female soccer fans say they refuse to be intimidated into staying home. Khatira Ahmadi, 20, said: “It is true that there is widespread insecurity in Afghanistan, and we witness one blast or two blasts every day, but we don’t get frightened. [We] cannot ignore the sport we love.” http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2017/10/09/2003680007

PHOTO ESSAY: Nothing Can Stop This Afghan Super Mom From Providing For Her Family Often as she works, one son helps chop wood while her other children study. by Mahbooba Hazara, August 31, 2017 Afghanistan is teeming with the untold stories of half of its population. Sahar Speaks gives a rare and revealing look into Afghan womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives, as reported by Afghan women on the ground. Smoke and fire irritate her eyes, and she is short of breath. Some nights she is too tired to eat. She keeps losing weight due to hard work. But neighbors know her as a cheerful baker, whose charcoal-powered workshop is a source of daily bread for many. This a story is about Zakia, a young woman in Kabul. Zakia wants to work because she does not want to depend on anybody. She starts her job at 4 a.m. and works late, until 9 p.m. Her loyal customers wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe it, but she says hates baking. But the small business promises a better future for her children:

a daughter, Roqaya (11), and two sons, Mahdi (15) and Abdulhadi (13). She lives with her children in a small, dark house measuring only 10 by 13 feet. Zakia`s husband, Khadem, died in a traffic accident in Kabul, and she has been supporting the family ever since. She is literally the family’s breadwinner. Zakia started out as a domestic helper, a job that requires long hours. She remembers one Ramadan evening when she got trapped by mass protests on her way home. Her husband’s relative refused to help her out, displeased that she was out alone. A stranger helped her reach home late that night. Then she cried more than when her husband died. After that night, she decided to work in a bakery. “If I work in bakery, I can be with my children,” Zakia told me. She buys wood from the store near her home. Mahdi helps her chop it. He quit his studies to help his struggling mother. Abdulhadi and Roqaya are still able to study. Roqaya, who is too young to remember her late father, wants to be a doctor, and Zakia wishes more than anything that her daughter will achieve her dreams. Despite her grueling work and hard life, Zakia remains optimistic about the future…

Helping Afghan Women Improve their Economic Status October 3, 2017 STORY HIGHLIGHTS Women in some villages in Kabul and Parwan provinces are seeing significant changes to their lives through self-employment and participation in decision making in local development. Government and donor-funded programs are building the capacity of these women to give them the opportunity to improve their livelihood, as well as play an active role in their villages. Hundreds of women in these provinces have been encouraged to start small businesses, helping them to support themselves and their families. PARWAN / KABUL PROVINCES – In a valley in Parwan Province, Gul Shirin, 45, sits head bent over a sewing machine in a small room in her house in Hijan village in Salang district. A seamstress, Gul Shirin is sewing clothes for customers in the district and beyond. About 100 kilometers away in Gul Dara district in Kabul Province, Zarmina, 35, is checking her micro-greenhouse for vegetables that are ready to be picked for sale. In yet

another district in Kabul Province, Fatana Rahmani, 22, is busy preparing for a meeting. As vice chairperson of the Community Development Council (CDC) in her village, Botazar, in Paghman district, she has a long day ahead. These women reflect small but significant changes taking place in parts of rural Afghanistan. Benefiting from various government and donor-funded schemes and programs, they are improving their livelihoods and playing an active role in village development. Businesses Run by Women Gul Shirin started her sewing unit in 2012 with a loan of 5,000 afghanis (about $74) from the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) in her village. She purchased material, a sewing machine, scissors, and other tools needed to start her business. “I started my work from scratch, supported only by the loan from the Association,” the mother of six says. “Anything a customer wants or orders, we can make. We make hijabs, wedding dresses, skirts, and even coats for women and children.” Today, Gul Shirin has customers in 20 villages in Salang district, in Parwan’s capital Charikar city as well as in Kabul. She is one of hundreds of women in Parwan Province who have received support through activities, such as the VSLA, established by the Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development Program (AREDP), under the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development. AREDP started in Parwan Province in 2009 with the aim of creating job opportunities and increasing the earning capacity of rural residents by supporting the establishment of small-scale enterprises. The program works in six districts in the province and, thus far, has established 868 Saving Groups, of which 488 are for women. Each group is made up of 10 to 12 members. These Savings Groups then federate into VSLAs. Most of the members in the Savings Groups are women and many run small enterprises. Abdul Wakil Hamidpoor, AREDP Provincial Manager for Parwan, points out that “previously, we did not have any businesses that were owned and run by women in Parwan.” There are now 12 shops run by women in the villages and 62 VSLAs for women. Additionally, the program has established 99 enterprises, 18 of which are owned by women. The program has brought meaning to Gul Shirin’s life, giving her confidence and a way to not only improve her life but also those of others. “Now I have four sewing machines and six apprentices, who are learning to sew,” she says. “It was a slow start, but the demand for my products has increased. I earn between 15,000–20,000 afghanis (about $225–$300) a month after expenses.” With their own businesses, women like Gul Shirin have been able to contribute to their family income and become productive members of the local economy. “I can say that

AREDP has changed people’s attitude,” says Abdul Wakil. “It has worked closely with the community and this close coordination has built trust. Now we receive applications from men and women in Parwan as they are eager to start small businesses and would like our support.” Improving Livelihoods Like Gul Shirin, Zarmina has set up her own thriving small-scale enterprise, supporting her family. “I cultivate vegetables and sell them and also use them as food in my home,” she says. “I support my family and the greenhouse has helped me earn money even in harsh winter months.” With support from the National Horticulture and Livestock Project (NHLP), Zarmina set up a micro-greenhouse and received improved production inputs and technical assistance on vegetable production. “Previously, I did not have the ability to buy equipment for a greenhouse and technical knowledge to manage it. I had no work in the winter,” says the mother of eight. “We work with poor women on a small scale and on off-season vegetables,” says Amina Askarzai, the NHLP Extension Worker in the Kabul region. “This program has helped them find another source of income, thus improving their livelihoods.” NHLP, which operates under the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), aims to promote the adoption of improved agricultural production practices and technologies, covering 33 provinces. It has reached over 390,000 male and female farmers with improved technologies and knowledge on horticulture and livestock production, as well as post-production practices, such as finding markets for their products and customer interaction. Participating in Decision Making While NHLP and AREDP are primarily capacity building projects, the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), which Fatana Rahmani was a part of, aimed to improve service delivery by strengthening local development governance structures and empowering citizens to participate in the decision-making process on development in their communities. NSP, which operated under the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, worked to strengthen and maintain Community Development Councils as effective institutions for local governance and socio-economic development, while underlining women’s participation in the process. “The condition of women is much better now,” Fatana says. “We can participate in the decision-making process of our village’s development, as well as have an active role in implementing these decisions.”

More than 35,000 CDCs were established all over the country under the program, which has since closed. The recently launched Citizens’ Charter Afghanistan Project (CCAP) will build on the work of NSP to further improve service delivery to rural and urban areas. CDCs will play an enhanced role under the CCAP. AREDP, NHLP, and CCAP are receiving support from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries, and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). NSP, which closed in March 2017, also received support from IDA and the ARTF. These stories bear testimony to Afghanistan’s unequivocal focus on empowering women and ensuring that they participate in society as partners. As a result of these and other similar initiatives, many communities in Afghanistan are witnessing change. Gul Shirin, Zarmina, and Fatana are contributing and making a difference, whether at the level of the household, the village, or the community. https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/helping-afghan-women-improve-their-economic-status

First Bakery Training Centre in Balkh Province Lead by Women September 20, 2017 Balkh's first Bakery Training Center led by women was inaugurated on Sunday. The centre operates as a bakery as well as a training facility for apprentices. The Afghan-German Cooperation initiated and financed the project while the Balkh Directorate of Women Affairs (DoWA) provided the land for the center's construction. Ten local women have found a permanent job in the center. 'Today, with the German government's support, we are able to inaugurate the first bakery training center for women. It allows women to work and learn in an adequate environment and is unprecedented in Afghanistan,' said Shahla Hadid, director of DoWA. The head of Balkh's provincial council, Mohammad Afzal Hadid, said, 'The bakery training center stands for sustainable economic development and employment creation. It is a great opportunity for Balkh's women. I look forward to the high quality products they will produce.' The construction works on the Bakery Training Center started in February this year. It now operates as a full-time bakery, but also offers training courses for almost 50 new entrepreneurs and existing provincial bakers from six Afghan provinces: Balkh, Samangan, Baghlan, Kunduz, Takhar and Badakhshan. The courses will develop technical skil-

ls, improve baking practices and services, and introduce new premium quality products. Throughout the event, attendees had the chance to try bakery products, look at the center's modern equipment and learn about new baking practices. As part of the Afghan-German Cooperation, the Sustainable Economic Development and Employment Promotion (SEDEP) program supports the wheat value chain in Afghanistan by providing farmers with new planting and harvesting equipment and related technical trainings. It further offers courses on new and improved practices for both producers and processors as well as specialised business support services to seed companies. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Sustainable Economic Development and Employment Promotion (SEDEP) program is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂźr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The project supports various activities to strengthen businesses and create jobs in Afghanistan in the following five value chains: nuts, dairy, poultry, wheat and vegetables. Apart from training and infrastructure development initiatives, the German government also helps to establish dialogues between public and private sector actors. Farmers and government can address concerns and draft policy recommendations to improve economic opportunities. http://www.menafn.com/1095883938/Afghanistan--First-Bakery-Training-Centre-in-Balkh-Province-Lead-by-Women

Girls aren't less than boys' A trio of vets in Afghanistan are braving bomb blasts and discrimination to head up an animal welfare practice and inspire a new generation of women by Fran McElhone, September 18, 2017 Unpredictable and indiscriminate bomb blasts don’t deter the three women heading up Afghanistan’s only large-scale animal shelter and veterinary clinic, in Kabul. Neither do the attitudes of the people who told them they couldn’t, or shouldn’t, be vets. Afghanistan is one of the lowest-ranked countries in the world for gender equality. In this strictly patriarchal society, women are still traditionally married off soon after school age and remain housewives for the rest of their lives. They may face imprisonment for running away from home and many are still behind bars for “moral crimes”. So for Dr Maliha Rezayi, Dr Malalai Haikal and Dr Tahera Rezaei to be at the helm of the Nowzad Conrad Lewis Clinic in Kabul, they are not only changing the course of animal welfare in Afghanistan, but resetting the course of history for women in society too. The women, all in their 20s, say they are “always busy” at the clinic, which was founded by former British Royal Marine Pen Farthing. These are Afghanistan’s next generation of women, the millennials changing the future of their country, animal by animal, person by person, through a gradual but potent ripple effect. Rezayi’s parents were born in Iran after her grandparents moved there to escape the civil war in the early 1990s. When she was 13, the family, including her six siblings, moved back to Afghanistan. Although her parents, a shopkeeper and a housewife, backed her determination to attend school and eventually go to university – and to become Afghanistan’s female boxing champion while still a teenager – her extended family were unremittingly scornful. “My parents and brothers and sisters supported me and made me feel that I could be anything I wanted to be,” says Rezayi, 27, who had an amicable arranged marriage two years ago. “But my wider family members were not supportive. Most of them grew up in Afghanistan and thought girls can’t go out. This is not a good culture here. “Of course it was hard, but it made me work harder, to prove everyone wrong. The attitude was that girls can’t do anything and I wanted to show them that girls aren’t less than boys.” When she went to Kabul University in 2012, there were around 20 women and 140 men on the course. Her experience was mixed; although there were some supportive tutors, there was also a culture of oppression towards female students. “Some of the teachers didn’t want us to do well and would mark my grades down,” she says. “In our society, there is a belief that you can’t do things because you’re a woman. So when I go out to help someone’s animal, sometimes people don’t want me to touch it. But after I get them to trust me, they thank me.”

For three years, the trio has been leading clinic-based sessions with the next wave of veterinary students, giving them the opportunity to gain vital experience. “The women are happy to have a female teacher,” Rezayi says. “But the men often ignore us at first and don’t want to listen to us. Then when we start teaching them interesting information, they start to listen.” The women live with the constant fear of civil unrest. When we speak, Rezayi’s uncle is recovering in hospital after being severely injured several weeks before in a truck bomb explosion that killed more than 150 people on May 31, making it the deadliest single attack since the start of the war in 2001. Rezayi was only a few hundred metres away from the blast. “The situation is hard,” she says. “Our families are always worried about us. But we’re used to it. It is normal for us.” Haikal, 24, was educated at home in Pakistan, where her parents had gone to flee the civil war, and upon her return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule, she was confined to the family home. When she was at university, she says, people – “especially men” – didn’t want women to do well out of fear that they would become “stronger” than them. Rezaei grew up in Iran with her nine siblings as refugees of the civil war. Now 26, she moved to Afghanistan aged 15. After graduating, she worked at Kabul Zoo, where visitors were dumbfounded when she told them she was working there. All the women agree that the single most important thing, other than family support, that will help change attitudes and stifle gender inequality is education. “[It is] the only solution,” says Rezayi. “The media can help, but the main thing is education. “When I first went to uni, some members of my family said it was a bad thing. But when I graduated, they started saying to their daughters, you need to go to school so you can be like Dr Maliha.”

First All-Female Restaurant Opened In Baghlan By Hamid Shirzai, 30 August 2017 Baghlan activists said government should pay attention to women’s situation and help them improve their economy. In an unprecedented move, a group of women opened a restaurant in the relatively secure Baghlan province in Afghanistan’s north with the hope to improve the economy of women. The restaurant is run by 20 women and is equipped with a modern gym. “We have built this restaurant from our personal budget,” said Geeti, owner of the restaurant. “Women are encouraged to visit this place and learn from our experiences.

We hope that government will come forward and support us to expand our business.” Women who attended the opening ceremony of the restaurant, said the initiative will positively impact the economy of women in the province. “This is a positive move. Many families will not allow women to visit restaurants run by men. All the workers are women in this restaurant therefore women can feel comfortable here,” said Gulalai Wahab, a chef at the restaurant. “This is a good chance for women to work and have an income for their family,” said Shaima, a waitress at the restaurant. She said women can find their favorite foods at the restaurant. Women’s rights activists in Baghlan said violence against women will reduce if attention is paid to women’s economic development in the country. http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/first-all-female-restaurant-opened-baghlan

Afghan travel entrepreneur aims to give female students chance to fly to success by Bahaar Joya, September 7, 2017 LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - An Afghan entrepreneur is hoping to inspire a new generation of women by using her travel agency to help female students secure places at universities in Turkey, Russia and Europe and then break into male-dominated careers. Marjana Sadi, 21, set up Banoo Travel Agency in a market in central Kabul nearly a year ago where eight young female staff now work under the portraits of successful Afghan women. Sadi said she set up the company after hearing many women complaining about their struggles to get jobs as they could not get into foreign universities and her company has so far secured places for more than 35 women. “I’d been a radio presenter for more than 3 years and I was fed up with hearing that some jobs are exclusively for men and women don’t have the skills for these jobs so I decided to set up my own company,” Sadi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview from Kabul. Sadi said her father and brother helped her with the $50,000 needed to set up Banoo Travel Agency and friends from the Ministry of Women Affairs linked her to contacts in foreign universities to arrange places for women to study abroad. She said in the past year her travel agency has managed to secure university places for 35 girls in Turkey and they are currently working on sending some women to Russia and India. She said the next target was universities in Europe. One student, Muazama, who did not want to give surname, is getting ready to leave for a journalism course at Istanbul University with Banoo arranging her visa, travel and university admission at a cheaper cost than she could have arranged. “I always wanted to continue my education but never had a way to do it, but Marjana helped me to get admission for 50 percent cheaper at Istanbul University,” Muazama said via phone. According to a World Bank report, about 76 percent of women aged over 15 in Afghanistan are illiterate. For although Afghan women regained the right to go to school, vote, and to work since the ultra-conservative Taliban was overthrown in 2001, the nation’s economic and security crisis makes it difficult for women to access education. Many areas of Afghan society remain male dominated, and changes taking place are often slow and patchy. In May a new TV channel dedicated to women with all female presenters and produ-

cers began broadcasting while Afghanistan’s first female pilot, refugee Shaista Waiz, hit the spotlight with her bid to be first Afghan woman to fly solo around the world. Sadi, who has never studied overseas but has visited India and Turkey, said she hoped one day soon to be among the students heading for a university life abroad and new career. “Through my own travel agency, I am planning to continue my higher education in Business administration in the next two years in Turkey or India,” she said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-women-travel/afghan-travel-entrepreneur-aims-to-give-female-students-chance-to-fly-to-success-idUSKCN1BI2DH

Jawzjan women put on display handicrafts after training

Pajhwok Afghan News -July 21, 2017 SHIBERGHAN (Pajhwok): , who underwent a 10-month training course, on Thursday showcased their handicrafts at an exhibition in Shiberghan, the capital of northern Jawzjan province, on Thursday. The exhibition was organized by the . These women have completed a 10-month training program before showcasing their products at today's exhibition. Sayed Rasoul Sadat, ACSF head, said the training program, aimed at empowering poor women, had long been ongoing and it included literacy, painting, tailoring and marketing. After attending the program, he said, women could make handicrafts, paintings and introduce local culture and improve their economic situation. Sadat said today's exhibition was part efforts at promoting women's artistic activities. 'We want people know about these women's work and enable them to continue their role in handicrafts production and improve their economy,' he added. One of the trained women, Shagofa Arwin, said'This program is important because it helps women improve self-reliance.' Another woman, Benafsha, said the program helped women learn reading and writing which played a role in improving their handicrafts-making as well. She said they had put on display products to find market for them. However, Jawzjan women's affairs director Najiba Quraishi criticized the organizers of the program and said women should be imparted that could help them in future. 'The subjects taught to women in this program do not relate to their social life, the training they receive about handicrafts also cannot help them to improve their families' economic situation,' she said. She added that women's problems should have been surveyed first before launching such a program for them. The day-long exhibition in Shiberghan that kicked off at 9am was visited by hundreds of people until evening. http://www.menafn.com/1095643028/Afghanistan--Jawzjan-women-put-on-display-handicrafts-after-training

Feature: Afghan woman escapes tradition to serve on police force in ex-Taliban hotbed

Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-13 Editor: Song Lifang Afghan policewoman Masouma works at her office in Tirin Kot, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, July 7, 2017. In conservative Afghan society, people particularly in the countryside regard women working outside of their family home as a "taboo." But one brave female, Masouma, 45, has escaped the cultural barriers and joined the police force to break the taboo and show that women can compete with men in all arenas. She's currently shattering these cultural restrictions right on her own back door as she works to bring law, order and stability to her home province of Uruzgan. (Xinhua/Manan Arghand) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-07/13/c_136441168_2.html

Where Is My Name? Afghan Women Campaign To Reclaim Their Identities by Golnaz Esfandiari, July 15, 2017 In Afghanistan's staunchly patriarchal society, women are often publicly identified by the names of their male relatives. Their identity derives from their relationship with men -- who are seen as their owners. Afghan women live their lives as someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter, sister, or wife and often donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have an identity of their own. When girls are born in Afghanistan, it takes some families weeks to give them a name -- and when a woman dies, her death notice and tombstone will often bear the name of her husband. For Afghan men, revealing the names of their female relatives in public is considered shameful and dishonorable. But a group of young women are trying to eradicate many of these long-standing taboos in their lives and help women reclaim their identities. They have launched a campaign called Where is My Name? to highlight the issue and push men and, even women, to address women by their names.

In the first place, they say women should be identified by their given names and not those of their fathers and husbands. The group says it believes giving women back their names is the first important step in encouraging them to assert their rights in a society where violence and abuse against women remain major problems. Twenty-five-year-old Laleh Osmany, who initiated the campaign from the western Afghan city of Herat, tells RFE/RL that the movement wants to help women regain their “most basic right.” “We’re fighting to win back our name and our identity,” she said. “We want women to be recognized as independent human beings with an identity.” Osmany says that “in all families when a woman dies her name doesn’t appear on her death notice; when a woman gets married her name doesn’t appear on her wedding announcement; and women’s names are not mentioned on doctor’s prescriptions either.” Tahmineh Rashiq, another campaign founder, told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan that men should be able to utter the name of their mother, sister, and wife in public without feeling ashamed. “It shouldn’t be shameful,” she said in an interview in her home in Kabul. Rashiq said she and many other women are fed up with being identified with someone else. “I’m tired of being called the daughter or mother of someone,” she said. The Where Is My Name? campaign is gaining support among women and also men who have been posting on social media under the campaign’s hashtag, #whereismyname, and changing their profile picture to the campaign’s flyer. “I joined this campaign and proudly posted the name of my mother and wife on Facebook,“ campaign supporter Saadat Musavi told RFE/RL. Osmany says the campaign has even started a debate within the country. “We launched the campaign in cyberspace and we made good use of it," she said. "The issue is now being debated in the real world -- people and media are now talking about it.” Many have praised the campaign for highlighting discrimination against women and attempting to raise awareness. But there is also criticism. “Is [this] really the main concern of Afghan women? If they're being called by their names, will their problems be resolved?” read a comment posted on Facebook. But campaign organizers say without having their own identity, women will remain invisible and powerless in society. “A woman without a concrete identity will not defend her rights,” campaign supporter Khadijeh Nabiyar told the Afghan daily 8am.

Since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, Afghan women have, among other things, regained the right to go to school, to vote, and to work. But many still face violence at the hands of male relatives that too often goes unpunished. Osmany hopes her campaign to help allow women have an identity is the beginning of a movement that could help improve Afghan women's lives in many ways. https://www.rferl.org/a/afghan-women-campaign-to-reclaim-their-identities/28618186.html #WhereIsMyName: Restoring the Identities of Afghan Women

by Kelsey Cochran, July 18, 2017 In Afghanistan, there is a tradition which dictates that women and girls must be referred to by the name of the eldest male in their nuclear family. This practice has nothing to do with Islam, the dominant religion practiced in Afghanistan, and is instead a tradition unique to the country. It is considered shameful to speak a woman’s own name in public. On wedding invitations, women are referred to as only “Miss” and nothing else. On a woman’s gravestone, she is remembered as “Mother of X,” or “Wife of X.” Sometimes, children do not even know their own mother’s name because of the shame that surrounds it—and if they do know their mother’s name, they will not disclose it to others lest they be teased and called “Son of [mother]” instead of “Son of [father].” On Mother’s Day in 2015, UN Women began a campaign on Twitter calling for women’s identities to be respected and acknowledged in Afghanistan and launched the effort with a video of men on the street being asked what their mothers’ names were. Every person questioned is shocked when asked for their mother’s name, and some even laugh at the question. An elder gentleman goes onto explain that when he was younger, if someone knew someone else’s mother’s name, they would sob. The fight goes on, two years later. Earlier this month, the Facebook page Afghanistan’s Women of Prominence launched the #WhereIsMyName campaign in an attempt to “restore women’s identity.” Human rights activist Noorjahan Akbar spoke to Ms. about #WhereIsMyName and similar grassroots campaigns taking place in Afghanistan. Why are women and girls referred to by a male family member’s name in public in Afghanistan? Where does this tradition come from? In Afghanistan, often in wedding invitations, funeral announcement or even in day-to-day conversations women are not referred to by their own names. Rather, they are called “so and so’s mother” or “so and so’s daughter.” At the heart of this practice is the mentality that women are still seen, not as individual people, but as the property and

the honor of men. Therefore it is often considered a disrespect to the honor of the male members of the family if women are known or called by their own names. In addition, often women’s names are used to insult men during confrontations and conflicts. Many men make inappropriate comments about raping or having sexual relations with the women in the family of the man they are fighting with, even in public spaces. This makes many men reluctant to use or make known the names of the women in their family, because they don’t want other men to use them to insult them. This also points to a deeply rooted problem that to insult men, other men use the bodies and identities of the women in their families as the battleground and to shame men into submission, they threaten women in their families with sexual violence. Women’s bodies continue to be a battlefield for men’s sense of honor. How are people responding to the campaign? On our platform, Daughters of Rabia, a social media online blog with nearly 60 thousands readers, the response has been overwhelming positive. Within a week, dozens of women have written about the campaign for us and thousands have commented on and shared our content supporting the campaign. In the general discourse in Afghanistan as well, the response has been largely positive. Of course as it is with any movement, some have spoken against it and criticized it, but that was definitely expected. One of the widely used critiques of the campaign has been that Afghan women have far more important problems that their name being erased from invitation letters, but this critique is not well-thought out. Without an independent sense of identity, Afghan women will not be able to fight for our other rights in fundamental ways. In order for women to combat violence and marginalization, we have to be able to recognize ourselves and be recognized as individuals with rights, not as property belonging to male family members. This, a sense of identity as women and people, is central to our liberation. How did the #whereismyname campaign come to be? What is your involvement? #WhereIsYourName was created by a group of young women in Afghanistan. It is an organic, grassroots effort led by women activists on the ground and Free Women Writers was proud to support it through our online platforms in Afghanistan. We supported the campaign through our online blog Daughters of Rabia by writing about it and sharing content that was sent to us by the organizers of the campaign. We will continue to do this as we believe in this grassroots campaign and its mission. Not everyone has social media or access to the internet. Is the campaign being held offline as well? How are people without social media or internet being reached?

The organizers used social media as a starting point for the conversation, but the hashtag has gone beyond the online world especially because local media took an interest in the story and produced many news reports around it. For more than a week, local radio and television stations [in Afghanistan] talked about this movement, interviewed the organizers, and held debates about it. You founded your own organization that aims to promote women, Free Women Writers. Could you briefly explain what you do at Free Women Writers and why you founded it? I founded Free Women Writers in 2013. It started with an anthology of more than thirty pieces of writing by Afghan women published in Kabul in Persian language. We called the anthology Daughters of Rabia, for the first recorded poetess in Afghanistan, who was killed for writing poetry and falling in love with a slave. To us, she signified the intersection of women’s rights and social justice and the important threat that women’s voice and writing presents to patriarchy. The book organically grew into one of the biggest blogs about women’s rights in the country until in 2015, we started translating our work and publishing it on freewomenwriters.org, which now hosts more than one hundred pieces and is a growing platform for Afghan women inside and outside the country. In addition to our online platforms, we work with local radios and newspapers to republish our work and uplift Afghan women’s authentic voices and literature. I started Free Women Writers because I know that Afghan women have a lot to say and it is tragic that we are often talked about but rarely listened to. I know our voices have the power to change Afghanistan, and the world, and I refuse to wait for someone else to elevate it. I take pride in the fact that we write about issues few others will touch, including access to contraceptives, the concept of virginity, early marriage and many other issues considered taboo. I am also proud that we are a collective of Afghan women and 100 percent member-funded. How can feminists residing elsewhere support this effort and the grassroots activism happening every day in Afghanistan? This campaign and the work that Free Women Writers has been doing quietly and without the attention of foreign media and donors for the past three years are proof that Afghan women are not only capable of fighting for their rights and organizing, but that we have many valuable lessons to share with our sisters and other organizations fighting for equality around the world. Often Afghan women are seen as “receivers” of aid and victims, and while gender-based violence and poverty are a big part of our story, resistance and resilience is also a big

part of our identity and story. We can give back to the world what we take. Our voices, stories, and struggle is transformative. http://msmagazine.com/blog/2017/07/18/whereismyname-restoring-identities-afghan-women/

Afghan women break barriers with all-female TV station

By Shadi Khan Saif, 18 July 2017 Less than two decades ago the private media did not exist in Afghanistan. Today, some 76 private television channels and more than 100 radio stations operate in the country. Amongst them is Zan TV – which translates as ‘Women’s TV’ in the local Dari language – a unique media platform run almost entirely by women, for women. Stationed behind high-security barriers and walls in the heart of Kabul’s Shahr-e-Nau neighborhood, this digital-satellite channel is one of a kind in a conservative Muslim country that has been reeling from a brutal extremist insurgency for more than a decade. Wearing traditional dress, the bright, young presenter Karishma Naaz prepares for her popular music show, Gamak. “We have prepared a very special programme for Eid-al-Fitr [the Muslim holy festival that follows Ramadan]. We are going to have live phone calls and we will also invite artists and musicians to be our guests on that day,” she told Equal Timesat the end of May. Karishma’s show is part of the channel’s inclusive strategy to attract an audience from all segments of Afghan society, including the young and old, the male and female. Music remains one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Afghanistan, with numerous young bands and solo artists emerging since the fall of the Taliban regime in the 2001. Zan TV offers a wide range of programmes during its 18-hour daily telecast ranging from news and current affairs to sports, cooking, religious affairs, talks shows and sports shows – all of which put women centre stage. Zan TV went on-air on Saturday 3 June 2017 following a three-month trial period, and it has started with pretty modest means including a camera control unit, two studios and a main desk, which provides technical support. “This is a dedicated TV station for women and run by women. Most of the programmes are based on the problems women face in Afghan society,” he says. “We have big hopes for this project because in the last 16 years, the role of women in the media has not been evident. People used women’s names but did nothing. Zan TV will finally pro-

vide women with a platform to showcase their abilities,” he explains. Despite only being in the industry for just few months, Zan TV has already amassed more than 100, 000 Facebook followers. Zan TV also aims to train young female talent on the technical and editorial aspects of television so that one day, all members of Zan TV staff will be female. Mehria Afzali, a young, promising female journalist, is a key member of the Zan TV team and she is determined to make her mark on the industry. “Some men think women are just for producing babies and taking care of homes, or are just for their sexual needs, but that is not true. Women can be powerful and we can work in the media. We will show them that we are powerful,” she says emphatically. But after four decades of raging violence, Afghanistan remains one of the most deadly countries in the world – particularly for women. Although the Taliban are no longer in power, their fighters are still active in parts of the country and the severe repression of women is central to their reign of terror. In addition, all over Afghanistan, security concerns, access to health services, education and job opportunities remain scarce for Afghan women. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission reported that in the first eight months of 2016, it documented 2,621 cases of domestic violence, although the number is likely much higher due to underreporting. This makes it difficult for young female talent to come out of home and work in the media industry. “You know, in the past 15 years the international community and aid agencies have poured millions and billions of dollars for the reconstruction and social upliftment of Afghanistan, but corruption also took place in the utilisation and granting of these funds. But a TV channel for and by women is absolutely a unique idea. If performed well, it could reach each and every corner of the country. It can certainly raise awareness about women and their rights,” he says. Promote: helping 75,000 women and girls Another flagship female empowerment programme currently being run in Afghanistan is USAID’s Promote which aims to help 75,000 young Afghan women become leaders in their fields over the next five years. This US$216 million project hopes to strengthen Afghanistan’s development by boosting female participation in the economy, helping women gain business and management skills, supporting women’s rights groups and increasing the number of women in decision-making positions within the Afghan government. “Enormous progress has been made in advancing opportunities for women and girls in Afghanistan over the past 11 years,” said Rajiv Shah, a former USAID administrator in a press release on Promote. “While there are challenges ahead, Promote underscores our commitment to ensuring that women and girls play a major role in determining Afghanistan’s political and economic future.”

Zan TV also hopes to attract the donor community. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are very much focused on providing technical and editorial training to women and girls in a bid to ensure our ultimate goal of having 100 per cent female staff,â&#x20AC;? says Zan TV founder Samar. He admits that the station relies heavily on aid grants at the moment, but this is also the case for the overwhelming majority of radio and television channels in Afghanistan as the local economy is not yet robust enough to sustain the media industry on advertising revenue alone. But the overwhelmingly positive response from women and girls eager to work with the station combined with positive feedback from both the donor community and viewers is encouraging Zan TV staff to look forward with optimism. However, the challenges remain great. Days before the official launch of Zan TV in Kabul, a deadly truck bombing in the capital claimed up to 150 lives, while leaving more than 400 people wounded. It was the deadliest blast in the history of Kabul and it hit the diplomatic enclave less than a kilometre away from the Zan TV offices, highlighting the grim danger under which women and girls have to operate as they strive for positive change. https://www.equaltimes.org/afghan-women-break-barriers-with#.WX4SGtPytE4

Winning back their country: on Afghan women re-entering the public space by Meha Dixit, June 02, 2017 Afghan women are re-entering the public space in Kabul, but it’s imperative to take empowerment to countryside During the Taliban rule, like all other working women in Afghanistan, Suraya Raisada had to quit her job. “I began giving tuitions to schoolchildren at home,” said Ms. Raisada in broken Urdu, a reporter with a leading daily in Afghanistan who began working in the early 1990s during the mujahideen period. When the Taliban came into power in 1996, women were prohibited from public life, except for providing health care to other women. They were also not allowed to attend school. Further, severe restrictions were placed on the media. In 2001, when the Taliban were ousted, Ms. Raisada rejoined the daily. As I sat in her office in Kabul with three more Afghan women reporters, incomprehensible murmurs in a mélange of Dari, English and Urdu filled the room. She continued, “I studied journalism at Kabul University in the early 1990s. My parents have always supported me and have encouraged me to work.” Another woman reporter, Shukria Kohistani, who works at the same daily, also had to leave her job during the Taliban period. She explained, “My parents and especially my father encouraged me and my sister to work.” Ms. Raisada noted that in Afghanistan the communities in general, particularly outside Kabul, do not easily accept working women. Women and journalism In Afghanistan, the idea that women should be viewed as contributing members of society beyond motherhood was introduced during Amir Habibullah’s reign (1901-1919). Mahmud Beg Tarzi, who began publishing a bimonthly newspaper called Seraj-ul-Ahkbar Afghanieh in 1911, argued that under egalitarian Islam women are not denied education. Tarzi devoted a special section in Seraj-ul-Akhbar to women’s issues titled ‘Celebrating Women of the World’, edited by his wife Asma. During King Amanullah’s period (1919-1929), the first woman’s magazine, Erschad-al-Nasswan was published in 1922 by Queen Suraya in Kabul. During Zahir Shah’s rule (1933-1973), the 1964 Constitution allowed women to vote and enter politics. The 1960s and early 1970s saw the expansion of press and women increasingly entered journalism. After Shah’s government was overthrown in a 1973 coup, severe constraints were placed on the media in the late 1970s and during the years of the Soviet invasion although women’s rights were promoted. The Taliban era (1996-2001) dealt a severe blow to both media freedom and rights of women in the country.

Since 2001, women, mostly in Kabul, began to engage in public life and there was a boom in the media industry that continues to date. It is critical to note that the reforms of the 1920s, 1960s and 1970s for women’s rights in Afghanistan were mostly limited to urban women. Post-2001, noted Maliha, translator for a private news agency in Kabul, the status of Afghan women improved, but it remained limited to major cities. “Even now women in remote areas are not really aware of their rights,” she said. It is imperative that the reforms reach the rural women, and in a manner that doesn’t alienate them from their family and kinship networks. Hamidullah Arefi, editor-in-chief of state-run daily The Kabul Times, said, “In Kabul, there are many women in the media; however, in the provinces there are just a handful.” He added that there are currently seven female journalists in his paper. In the recent past some women have left journalism due to the hostile security situation in the country, including frequent terror attacks such as the one in Kabul on Wednesday in which 90 people were killed. Journalists in Afghanistan are often under pressure from different sides such as the Taliban, Islamic State, warlords and the state. When I asked Ms. Raisada and Ms. Kohistani about the challenges, both noted that women journalists are paid much less than their male counterparts. “For both women and men reporters, a critical challenge is difficulty in accessing information from the provinces with Taliban presence,” added Ms. Raisada. Despite these challenges, both the reporters enthusiastically articulated their passion to continue as journalists and highlight the issues that confront their country. Meha Dixit has a PhD in international politics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and has taught at Kashmir University. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/winning-back-their-country-on-afghan-women-re-entering-the-public-space/article18701140.ece

Meet the women who will be the Afghan Army's newest doctors by Lt.j.g. Egdanis Torres Sierra, February 27, 2017 KABUL, Afghanistan (Feb. 27, 2017) — The Taliban is suffering a major defeat by an unlikely opponent: a group of Afghan female doctors. Next month, 10 women will graduate from a seven-year medical program and join the Afghan Army's medical team – overcoming numerous barriers and challenging coursework, covering everything from firearms proficiency to combat casualty care.

“We are breaking the limits of our society. We are acting on their needs. In the past, becoming a female doctor in the military was something to be ashamed of, but today, we have proven otherwise,” said Dr. Husina Wahidy, a medical intern. “Every situation belongs to ourselves. I stopped listening to those around me that were waiting for me to fail. My future is mine and not for others to take.” According to retired Col. Gary Davis, clinical advisor to the Afghan National Army medical commander, women succeeding is what the Taliban fear most. “Every day, I witness quiet heroism while working with these doctors. I have been with them since the first ever female doctors graduated 10 years ago. I guarantee you that these professionals are the Taliban’s worst nightmare,” he said. “Educated women who knows how to shoot.” The upcoming class represents an important milestone, in that it establishes consistency and a reliable track record for success. “No one cut them any slacks. They were tested and evaluated at the same level as their male classmates. They have a long way to go, but they have also come a long way. I am confident that they will maintain their momentum,” Davis added.

To get into the program, these doctors had to be among the highest scores in the general aptitude standardized national test. They spent one year at the National Military Academy where they studied basic military indoctrination. This was followed by five years at the Kabul Medical University, where they completed their operational medicine curriculum. This month, they are finalizing a one-year internship program here at the Kabul National Military Hospital, Davis explained. Doctor Sonia Baha, internal physician and former graduate undergoing residency, said that women still face an uphill battle pursuing their professional goals, but she insisted that would not deter her or the other graduates. “There should be no fear of females going in the military as doctors or engineers or any other fields,” she said. “We are here because people are suffering because of war. We are working hard not to make mistakes. To be the best doctors we can be for the soldiers and their families.” Wahidy also expressed what motivates her. “I think about all of the soldiers, females and males alike, and how they leave their homes to fight for us and for a more secure country,” she said. “We show them our best respects the same way we respect our elders and our teachers.” Davis highlighted that these doctors have overcome a lot and deserve the praise and respect of their male counterparts in the ANA. “I remember the earlier years when female students sat in the back of my classroom,” he said. “We moved them to the front of the room. Not everyone wanted them to succeed. But, here we are and they did it by showing courage.” Once they graduate from the program, they will begin rotating as general medical officers. https://www.dvidshub.net/news/227473/meet-women-who-will-afghan-armys-newest-doctors

Empowering Young Women through Sports in Afghanistan and around the World by Pary Shuaib From practicing martial arts to climbing soaring mountains, Afghan women are finding creative ways to break barriers in sports, but before we could conquer hilltops, we had to find our way to fields and gyms. This week, I had the chance to speak with a pioneer for women’s soccer in Afghanistan. Shamila Kohestani was one of the first captains of Afghanistan’s National Women’s Football (soccer) Team after the fall of the Taliban regime. Today, she is working with Shirzanan, an organization dedicated to encouraging more women from Muslim-majority countries to join sports.

You are an inspiration to many around the world. What initially inspired you to start playing soccer? When I kicked the soccer ball for the first time, I felt as if nothing existed around me that could prevent me from doing what I wanted. It was a sense of empowerment I can’t explain. After I started playing soccer many people tried to discourage me. Some people told me I was not physically strong enough to play, because soccer is seen as a men’s sport in Afghanistan. It made me angry and I used my anger to fuel myself. I wanted to prove people wrong and I was determined to show men that women are powerful and strong. At any given time you are working on several projects. What keeps you busy these days? When I left Afghanistan to attend the 2006 Julie Foudy Soccer Leadership Academy (JFSLA), it was a big step. I came from a deeply conservative society where women are encouraged to remain silent, but there I was playing soccer. It was at JFSLA that I first learned that if I worked hard and believed in myself, my potential was endless. I wanted to provide other young Afghan women with the same opportunity. Today, in collaboration with Julie Foudy, an incredible leader and the former captain of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, and Shirzanan, we are inviting six women from six Muslim-majority countries to attend the Julie Foudy Leadership Academy camp in the summer of 2017. Together, we can train these athletes to become more than soccer superstars. They can become role models and leaders for other women, on and off the field. In addition to instilling leadership skills in these athletes, we will promote cross-cultural understanding among the American soccer players, Muslim athletes from many nations, and within Muslim society. By enabling young women to attend JFSLA, we are working to advance familiarity with, and greater acceptance of, women playing sports. We hope this will lead to even more women finding their voices and self-confidence. JFSLA is providing scholarships that include room and board for each of these international athletes. However, we still need to raise funds for their travel costs, including flights, visa fees, and ground transportation. Shirzanan and I need your help to make this happen. Like you said, Shirzanan’s work is about more than women playing sports. How have you seen soccer change women and girl’s lives in Afghanistan? Speaking from firsthand experience, sports gave me the opportunity for higher education and to come out of my comfort zone and be free. It also changed the way society treated me. People no longer saw me as weak. The boys from my neighborhood stopped

harassing me. They were threatened by my ability to play soccer. I remember hearing them say “don’t mess with her. She is a footballer.” Soccer empowered me and my teammates. It built our self-confidence and opened doors for us. Today, most of my teammates have gone on to be accomplished women in various fields. Although women’s athletics is relatively young in Afghanistan, there is growing evidence that it can play a key role in creating a safe space for women and change women’s role in society. What is an accomplishment are you most proud of and why? My proudest moment in life was receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award from ESPN in 2006 presented by Ashley Judd. I was honored to show a different face of Afghanistan. I was extremely happy to represent the women of Afghanistan through the power of soccer and show our courage and bravery. Every day we wake up to a new wave of negative news and as Afghan women, we face a wide range of obstacles in our lives. What keeps you going? What inspires me is the power of women and girls. Afghan women are brave and hardworking and we want to contribute to our communities. Unfortunately, Afghanistan is still one of the most challenging places for women. Many women still lack basic human rights, like the right to get an education, be free, or participate in sports. Even today, most families don’t support their daughters’ ambitions. Despite all the obstacles, Afghan women are making history on a daily basis. Woman like Fereshteh Forough, Niloofar Rahmani, Roya Mahboob, Sakena Yacoobi and hundreds more keep me going. We have so many brave women working hard to make sure the next generation of girls have freedom and opportunity. It is not hard to be inspired by that. In your experience, what are ways Afghan women can overcome cultural, gender barriers? Overcoming gender and cultural barriers is difficult, but definitely possible. We need to find allies and advocates among men and community leaders to emphasize the important role women play at the local and national level. Many men in Afghanistan support gender equality and women’s rights for other women, but they don’t want the same for their own sister, mother and wife because they feel threatened by their female family members gaining power. We need to educate boys from a young age so that they grow up to be allies, not obstacles.

In addition to having male allies, it’s highly critical that we promote and support female role models. Media plays a key role in helping introduce women who are working in sports, hospitals, and schools or running local businesses and making women’s participation mainstream. Women and girls are more likely to participant in school and sports if they know those opportunities do exist. You have said your own father has always been supportive of your dreams. Can you speak on the importance of men’s support for equality? Both my parents were highly supportive of education for my sisters and me. Even during the Taliban my sisters and I were home-schooled and we attended secret underground schools in Kabul. Everything I have achieved in my life is because of my parents’ support. I never had to ask my father for permission to attend school because getting an education was prized in my family. I don’t even remember asking for permission to play soccer, I started playing and my father supported me despite the criticism he received from my relatives and neighbors. I don’t believe I would be where I’m now without my father’s support because in a patriarchal society like Afghanistan, it can be life-saving. This is because my father believed in his daughters. All men can play that role for their daughters and other women in Afghanistan since it is a male-dominated society and men’s voices carry more weight. To make men allies in this fight, we have to encourage and educate them on how gender-equality is essential for making our societies safer and better.

What gives you hope for the future of Afghanistan? The only thing that gives me hope for the future of Afghanistan is our new generation. Women have made so much progress over the past decade despite security challenges. That gives me hope. When I see the women’s soccer team competing in the Asia Soccer League I feel hope. When I read about the women’s cycling team breaking gender barriers by biking in the outskirt of Kabul I feel hope. When I see the videos of young women practicing shaolin martial arts in the snow I feel hope. http://www.freewomenwriters.org/empowering-young-women-sports-afghanistan-around-world/

How One Restaurant in Afghanistan Improves the Lives of Women In Kabul, women gather to eat, cook, and find community by Maija Liuhto, February 16, 2017 On the side of a busy street in Kabul, Afghanistan, there is a restaurant that feels like an oasis away from the traffic jams, constant smog, and terrorist threats. Soothing piano music plays in the background as groups of young women enjoy traditional Afghan dishes. Bost, a restaurant for women — and entirely run by women — opened its doors in the capital of Afghanistan in September last year. Here, women can feel sheltered from the prying eyes of men for a while. “I wanted to have a place where I could feel safe, where I could enjoy my time sitting in a corner, reading, writing, or even listening to music without getting disturbed or being stared at,” says Homira Kohzad, one of the restaurant’s founders. “If you go to different restaurants in different parts of Kabul, you don’t feel safe.” Harassment is common in the city, and it’s one of the main reasons why women are hesitant about going out, whether it’s to restaurants or for a walk down a street. During the Taliban rule in the late ’90s, women could not go outside without a mahram, a male relative, and a burqa that covered their entire faces and bodies. But after the fall of the regime in 2001, women came out of their houses, and many replaced the burqa with a simple headscarf. According to Kohzad, men have had a hard time getting used to seeing women around, which often results in unwelcome attention. It’s also why male relatives can be reluctant to let women go to restaurants alone, even if there is a designated family section. (Women, for their part, might feel equally uncomfortable in a restaurant full of single men.) But at Bost, women can be seen sitting alone and sampling the restaurant’s mouth-watering specialties — such as shola, a rich lentil dish — with their female friends or sometimes with their mothers. In this setting, male chaperones are not needed. The

women who come here are often educated and liberal, and many are dressed in modern clothes. Because they do not have to worry about getting stared at, they can wear what they want. “In the beginning, I saw some women coming with their husbands, but after a while the women started coming alone because the men had noticed this place is only for women and families,” Kohzad says. According to her, it was a matter of building trust. Opening a restaurant as a woman is, of course, already something special in Afghanistan. The restaurant is undoubtedly Kohzad’s baby: She trained the staff and designed everything from the menu to the interior, which is an interesting blend of traditional Afghan and modern Western style. But what makes Bost even more unique than its clientele is the fact that it employs women who live in Kabul’s women’s shelters. The restaurant was originally a project of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center, or AWSDC. The organization, where Kohzad worked as a project manager, provides training and education to women and maintains a number of shelters in the country for victims of gender-based violence. AWSDC was already running a catering business as a source of income generation for the shelters’ residents. Kohzad thought the idea could be expanded into the restaurant space. “Afghans love to eat,” she says. “And most of the women are expert chefs. Some of these women, oh my God, they make food that’s melting in your mouth; it’s like heaven. So why not use their skills?” Currently, the restaurant employs 17 women — 10 in the

kitchen, and seven in the front of the house — all of whom live in AWSDC shelters. According to Kohzad, they come from various backgrounds; most are quite young, around 20 years old. “Some of them faced family violence, domestic abuse, and they have been living with us for several years,” she says. “Some had to escape from home because their parents were addicted to drugs.” Soraya, 20, has worked as Bost’s co-chef since the beginning — for four months now. She also prepares delicious fresh-squeezed juices and special coffees in restaurant’s juice bar. About two years ago, her life changed drastically. “I was living in Lahore, Pakistan, with my family,” Soraya says. “One day, there was a suicide attack and both my parents were killed. I lost everybody; I didn’t have anyone.” One of her neighbors took her to Kabul, but abandoned her in an area near the city’s largest prison. “I was completely unfamiliar with Kabul,” Soraya says. “But luckily a lady took me to her home and sheltered me for the night.” The next morning Soraya went to a police station, where she told authorities she didn’t have anyone in the city. The police took her to a shelter. Despite having to go through something so difficult, Soraya has been able to find meaning in her job. “I’m happy now,” she says as she prepares mantoos, lamb-filled dumplings with a splash of yogurt and lentils on top. “Now I know that I can do things in my life.” Manizha, 27, is also happy to have found a job at Bost. She is originally from the north of the country, from the city of Mazar-e-Sharif. Manizha was married off to a man who already had a wife. As the second wife, she faced many difficulties with her in-laws. Manizha gave birth to two children, a daughter and a son, but the problems in the family only increased. “My husband moved to Saudi Arabia and I was left behind with my children,” she says. “I needed money to feed them, but he did not send us anything. Finally, my in-laws told me to go back to my father’s home.” But her parents had died a long time ago, and for her brothers, she was just an additional burden. Left with no other choice, Manizha took her children and came to the shelter in Kabul. Her brothers were not happy about this, however, and felt she was bringing shame to the family. The society in Afghanistan considers women who run away from home “loose,” and there’s stigma associated with living in a shelter. Because of this, these women are sometimes sexually abused when they go outside, Kohzad explains, and it’s difficult for them to find employment beyond the shelter. For Manizha, her move to the shelter happened four years ago, and to this day, she constantly fears her brothers will come after her or her children. “Maybe when my children are in school, my brothers will kidnap them,” she says. Her dream is to save some money and leave Afghanistan. Today she is happily preparing dishes, such as bolani, a flatbread with vegetable filling, in the kitchen. “I feel good and powerful. I can have my own money and I can spend it on my children,” she says. Customers are kept largely unaware of the staff’s backgrounds. According to Kohzad, “Most families, if they became aware of the fact that these women are from shelters,

wouldn’t come here.” Therefore, “to ensure the safety of the women, we mostly keep it confidential,” she says. But the plan is to eventually become more open about this. “Anything you want to do in Afghanistan, it needs time. When people see that they are not different from other women or other families, they would forget it.” The restaurant’s goal is to ultimately become a franchise operation, but Kohzad also wants to prepare the women for jobs elsewhere. “We give them the opportunity to learn and to be able to stand up on their own feet,” Kohzad says. “Maybe they want to become managers of one of these franchises. Or maybe later on they want to open their own restaurants.” Most importantly, however, “We want them to feel safe,” Kohzad says. “If they feel safe, it would be easier for them to communicate and show a better picture that, see, we are women who have faced some challenges, abuse, or domestic violence in our houses, but we are working here, we are like you.” Employing these women has also had another benefit: The fact that all the waitstaff is female helps convince families to allow their women to come to Bost without a male chaperone. Tahmina Kargar, 25, has come to Bost to enjoy her lunch hour with her colleagues from the BBC. “The thing that sets this restaurant apart from others is the fact that women work here. I feel safer and I like the environment. And also the food,” she says while enjoying a steaming plate full of lobia, kidney beans in tomato gravy. Kargar’s colleague Fauzia Ameeri, 29, has come to Bost for the second time. She agrees that the female staff makes women feel more comfortable. “It also feels safer to come here with our male friends because in other restaurants there are lots of people around and we face different kinds of people. I don’t know what they might think, but from their reaction we can understand that they don’t like men and women to go for lunch together.” The younger generation of working women has claimed Bost as their own more than any other group in the city. “They need a place where they will not be judged,” Kohzad explains as she slowly gets back to her work, not minding the fact that her headscarf has long since fallen to her shoulders. Thanks to Bost, there is now a place in Kabul where women can breathe freely for a while. http://www.eater.com/2017/2/16/14632866/afghanistan-women-restaurant

New Kite Shop Helping To Empower Kabul Women Tolo News What was once a male-dominated manufacturing business in Afghanistan, kite-making is now also being done by a growing number of women.

In the past, kites were predominately made by men in Afghanistan but in recent times this art has been adopted by women – many of whom have been forced into the industry in order to provide for their families. Currently at least 50 families, made up mostly of women and girls, are now supplying these works of art to the Afghan market through a new venture that recently opened in the city. One kite maker, Sefat Begom, said that after losing her husband eight years ago she was left penniless and had 1 children to care for. Her late husband had been a kite maker. She said she then stepped in and took over his business. “My husband died and I asked myself what could we do. I asked my daughters if they had watched their father cutting out kites,” she said. Begom’s daughter Maleka, said she started making kites with her mother eight years ago and is now an experienced kite maker. She said that between her and her mother, along with another sister, Marina, they make 2,000 kites a week. “When my father died, I started doing this work,” she said. Meanwhile, a number of businessmen have come together and established a new kite shop in Shor Bazaar, Old Kabul, where these popular recreational products are sold. According to them, they sell kites made by all the estimated 50 female kite maker groups. One of the owners, Masih Shafee, said our goal is to provide job opportunities to people and also to keep our culture of kite-flying alive. Ahmad Wahid, a popular kite-maker in the Old City, said he has been making kites for more than 13 years. “This tradition has been in our family and comes down from my father. Our uncles were also kite-makers.” Kite-flying was introduced into Afghanistan 80 years ago and Old Kabul City is the center of kite shops in the country. This sport is extremely popular among Afghans and over weekends thousands of kites can be seen flying in the sky over the city. http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/new-kite-shop-helping-empower-kabul-women

Kabul's First Cinema for Women Is More Than Just a Place to Watch Movies

by Maija Liuhto, February 21, 2017 Although there's no policy prohibiting women from spending an afternoon at the theater, Afghanistan's cinemas have long been considered off-limits for them. Side a posh shopping mall in Kabul, a quiet gender revolution is under way. Compared to other movie theaters in Kabul, the cinema inside, the Galaxy Family Miniplex, looks tidy and modern. But the biggest difference is the audience. "Here you see women coming in often without a mahram [an unmarriageable family member, which for women can also be an escort] and you feel free," says 29-year-old Rohina Haroon. The Galaxy Family Miniplex is Afghanistan's first cinema for women; Haroon has been there four times. For the past 15 years, cinemas have been almost exclusively men's territory in Afghanistan, considered off-limits and inappropriate for women. On a recent visit to Pamir Cinema, one of Kabul's oldest movie theaters, marijuana smoke thickened the air, and seats were full of boys and men who whistled and clapped when a female character appeared on the silver screen. "This is really something quite radical in Afghanistan, to build a cinema for women," says 34-year-old Abu Bakar Gharzai, who opened the Gala-

xy Family Miniplex in March of last year. Gharzai grew up as a refugee in Pakistan and later studied in India. When he moved back to Afghanistan in 2008, he quickly noticed there weren't many places to go out as a family: Suddenly, going to the movies—something Gharzai had done on a regular basis in India—was out of bounds for his wife. He soon decided to open a cinema where women could go. Cinemas in Afghanistan were not always male dominated. During King Mohammad Zahir Shah's rule, from 1933 until 1973, and the communist regime, from 1978 until 1989, Kabul looked quite different than it does today; it was not unusual to see women in short skirts, without headscarves, studying or working, and cinemas were a common form of entertainment for both men and women. "My uncle's daughters used to even eat their lunch in cinemas during that time—there was no problem then," Haroon says. But once the civil war broke out and the mujahideen—Islamic resistance fighters— took over in the early 90s, cinemas became neglected. Though theaters were permitted to continue operating, songs, popular especially in Indian films, were censored out. Then, when the Taliban seized power in 1996, films, television, and most types of music were banned, and movie theaters were forced out of business. After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, cinemas opened their doors again after a long break, but the impacts of religious fundamentalism have been slow to fade; for more religious sections of society, movies have remained an almost illicit form of entertainment. Even many men are often embarrassed to admit they go to cinemas. Gharzai says he has received threats online from religious fundamentalists because he is running one. And while there's no specific policy prohibiting women from spending an afternoon at the movies today, most women stay away out of fear of harassment, or because their families don't let them go. "I think [women in Afghanistan don't go to movies] because their husbands and family wouldn't like it," says Sevita Durrani, 28, who recently visited the Galaxy Family Miniplex for the first time. "Maybe they think there would be too many boys there and they don't allow them to go. Maybe with their families women could go [to other cinemas], but not alone—the men would try to talk to them, and so on." Haroon has also never been to another movie theater in Kabul. She says this is because there are too many single men there, and it makes her feel uncomfortable. Most of the city's cinemas draw a crowd of day laborers, shopkeepers, butchers, and unemployed people in search of a couple of hours of entertainment; tickets at Pamir cost less than a dollar. The men often get quite rowdy, standing up from their seats and breaking into song and dance in the middle of the film. "If there were women here, [the male audience] would definitely harass them," says Rohid, a 20-year-old patron of Pamir Cinema. "You can see how women are harassed on the streets. Once [men] found out women were coming here, they would rush to the cinema and start harassing them. Society has not developed enough for women to be able to come here."

At Galaxy Family Miniplex, tickets are almost five times more expensive, and men can still attend showingsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;though they can only do so as part of a family, or if there are no women present. While some showings still play for more men than women, for some women, the family cinema has already turned into something much more than a movie theater: It's a place where women can go to relax. Helen, 16, who requested anonymity, often comes to the cinema "just to hang out, not for a movie." When I visited, she was sitting in front of the ticket booth with a friend, munching on popcorn. Although there is hardly any space for the girls to sit around and talk, they still prefer the cinema lobby to the many cafes and restaurants that are housed in the same shopping mall. "This is a much better place to hang outâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it is much safer for women," Helen says. "It is good that there is a place like this in Kabul. Women need entertainment," Durrani says. Gharzai agrees. "Sometimes people forget that women are human beings, too." https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/kabuls-first-cinema-for-women

An Afghan Street Artist Boldly Brings Women’s Stories To Life Shamsia Hassani hopes her work inspires younger Afghan citizens, both men and women, to create. December 23, 2016 At 22 years old, Shamsia Hassani became interested in graffiti - spray painting the surreal visions fostered in her imagination onto empty city walls. Her family was supportive yet worried, and understandably so. Street art is a risky endeavor in itself, but for a young woman based in Kabul, Afghanistan, the possibility of harassment and abuse was real, if not inevitable. Hassani, however, was committed to her calling. “It’s all about women,” she explained to The Huffington Post. “It’s about trying to stay strong in a society that is not good to women.” And so she made the city of Kabul her canvas, adorning its public, blank spaces with vibrant depictions of young women - somewhere between self-portraits and universal renderings of sensitivity and strength. Often her subjects are pictured playing instruments, daydreaming, or wandering through the city streets. Sometimes piano keys or skyscrapers blend into the women’s dresses and hijab, emphasizing the proximity between environment and personality, as well as reality and fantasy. “They are characters relaying different messages and different ideas,” Hassani said. Her recent series, “Chameleon,” focuses on all the varying personalities that coexist within her own consciousness. “When I change my environment, I also change myself,” she explained. Specifically, Hassani felt anxious and self-conscious when visiting Iran despite being born there, because of her Afghani heritage. “When I am traveling, sometimes I worry about my nationality and what people think about me,” she said. “People don’t always have a good idea about Afghani people. But, with chameleons and me, the color of the heart never changes.” Hassani’s paintings portray young women in vibrant and succinct terms their heart-shaped faces marked only with sweeping black eyelids and luxuriant lashes, and perhaps a small indentation where a nose should be. The artist’s pop-surrealist style riffs on traditional, folkloric Afghan imagery, infusing it with a contemporary, feminist state of mind. Since she began spray painting in 2010, Hassani has faced a great deal of hostility. “A lot of closed-minded people try to stop my work,” she said. “They use a lot of bad words.” Some opponents believe her work violates the tenets of Islam. Others believe that women should, as Hassani described, “stay at home.” The rampant misogyny Hassani has faced, however, only propels her purpose further. Her works speaks in the face not only of sexist beliefs at home, but also abroad. In par-

ticular, Hassani challenges the Western assumption that burqa and hijabi limit women’s freedom, when there are so many more prohibitive restraints on women in place than their clothing choices. “In our tradition a woman should cover her head,” Hassani explained. “But if women took off their burqa, nothing else would change about their lives. They still have no education; they still cannot share their ideas. Freedom is not in taking off the burqa, it is in having peace and freedom. The style or clothing is not important.” Most often, Hassani begins a new work by sketching it out in small notebook, teasing out her idea into a visually compelling composition. Then, she translates the image onto a larger canvas. Sometimes, she visits a location in person, spray painting in classic graffiti fashion. But when a site is off-limits for security reasons, Hassani opts for a technique she devised called “dream graffiti,” which allows her to achieve her ideal vision without jeopardizing her safety. First, Hassani takes a photo of the Afghanistan site she would, in principle, want to deck out. She then enlarges and prints the image, painting her graffiti artwork on top of the photograph. “I paint on the walls of the picture,” Hassani explained, her process aptly mirroring her imaginative and persistent spirit in the wake of tremendous obstacles. After posting images of her work on Facebook and Instagram, Hassani amassed a substantial social media following, catching the attention of curators and gallerists as well. As curator and arts administrator Leeza Ahmady, who researched Hassani’s work in Afghanistan, expressed in a statement: “As self-portraits they are representations of the different parts of herself, of her aspirations, her imaginative and playful personality traits, and deep desire to make her mark on the setting of an impressive new young Afghan artistic generation.” Hassani hopes her work inspires younger Afghan citizens, both men and women, to create. She said that although a few street artists have contacted her since her story became well-known, most abandon the practice after a short while, realizing the overwhelming adversity street artists face. “It’s 90% bad reaction, 10% good,” Hassani estimated. Nonetheless she remains passionate about her vision, and hopeful that her paintings will help inform the outside perceptions of Afghanistan molded from news headlines. Her most recent series, “Birds of No Nation,” addresses the surge of Afghan immigration. “Afghans are leaving their country and traveling thousands of miles away to receive a nationality better than theirs,” she said. “Afghan people have grown tired and scared of their nationality. They are trying to change their characters, culture, shape, clothing, and color to blend in with humans from other nations.” The artist hopes her work creates a reason for Afghan natives to return home, focusing in her creative visions on the ways Afghanistan is special, strong, and worth fighting for. “It’s true, we have a lot of war and political problems here,” Hassani said. “But at the same time, I know there is a lot of hope. I want to show people the good things.”

And so Hassani projects the colors and shapes of her mind’s eye onto the city itself, physically changing the environment she cares for so deeply. When asked about her aspirations as an artist, Hassani diverted the question. “I have only one hope for now: to have peace in my country. Peace and freedom for my people.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/an-afghan-street-artist-boldly-brings-womens-stories-to-life_us_585ad2a2e4b0de3a08f3e759

Afghan Women’s Orchestra Wins Freemuse Award Afghanistan’s first and only women’s orchestra, Zohra, has been awarded the Freemuse Award 2017. The orchestra is comprised of a group of students from the National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul.

The Afghanistan music industry is currently facing tremendous challenges following years of oppression under the Taliban and decades of war, which has led to dozens of musicians having fled the country. Music and entertainment was completely banned under the Taliban after the hardline group took over in 1995. In addition to banning music, the Taliban also prevented women from being educated â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a move that dealt a heavy blow to literacy rates among females. But, following the establishment of the new democratic system in 2001, the Afghan music industry was revived. In 2010, Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visionary musician Dr. Ahmad Sarmast took a new initiative to revive the music school and ANIM was founded. Empowerment of women in Afghanistan through music is one of the key objectives pursued by ANIM. At the moment, at least 65 girls are studying at the institute, which also has about 200 male students. http://www.tolonews.com/arts-culture/afghan-women%E2%80%99s-orchestra-wins-freemuse-award

Afghanistan Bakery Raising Hopes Many people in the city of Kunduz live in fear of attacks by the Taliban, who enforce conservative rules. That means work outside the home is forbidden for women, but one group is making a stand by opening a bakery. Kunduz is home to 250,000 people. It's a strategic city in northern Afghanistan and a transportation hub on a route connecting Kabul, the capital, to Central Asia. The bakery opened in January and is often crowded with customers. Anisa Omid runs the shop and she opened the bakery with assistance from the German government, which has a military unit stationed in northern Afghanistan as part of international forces in the country. Omid works with 4 other women, and it's the first shop in the town with all-female staff. They sell bread eaten with meat or vegetable dishes, like naan, or bolani stuffed with potatoes, baking the goods themselves. "We bake tasty bread using high-quality flour. It's good for your health, too," Omid said. Afghan women bake bread at home for their family, so bread-making is a profession women can take up easily. The bread is sold for about 15 cents apiece. "I was surprised at first to see women working here. But now I'm looking forward to coming here," says one customer.

The Taliban, who staunchly oppose women's advancement in society, still have influence in the country. Women are putting their lives at risk when they work outside their homes. In December last year, 5 female airport workers were killed on their way to work in the southern city of Kandahar. They were attacked just because they had a job outside home. Omid's family is worried about her safety. "I'll be watchful so nobody can do me harm," she tells them. Having learned to live with the fearful situation she's facing, Omid is determined to support women who're forced to live a hard life. Shaima, 50, works at the bakery. Her husband was killed in fighting between the Taliban and government forces in November last year. She heard about the bakery when she had no means to support her family, so she took the plunge and applied for the job. "If it weren't for this shop, I wouldn't be able to feed my children," she says. The bakery with an all-women staff is a little beacon of hope in the town. "I'm glad to see our bread make customers smile," Omid says. "I want to create more work for women and help them stand on their own feet." https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/editors/1/afghanistanbakeryraisinghopes/

Rubab Player Breaks Down Barriers for Female Musicians in Afghanistan By Sitara Sadaat / Sahar Speaks In a conservative and traditional country like Afghanistan, where women can be burned, lashed and stoned simply for their gender, it takes a lot of courage for a young woman to play music in public. Fazila Zamir has plenty. Her instrument of choice is the lute-like rubab, originating from central Afghanistan. Zamir, 22, plays in a band, appears on television and teaches rubab to other Afghan women. In male-dominated Afghanistan, women who perform in publicâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as singers, musicians or actressesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;often attract unwanted attention. Zamir was just 14 when she became the only female student at the Aga Khan Music Initiative in the Afghan capital, Kabulâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;one of only two music schools in the Afghan capital which accepts girls. Initially, it was challenging being among so many male students and instructors.

“Some boys were good, but some made fun [of me] when they saw a girl playing,” she said, after playing a tune on her mulberry wood rubab, whose neck was decorated with traditional inlays of mother-of-pearl. She plucked the strings with steadfast determination, each note ringing out with clarity. “I was constantly asked what am I going to do after finishing school,” she said. “I argued that I can become a music instructor.” It only took Zamir a month with the instrument to master the basics. Fortunately, her skills impressed one of her teachers. “My first instructor was very helpful and very happy to teach a girl playing music,” she said. “But the second instructor was very rude to me, and kept saying music is for boys and not girls.” Disapproving family members and a volatile and hostile environment dissuade many Afghan women from performance art. Film directors in the country have complained that finding Afghan actresses is their top challenge. The widely held belief that performance is connected to prostitution has even influenced some women, who argue that the link is dangerous and real. But despite these obstacles and the threats they receive, women like Zamir are determined to rise to the challenge and do their best to be successful.

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“It was difficult, but I tried to ignore them and only think about why I am here and how I could challenge these boys and prove myself. I did not want to lose my confidence,” said Zamir, resting the rubab on her knees. Thick, glossy black hair trails down her back. Zamir’s initiative and enthusiasm have emboldened others. “She inspires everyone when she plays,” said Mina Noori, a third-year photography student at Kabul University, where Zamir also studies in the arts school. “The security situation in Afghanistan is not good, especially for girls, but Fazila has taken a bold step.” Defying the odds, Zamir has traveled to far-flung places such as Oman and South Korea, where she plays the instrument once praised by the 13th century Persian poet Rumi. She also leads an all-male band of traditional musicians, aged between 16 and 60, at her university – something that would be unthinkable across most of the country, and unheard of at the school until she took on the role. One man who has always supported her is Zamir’s father, Asadullah, himself a noted singer and musician. She often describes herself as having music in her blood. “Fazila works for change and wants to get people’s minds ready to accept that girls are as capable as boys, that they have as much right as boys to achieve their dreams,” said the elder Zamir. “I see a very bright future for her.” But the road to success has been fraught. Playing to mostly male audiences, Zamir has been harassed during performances. Four years ago, she was followed home by unknown men over two weeks. Alternating between two different cars, they would creep along the road behind or beside her. Her family was deeply disturbed by this, and made the decision to quickly move house to protect her identity. “My family was scared, especially my mom, so we left,” Zamir told me. She took an enforced break from television appearances for several weeks, and was sure not to venture outside in traditional Afghan dress – her garb of choice when she performs. Her mother, a doctor who asked that her name not be used, wanted Zamir to pursue a career that did not involve publicly performing, such as medicine or engineering – professions that are also rarely pursued by women in Afghanistan. But seeing her daughter perform eventually made her come around. Zamir now dreams of becoming the country’s first female minister of culture and opening music schools for girls across Afghanistan. Despite her achievements and even bigger dreams, she is often asked the same question: Who would marry a female musician? But Zamir shrugs this off. “I am married to my rubab, and playing is my life. No one can stop me.” http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/rubab_player_breaks_barriers_female_ musicians_in_afghanistan_20170

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A Female Afghan Pilot Soars and Gives Up By Ernesto Londoño, December 23, 2016 Perhaps no Afghan’s story better embodied America’s aspirations for Afghanistan than that of Capt. Niloofar Rahmani, the first female fixed-wing pilot in the fledgling Afghan Air Force. She was celebrated in Washington in 2015 when the State Department honored her with its annual Women of Courage award. “She continues to fly despite threats from the Taliban and even members of her own extended family,” the first lady, Michelle Obama, said in a statement. On Thursday, on the eve of her scheduled return to Afghanistan from a 15-month training course at Air Force bases in Texas, Florida and Arkansas, Captain Rahmani broke a sobering piece of news to her American trainers. She still wants to be a military pilot, but not under her country’s flag. This summer, she filed a petition seeking asylum in the United States, where she hopes to eventually join the Air Force. “Things are not changing” for the better in Afghanistan, Captain Rahmani said in an interview on Friday. “Things are getting worse and worse.” Captain Rahmani was 10 years old when the United States toppled the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001. As the Bush administration set out to rebuild a country

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scarred by war, it made promoting women’s rights a priority, a bold undertaking in a deeply conservative nation where women had been barred from schools and the work force. During her teenage years, Captain Rahmani was inspired by America’s goal of emancipating Afghan women. When she was 18, with the support of her parents, she eagerly enlisted in her country’s air force. “It has been always my dream to do this job, be a pilot,” she said. “It made me really proud.” The American government hailed her example as a bright spot in the difficult effort to build the Afghan Air Force, which has cost American taxpayers more than $3.7 billion. The endeavor has been marred by delays, logistical challenges and wasteful spending. After photos of Captain Rahmani wearing tan combat boots, a khaki flight suit, a black head scarf and aviator glasses were published in the press when she earned her wings in 2013, she and her relatives in Kabul began receiving death threats. At work in Afghanistan, she said, she felt unsafe because most of her male colleagues held her in contempt. Still, she put on a brave face during the early months of her training in the United States, which began in September 2015. “I would just want to encourage all of the females around the world, especially in my country where the females have no rights, to just believe in themselves and to have more self-confidence,” Captain Rahmani told an American military journalist in March 2015 during a visit to a Marine Corps air station. But that resolve has eroded in recent months. The Afghan Air Force stopped paying her salary shortly after the American training program began, Captain Rahmani said. When female workers at an airport in southern Afghanistan were slain this month, she was horrified to hear some members of Parliament quoted as saying the women would have been safe if they had stayed at home. This new phase of her life in the United States starts with trepidation. “It makes me really nervous,” she said of having her asylum petition pending when President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bar Muslims from entering the United States. Still, Captain Rahmani said she sees the United States as a place where women can aspire to accomplish great things. She doesn’t believe that to be true of her homeland. Pursuing pathbreaking goals in today’s Afghanistan as a woman is futile, she said. “It’s better to keep it as a dream and not let it come true.” http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/opinion/a-female-afghan-pilot-soars-and-gives-up.html?_r=0

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Thanks to this Afghan woman, 6,000 imams have taken gender-sensitivity training Jamila Afghani, who has battled discrimination since childhood, uses Islam to empower women in Afghanistan. She is committed to continuing the work despite threats and other obstacles. by Maija Liuhto JANUARY 5, 2017 KABUL, AFGHANISTAN—It is Friday noon in Kabul, Afghanistan, and men dressed in traditional clothes hurry to mosques to pray in congregation. Friday prayers are usually men’s business, and during the Taliban rule in the 1990s, women were not allowed in mosques. But in one neighborhood in the city, an imam has kept the doors of his mosque open to women for 12 years now. He often preaches about women’s rights in Islam – that women are equal to men and have the right to work and study. This is all because of a woman named Jamila Afghani and the gender-sensitivity training program she has created. Ms. Afghani has a friendly smile that hides all that she has had to endure in life. A women’s rights activist and Islamic scholar in Afghanistan, she has battled discrimination, as well as disability, since childhood. But it was access to education and being able to read the Quran herself that made her realize Islam could be used to empower women in Afghanistan. Today, according to Afghani, about 20 percent of Kabul’s mosques have special prayer areas for women, whereas only 15 years ago there were none. The sermons delivered by imams about the importance of education have also helped many women persuade their families to let them study. In fact, some 6,000 imams in Afghanistan have participated in Afghani’s training program. Afghani was born in Kabul in 1974, a few years before the Soviet invasion of the country. When she was only a few months old, she contracted polio, which left one of her legs disabled. But for Afghani the disability became a blessing in disguise. Her family was conservative and did not approve of education for girls. Her sisters played outside, but Afghani was not able to; she became easily bored and spent her days crying. Finally, at the suggestion of her doctor, her father enrolled her in first grade. “I became very happy. When I got to school, it was my whole world,” she says. Afghani was in fifth grade when the fighting between the mujahideen and the Soviet Union became so fierce that her family left Afghanistan for Pakistan. In Peshawar, she enrolled in master’s-level classes in Islamic studies and began learning Arabic. Once there, she came to see an Islam that was not what she had been familiar with. “When I started learning Arabic and studying by myself, I found out that Islam is totally different from what my family was saying, what my environment was teaching,”

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she says. “Everything was always a discrimination in our family,” says Afghani, who observed how her brothers behaved with their wives. “They were educated women, but my brothers stopped them from continuing their education and working,” she recounts. “I thought, if [my brothers] can go outside, why not my sisters-in-law?” Gradually, Afghani got involved with an Afghan women’s rights group in Peshawar. And over time, she formed her own organization, later named the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO). She decided to take an Islamic approach, which made it possible for her to teach literacy classes for women in refugee camps. “It was not easy to enter into those communities,” she explains. “But when we used Islamic education as an entry point, we had a very good experience.” Returning to Afghanistan After 2001, when the Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan, scores of refugees started returning to the country, Afghani among them. She began setting up wo-

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men’s centers where literacy was taught. But when the project was taken to Afghani’s native Ghazni province, she ran into problems with the community – especially the imams of the mosques. She decided to invite one of the imams to her center, but he was embarrassed to meet a woman and said he wished nobody would find out. Afghani couldn’t believe his attitude: “I thought, my God, what is this?” But she chose to take a respectful approach and explained that she was educating women about Islam. “I said, ‘If you can find a single verse from the Quran or the hadith that education is bad, then I’ll stop right now and hand over the key of this center to you.’ ” Slowly, she says, the imam became impressed with Afghani’s knowledge of Islam, and he started encouraging men to let their wives and daughters go to the center. Suddenly, the space was crowded with women hungry for education. In 2008, Afghani was invited to a conference in Malaysia organized by the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), a network for Muslim women. There she learned about a Filipina woman who was writing Friday sermons for imams about women’s rights. This gave Afghani the idea about gender-sensitivity training for imams. With the support of WISE and female Muslim scholars, “we developed a manual for the training,” she says. A clever approach Afghani knew the task ahead was not going to be easy. Initially, imams were shown the manual without them knowing it would be used for their own training. Afghani and her colleagues told the imams they wanted input on what they had developed. This is how the discussions began, and suddenly the training was in full swing. “Sometimes women are very clever. More than men,” Afghani laughs. Some of the imams were immediately receptive to Afghani’s ideas. But with others, some issues proved very difficult. “Women’s political participation was the hardest thing,” she says. “Even ... now, some of the imams are not on the same page as [us].” Of the 6,000 imams who have been trained by NECDO, one is Mohammed Ehsan Saikal, the imam in Kabul who has kept his mosque open to women for 12 years. He has been working with Afghani during this time and often preaches about the importance of education for girls. “I have three daughters, and all of them are highly educated and go to work,” he says. “The best thing I have received from this organization is enlightenment and awareness.” Nargis Hamdard, age 20, is a female student at Mr. Saikal’s madrasa, which operates alongside his mosque. Her family used to be against education for women, but since she started coming to the madrasa, their opinion has changed. “I have learned that in Islam, women have the right to work and study. Now my family also believes this,” she says.

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Katharina Hild, a former team leader at the German Society for International Cooperation, worked closely with Afghani, training women who served on local councils. According to Ms. Hild, Afghani “knows exactly how to find the best leverage for women’s rights.... Before the project, the women had no clear idea what it means to be a local councilor, but after an intense training program managed by NECDO they were much more confident.” The cost But going against extremist interpretations of Islam has come at a price. Saikal and others regularly receive threats from the Taliban and the Islamic State group. “Two of our imams were killed, and I have gotten threats and warnings,” Afghani says. Because of this, she has had to limit her movements. A year ago, Afghani was appointed a deputy minister in the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled. But there is still not enough political will to address women’s issues in the government, she says. At the same time, she says, the international community does not see the potential in Islam: “They think that working with Islam is a problem. But it’s not true. I think it’s very important, especially in Afghanistan, which is a very conservative country. Islamic knowledge should be used as a tool to convince the people.” Despite the obstacles and threats, Afghani is committed to continuing her work. “This is our country, and we have to do something better for the next generations. If not me, then who will do it?” http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2017/0105/Thanks-to-this-Afghan-woman-6-000-imams-have-taken-gender-sensitivity-training

First-Ever Fitness Club For Women Opens In Kabul Updated: October 30, 2016 KABUL: The first-ever fitness club for women has opened in Kabul with the objective of promoting health and sports among women in Afghanistan's traditionally patriarchal society. "It was my life's ambition to open this club - Blue Moon Fitness Club - and serve women like me and it cost me $20,000," the club's owner, Tahmina Mahid Nuristani, told Xinhua news agency on Sunday.

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"Afghanistan is a conservative society, but in defiance of this, I opened the club nearly two months ago, with the hope of contributing to female empowerment here," Nuristani, 20, said. In conservative Afghanistan society where people, especially in rural areas, deeply believe in tribal traditions, some of which include prohibiting girls from going to school or working outside home, opening a fitness club for girls is a particularly brave move, especially for a female and took a great deal of courage. "My sole aim of opening the club is to support the women's cause and to encourage them to come out of their houses, go to sports clubs and exercise," Nuristani asserted. Although Afghanistan has made tremendous achievements since the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001 and Afghan athletes have brought medals home from regional and international tournaments, including from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics, the percentage of female sports-persons is almost zero, mostly because of traditions and cultural barriers. "Men on the roads harass me everyday as I travel to and from the fitness club," Rukhsar Habibzai, 19, a club member, said. She added that the men even go as far as to throw stones and hurl abusive language at her as she rides her bicycle to the club, just because she is a female. "Even though these ignorant, sexist men with extreme views are trying to intimidate me from going to the fitness club, I am determined to continue my practice," Habibzai added. The teenager has been a member of the National Women's Cyclist Association for more than three years and is currently practicing yoga at the fitness club. "With courage and determination, we Afghan women can overcome the harmful traditions and cultural barriers to prove and elevate our existence in society," she said. Although women's social status in Afghanistan has been improving and women are currently engaged in politics, business, arts and other pursuits previously prohibited, many families still do not allow their female members to work outside of home. The private fitness club, which opened 45 days ago, is rapidly gaining popularity among female sports enthusiasts and its members are on a constant rise, despite backlash from traditional male quarters, according to Fakhria Ibrahim, a yoga instructor. "Since the club opened, 50 women and girls have registered and regularly practice yoga, body building and other exercises, and the number is consistently rising in the face of traditional restrictions," Ibrahim said. http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/first-ever-fitness-club-for-women-opens-in-kabul-1586662

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First yoga center for Afghan women opens in Kabul The first yoga center has opened in Kabul city and provides an opportunity for Afghan women to work on their mental and physical health. Afghan women are joining this center to find relief from Kabul’s stressful life. “Our environment is not peaceful. Afghan women are under a lot of stress and pressure. We can use yoga to relax our brain and comfort ourselves,” said Rukhsar Habibzai, one of the members of the yoga club. Fakhriya Ibrahimi Mumtaz is the first “Yogini”, yoga practitioner, in Afghanistan. Established and managed by a group of Afghan women, the center is open only for women in order to ensure a safe environment for the members. “In order to help Afghan women improve their mental and physical health, we have invested in this center,” said Tahmina Mohed, one of the investors in the center. Originated in India, yoga is a group of physical, mental and spiritual practices or disciplines. http://wadsam.com/afghan-business-news/first-yoga-center-afghan-women-opens-kabul-232/

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Kabul's first restaurant run by women for women

September 9, 2016 A new restaurant ran by survivors of domestic violence has opened in Kabul. Located in the heart of the capital it is managed by women for women. Men are welcomed too but only if they come with their families. The founder Mary Akrami says she came up with this initiative "as most restaurants in Kabul are run by men and it's difficult to have space for families". This is a "space for women to feel free", she adds. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0479wh0?ocid=socialflow_twitter Female Models on the Catwalk in Kabul

A decade-and-a-half after the end of Taliban rule, women in Afghanistan still face pressure to dress conservatively in their Muslim-dominated society. That makes holding a fashion show with female models a risky endeavor. But some young women are making a fashion statement, defying threats and social taboos to take to the runway. (RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_ZsnyZDrI

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Jewellery made by Afghanistan's women Press Trust of India | New Delhi May 26, 2016 Designing and selling handmade jewellery fashioned from tiny beads of the semi precious lapis lazuli stone has helped Khala Zada, a widow from Afghanistan, support her family of eight for the last 17 years. In her fifties, Zada, who first learnt the art of bead making from a neighbour and now runs a small-scale business in downtown Kabul, is here to participate in a showcase featuring a collection of the intense blue semi precious stone jewellery at the Amrapali store in the city. The showcased collection celebrates a partnership between Amrapali and Afghanistan's Aayenda Jewellery Cooperative whose members comprise local Afghancraftswomen. "I was engaged in carpet making from my childhood along with other household works. Now I dedicate 10 hours of the day for bead-making and the remaining for my house. I am not the only one doing such things. Almost all the women in my village are doing something or the other to support their families and contributing to the household income," Zada said. Not fluent in either Hindi or English she spoke with the help of a translator. In 2013, Zada along with 35 other artisans recieved training in jewellery design, craftsmanship, gem-cutting and business management skills at the Institute of Gems and Jewellery in Jaipur. The 6-month long skill enhancement training programme, organised by a non governmental organisation Future Brilliance also imparted training on the use of social media, m-commerce and basic IT skills to enable research, development and selling of products online with work placements at Amrapali. Zada says, it took her two months to convince her sons to allow her to travel to Jaipur but now she uses the skills learnt to train others back in her country Afghanistan, which is home to the world's oldest lapis lazuli mines, some of which date back 7,000 years. "She was different from other students, as after designing the jewelry she used to walk out of the institute and look for buyers for her work," Sophie Swire, Executive Chairman, of Future Brilliance, who is part of a visting delegation from Kabul said. Zada, who is unable to read and write, practices a 3000-year old tradition of handcarving micro sized lapis beads, using diamond tipped needles and pomegranate twigs. She sources 'waste' lapis stones from a local jeweller and uses that to fashion beads that are used in bracelets and other jewellery. "My training in India has been very memorable and have made some very good friends with women here. Neither I nor my girls (she has three girls and five boys) could get an education. I want to pass on my training to my countrywomen so that they are capable

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of earning a livelihood," she says. Zada, who lost her husband who fought against Taliban said most women in Afghanistha were engaged in eking out a livelihood since they had lost their husbands or other male members in conflicts. "Some are involved in bead-making, some are involved in carpet making, some in making cloth out of silk and many other. The ladies of my villages are supporting their families and contributing to the income along with taking the responsibility of household works," she said. Suman Khanna, who heads Delhi operations of Amrapali said, "After being trained here, Zada, has been able to teach 360 women and many of them are supporting their families with this skill. So in this way our results are multiplied. It was a great opportunity for us to be able to do something away from commercial, to be able to do something for women." Meanwhile, the NGO Future Brilliance's jewelery line Aayenda, that means 'future' in the Dari language is a collaboration between three international designers --Paul Spurgeon, Anna Ruth Henriques and Annie Fenstustock and the 36 Afghan artisans. It is now an acclaimed fair-trade brand, selling at 40 leading retailers internationally, including Donna Karan's iconic store in New York besides being a popular among the cognoscenti from Los Angeles to Ibiza. The jewellery also appeared on the front cover of Cosmopolitan magazine globally this April sported by supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio. Before the exhibition in Delhi, Amrapali also assisted Aayenda Jewellery to showcase its collection at an event in New York. http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/jewellery-made-by-afghanistan-s-women-116052600262_1.html

The new faces of Afghan women How a once-invisible generation, born under Taliban rule, is yanking Afghanistan into the 21st century by Sally Armstrong, MacLeans, April 15, 2016 In a rehearsal hall in downtown Kabul, 19-year-old Negin Khpolwak stands in front of the all-women symphony orchestra, her baton poised and with the nod of her head, she makes history as she begins her first performance as a conductor. On the outskirts of town, on the Omid-e-Sabz foothills that roll out of snow capped mountains, Zahra Naarin, 24, and Zakia Mohammadi, 21, are careening down the hil-

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lside, shoulders hunched over handlebars, victory in their eyes as they cycle over the rocky terrain. For Negin the sound of music drowns out the threat of the Taliban that claims girls can’t play music. For Zahra and Zakia the thrill of racing rather than the menace of the extremists empowers them to take on a sport that has been forbidden for girls. Conductors, extreme cyclists, even rappers and paragliders; these are the new faces of Afghan women. They’re chasing careers and going to university. They’re thumbing their noses at those who would drag their country backwards. Despite the worrisome insurgency and the gloomy economy, the young people of Afghanistan who make up the majority of the population—67 per cent are under the age of 30—are yanking this primitive place into the 21st century. In fact, on International Women’s Day last month, dozens of young women tweeted their dreams to the Network of Afghan Women. Said rapper Sonita Alizadeh, “To the women of my beloved country: believe in yourselves. You are strong.” Filmmaker Sahraa Karimi said, “We will become a force for progress in our country and no one can deny our power.” And this from journalist Zarghuna Kargar: “Afghan women are no longer silent. They are a force for progress. From now on, if we have sons, we will teach them to stand up for girls, and if we have daughters, we will make sure they know their value and remember the struggles of the women before them.”

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This is the generation that was made invisible when they were born into the first iteration of life under the Taliban: their mothers couldn’t work; their older sisters couldn’t go to school. The windows of their houses had to be painted black so that no one could see the women and girls inside. Not anymore. Negin lives in an orphanage and thinks she won the life lottery when she was picked to join the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. The rehearsal hall where she’s practising for the concert two days hence feels like the happiest place in Afghanistan. Almost all the musicians are street kids and orphans: one of them has a muddy smudge on her cheek, another says she used to sell plastic bags on the street. A third is blowing bubble gum while she plays the drums. The school is six years old, the brainchild of Ahmed Sarmast, who convinced the ministry of education as well as major donors and seven embassies, including Canada’s, to fund his musical initiative. He picks the students by giving them tests that show musical ability: clapping sequences, singing in different keys, listening and identifying sounds. Negin says with an air of disbelief, “I am so lucky; mothers and fathers don’t want girls to play music because of our culture, but my father approves.” In fact, he sent her to an orphanage in Kabul because there was no school for her in Kunar, near Jalalabad, where the family lives. She sees her family twice a year and shares a room with 20 other girls at the orphanage. She first chose the lute-like rubab, a traditional Afghan instrument, and then switched to the similar sarod and finally to the piano. But today she’s concentrating on conducting and is making history in the process. The violin and viola teacher Jennifer Moberg, who is from Rochester, N.Y., says, “Negin is a natural, she has that thing that bosses, leaders, managers and conductors have.” Says Sarmast, “I believe in every child in this country. They are leading a cultural revolution and showing what Afghans are capable of. This is the way to say no to extremism and radicalism.” They haven’t escaped the notice of the Taliban. Their concert in 2014 was attacked by a suicide bomber. The musicians weren’t hurt but a man in the audience died and the blast destroyed Sarmast’s hearing in one ear. He speaks defiantly. “They said I was the man who corrupts the nation. I’m the man replacing violence with the beauty of music.” Their first public performance was at the Canadian Embassy, on an invitation from ambassador Deborah Lyons, who afterwards invited several of the musicians to come for lunch and meet the first lady of Afghanistan and other dignitaries. Today the rehearsal room is brimming with confidence. The maestro, Camilo Jauregui, who came here from Colombia, is teaching them the protocol for the beginning of the concert. “The first violin tunes her instrument then points to the first clarinet.” Now Negin steps onto the stage and shakes hands with the first violinist and turns to the audience to bow. A few giggle at the solemnity. They are high school kids, after all, but this is a lesson in nation building.

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The progress is not to say the status of women and girls in Afghanistan has overcome its oppressive past. The public lynching of a woman called Farkhunda in downtown Kabul while a dozen police officers stood by and watched; the stoning death of Rokhshana in Ghor province; and the story of Reza Gul, whose husband cut off her nose in remote Faryab province—all made international headlines. But they also ratcheted up public discussion in Afghanistan among women who are fed up with men who beat their wives and fathers who rape daughters and illiterate mullahs who marry off 14-year-old girls to 50-year-old men. Women’s rights activists have claimed for a long time, “If you can’t talk about it, you can’t change it.” Now the women are talking. Zahra and Zakia both come from Bamiyan, the province that gained notoriety when the Taliban destroyed the two Buddha statues that had stood watch over this spiritual place for 2,000 years. Zahra’s story reads like a tale from Charles Dickens. “I was 40 days old when my mother died and two years old when my father died.” The youngest of three daughters, she was raised by her eldest sister, who put her to work as a carpet weaver at age six. She begged her sister to let her go to school and eventually struck a deal with her. If she completed a certain number of lines of carpet weaving a day, she could go to school. “My sister also decided to grow me up like a boy because we had no brothers in the family and she thought if I was like a boy I would be courageous and be able to stand on my own feet. She cut my hair short and dressed me in boys’ clothes.” It worked in her favour. She won all the school’s running races and got away with riding a bike all over the village. She became the self-confident woman she is today. She’d been a refugee with her sisters in Iran and then lived in Herat with her eldest sister before moving on her own at age 18 to Bamiyan, where she took a part time job and enrolled in the university to study archaeology. She was riding her bike in the centre of Bamiyan one day and met Zakia, who flagged her down. Zakia said she also used to cycle when she was a refugeein Iran, but because of the conservative nature of Bamiyan she didn’t dare take her bike on the road. Like the fortuitous meeting of a pair of rebels, they became fast friends and started cycling together. “We like to go fast, too much fast,” laughs Zahra. Soon enough they attracted a few other girls and established a training track where they could prepare for what they hoped would be competitions with other cyclists. They also attracted the attention of the mullahs who called them sinners and infidels and warned them to get off the bikes and act like girls. The rebuke only served to heighten the resolve the girls had to be champions. That was 2014. Now they have a team of eight girls racing down mountainsides in the spring, summer and fall and doing what they call extreme skiing in the winter months. Last year Zakia saw someone paragliding on television and knew immediately she wanted to try it. She found a teacher in Kabul and convinced him to come to Bamiyan and show her how it’s done. The first time she flew, she says, “I had a mixture of fear and excitement. I felt like a bird freed from its cage.”

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They wear their confidence like trophies when they share the news that they’ve been invited by the Giant cycling club in the U.S. to come to the States and train. Their goal is to ride in the Tour de France, a race that women aren’t allowed to enter. But being forbidden has never stopped these two. Now Zahra lives in Kabul. When Zakia visits, they meet on Omid-e-Sabz and come pitching down the hillside, one passing the other as they change gears and pedal harder. They’re grinning when they pass the onlookers who can hardly believe what they’re witnessing: girls cycling, just like the boys. http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/the-new-faces-of-afghan-women/

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V. Video materials and movies on women empowerment in Afghanistan The Land of the Enlightened, 2015 A creative documentary by Pieter-Jan De Pue, produced by Savage Film, Fastnet Films, Gebrueder Beetz Produktion & Submarine. A gang of Afghan kids from the Kuchi tribe dig out old Soviet mines and sell the explosives to children working in a lapis lazuli mine. When not dreaming of the time when American troops finally withdraw from their land, another gang of children keeps tight control on the caravans smuggling the blue gemstones through the arid mountains of Pamir. https://youtu.be/J6Ese6oYDdI

Terror at the TV Station (Our World with Yalda Hakim) 23-minute documentary on female journalists in Afghanistan https://vimeo.com/164756619

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Khalida's story Footbal as a tool to empower women Footage from Afghanistan by Emilie Ladefoged https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icoamEW9iMo BBC - Documentary: Afghanistan - the unknown Country, 2012 A journey through the parts of Afghanistan that don't normally feature in news coverage to meet some amazing people and see fascinating places. Lyse Doucet uses her many years experience in Afghanistan to show a different side of a country which has been at war for 30 years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcbHMv6jTpE

Afghanistan Full Doc Film (1,2,3?) By Alka Sadat (2006 Herat Afghanistan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEKtQTC5trI Afghanistan Women In Election - RFH full documentry film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArxVl2th4UE Afghanistan Full Documentary Film (Half Value Life) By Alka Sadat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwY-BDYoOk8 Women in Afghanistan, 2011 Susan Ormiston looks at life in Afghanistan today through the eyes of two women who have seen some change, but wonder whether it's enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVgCIIAJyog

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The Women of Afghanistan, 2013 This 60 Minutes report, produced by Andrew Tkach and correspondent Christiane Amanpour, is reminder of what will be lost if the Taliban regain power in Afghanistan, and the problems they still face today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0uoZQM6Jpw

101 East - Afghanistan: No Country for Women, 2015 Thirteen years after the fall of the Taliban, women in Afghanistan continue to suffer oppression and abuse. Almost nine out of 10 Afghan women face physical, sexual or psychological violence, or are forced into marriage. In the majority of cases the abuse is committed by the people they love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkanAs-KGFg

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No Burqas Behind Bars, 2012 This documentary takes viewers inside one of the worlds most restricted environments - an afghan women's' prison. Through the prisoners own stories we explore how moral crimes are used to control women in Afghanistan. https://youtu.be/X-JJxt_ZgCk

LOVE CRIMES OF KABUL, 2013 Love Crimes of Kabul is an intimate portrait of three young Afghani women accused of committing "moral crimes" such as premarital sex and running away from home. As we follow them from prison to trial, we discover the pressures and paradoxes that women in Afghanistan face today-and the dangerous consequences when they refuse to fit in. The Boxing Girls of Kabul, 2014 In this feature documentary, a remarkable group of young Afghan women dream of representing their country as boxers at the 2012 Olympics, embarking on a journey of both personal and political transformation. https://youtu.be/cwLRB_piWWg Netflix: https://www.ovguide.com/the-boxing-girls-of-kabul-9202a8c04000641f8000000022d505df

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Afghanistan: Cut From Different Cloth - Burqas and Beliefs, 2005 In 2005 filmmakers Olga Shalygin and Cliff Orloff returned to Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif for the third time since the fall of the Taliban in 2002. Despite a growing network of Afghan friends and colleagues from their two prior visits, they had been restricted in their ability to meet freely with Afghan women.The all-covering burqa, the high-walled living compounds and cultural restrictions on women limited their access. Olga, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, was puzzled why virtually all the Afghan women she saw still wore the burqaâ&#x20AC;Śeven though security had greatly improved and a new constitution was adopted that granted women equal rights with men.Through Serena, a 27-year-old American woman, who is living with an Afghan family and their 27-year-old daughter Hasina, we are taken inside the walls that separate women from men. Serena becomes the eyes and ears of the filmmakers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL0ApVOSFuk

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The Afghan Lady Cab: what it takes to be the only female taxi driver in Afghanistan, 2015 Sara is Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first and only woman taxi driver. Some people admire her, others condemn and a few even threaten but she doesn't care about what people think. This strong-willed woman is used to having no one to rely on but herself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkVmVGJyrVc

This Is What Winning Looks Like (Full Length), 2013 "This Is What Winning Looks Like" is a disturbing new documentary about the ineptitude, drug abuse, sexual misconduct, and corruption of the Afghan security forces as well as the reduced role of US Marines due to the troop withdrawal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja5Q75hf6QI

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Afghanistan Revealed, 2012 In the immediate wake of 9/11, Richard Mackenzie produced and wrote this documentary for National Geographic and MSNBC on Afghanistan and the life story of Ahmad Shah Massoud. It outlines the troubled history of that nation, the role of Pakistan in terrorism there and what the US and others would face. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZlkhX03dpk

Afghanistan Outside the wire, 2012 This one-hour documentary examines how the war has affected the people of Afghanistan. It reveals efforts by Canada and its international partners to rebuild the country

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while dealing with political corruption. Come face-to-face with aid workers, diplomats, warlords and would-be suicide bombers in this exclusive CPAC special program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAPfHzKlK Refugee Week: Rahila's story, 2015 UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador, Rahila Haidary, shares her story of growing up in Afghanistan and coming to Australia as a refugee. https://youtu.be/4s6Q1ra1aok Afghan women are speaking out. Are you listening? | Yalda Hakim | TEDxLUISS, 2015 How can the place you grow up in shape your life? BBC journalist Yalda Hakim was 6 months old when her family decided to leave Afghanistan and emigrate in Australia. After becoming a renowned journalist, she decided to go back to her home country to share with the world the stories of other brave afghan women: their dreams, their fears, their aspirations and their everyday lives projected in a conflict area. Yalda Hakim was born in Afghanistan and moved to Australia in the late 1980s after her father fled Kabul with his family when Russia invaded. She joined BBC World News in December 2012 as a presenter and correspondent. From a headline-making investigation in Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kandahar province to her reporting from Libya during the Arab Spring, Yalda has built up a wealth of journalistic experience around the world. Hakim delivered stories from the Middle East, the United States, Africa and Europe. Yalda Hakim joined BBC World News in December 2012 as a presenter and correspondent. She made her on-screen debut in March 2013 presenting a special three part series of Our World entitled, Iraq: Ten Years On. Hakim was born in Afghanistan and moved to Australia in the late 1980s after her father fled Kabul with his family when Russia invaded. Hakim was also a finalist for the Australian Young Journalist of the Year Award and won the United Nations Media Peace Prize for Best Australian Television News coverage in 2009. https://youtu.be/6-yqxUA3gVc

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People & Power - Kabul a city of Hope & Fear,2012 Kabul is the heart of Afghanistan. It is the centre of politics and economics. With the US set to withdraw its troops from the country in 2014, what does the future hold for the Afghan capital? At Al Jazeera English, we focus on people and events that affect people's lives. We bring topics to light that often go under-reported, listening to all sides of the story and giving a 'voice to the voiceless.' Reaching more than 270 million households in over 140 countries across the globe, our viewers trust Al Jazeera English to keep them informed, inspired, and entertained. Our impartial, fact-based reporting wins worldwide praise and respect. It is our unique brand of journalism that the world has come to rely on. We are reshaping global media and constantly working to strengthen our reputation as one of the world's most respected news and current affairs channels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chbD29O85wY

Afghan Women Determined To Make A Change, 2012 Girl Power (2012): In war-weary Afghanistan women are still sold to pay debts and brutalized by family members. This report exposes the full horror of their plight and introduces the brave women combating the injustice. https://youtu.be/HWiMMFYXm8s

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'Wolf And Sheep' (Cannes 2016) Afghanistan-set drama following young boys and girls acting as shepherds in a rural community, from debut director Shahrbanoo Sadat. Selected for Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz0aCZJha9w&feature=youtu.be Photo Blog about Afghanistan http://www.paulaphoto.com/the-book--afghanistan--between-hope-and-fear/finalafghanshow081/

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Organizator

http://aktywnekobiety.org.pl/ Poland

Partners

http://www.weafghanistan.org

http://shuhada.org.af

http://ashna-international.org

Afghanistan

Funding

Project is co-financed by European Commission in the frames of Erasmus+ Program Action 2 Capacity Building in the firled of youth

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