Afghanistan Funding

Throughout 2022, ICAN continued support and funding to WASL member organizations in Afghanistan as well as individuals in need. With legal advice we navigated the complex international sanctions regimes, donor restrictions and local dynamics to transfer funds safely and in a timely manner to our partners in Afghanistan.

Highlight: WPSO, Afghanistan

Our Afghan grants in 2022 totaled $410,500

Women and Peace Studies Organization (WPSO) is a local peace-building organization active since 2012. WPSO has been supported by the IPF since 2018 through six grants. In 2021 despite the Taliban takeover, WPSO continued its work by facilitating self-help groups, skills learning sessions and psychosocial support for women and girls. ICAN continued its support to WPSO without a break.

In June 2022, Afghanistan’s southeastern region was hit by a strong earthquake that rattled over 10,000 homes. We turned to ICAN and flagged the immediate needs of female-headed households, which were being sidelined because most of the aid workers were male and couldn’t enter the women’s homes. ICAN responded by mobilizing additional funds that enabled us to support these marginalized families. ICAN trusted that women peacebuilders on the ground were in the best position to assess the risk and determine the best approach to addressing it.

Most recently, in December 2022, the Taliban decree banning female staff from working in NGOs put WPSO in a compromising position. Instead of halting their support to Afghan women, like many other international organizations, ICAN immediately started consulting with us and other Afghan partners to figure out how to continue to sustain WPSO. After many consultations, we shifted our tactics and together developed an approach that would allow us to continue operations and maintain our female staff and our focal points network.”

- Wazhma Frogh, Founder, WPSO Afghanistan

“The relationship between WPSO and ICAN has not been that of a typical donor and grantee, but an equal partnership that flourished over the years. Despite many difficult days in Afghanistan, WPSO and ICAN have remained in constant communication, sharing needs and realities from the ground, and proposing solutions. ICAN is always by our side – valuing our expertise in Afghanistan and trusting our approach, while offering the institutional support, strategic guidance, and solidarity we need to sustain our organization.”

- Wazhma Frogh, Founder, WPSO Afghanistan