“[I]n this critical moment we must listen to the voices of Afghan women and girls.”
Malala Yousafzai, August 17, 2021 The New York Times Op Ed Guest Essay
Women, children and families in Afghanistan are at the epicenter of a humanitarian crisis that threatens to erase the struggle for basic human rights. Amidst the violence and devastation, we must all come together to ensure that Afghan women and girls are not forgotten and that their voices are heard. The withdrawal of the United States military from the battlefield is not a withdrawal from the fight for human rights.
Find out how you can help.
International Rescue Committee (IRC): The IRC began work in Afghanistan in 1988. Their programs span eight provinces and reach millions, with additional support provided to Afghans who have fled to neighboring countries or who have been resettled in the United States. As the current crisis intensifies, their local staff—99% of whom are native Afghans—will continue this critical work. https://www.rescue.org/video/afghan-girls-share-their-concerns-future
Save the Children champions the rights of the world’s 2.3 billion children. In the past year, it reached 602,000 girls and boys in Afghanistan and is focused on providing emergency aid to displaced families.
UNICEF USA: For more than 65 years, UNICEF has been working to promote and protect the rights of children and women in Afghanistan. For many years, Afghanistan has been one of the worst places on Earth to be a child. UNICEF is scaling its humanitarian response and will continue to deliver much-needed support to the Afghan population, especially those paying the highest price: women and children.
Women for Afghan Women (WAW) is the largest women’s organization in Afghanistan, with over 850 local Afghan staff working tirelessly to provide support services to women, children, and families.
Protect Afghan Women and Girls is a project of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, whose mission is to promote a more stable, peaceful, and just world by focusing on the important role women play in preventing conflict and building peace, growing economies, and addressing global threats like climate change and violent extremism.
