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Creating Bright Futures for Women in Afghanistan

Women for Women International opened its doors in Kabul in October 2002 to support women survivors of war in Afghanistan. Since starting as a fledgling office, the Afghanistan Chapter has flourished by offering participants one-to-one sponsorship, job skills training, rights awareness education and a micro-credit program.

"There is nothing more powerful than the spirit woman who has lost everything and then learned to reclaim it all," said Afghanistan Country Director Sweeta Noori. "There is nothing more stunning than a woman who truly knows what she is worth."

Through a one-to-one sponsorship between women in Afghanistan and women in 37 countries, Women for Women International offers a chance to build bridges of mutual support and understanding while simultaneously helping women whose lives have been torn apart by war and conflict. Approximately 8,500 Afghan women have participated in the sponsorship program, and 55,000 women survivors of war have participated world-wide.

Women for Women International matches each woman with a sponsor who provides her with monthly financial support for one year. These funds allow women to obtain basic necessities for their families like food, clean water, medicine, schoolbooks for their children or seed money for projects to earn an income. Sponsors and their “sisters” also exchange letters. They share stories and connect at a time when other emotional support has been stripped away by war. For a woman who may have lost everything or who feels isolated, letters of support help renew her hope for a better future.

While enrolled, the women receive rights awareness education and literacy training. Literacy is the cornerstone to a woman’s education and her progression into an active citizen. The Afghanistan Chapter provides literacy training to 637 women in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif provinces. Women for Women International’s training guide is translated into national languages in all its Chapters around the world so thousands of women can simultaneously learn how education is the key to social, political, and economic independence.

Since 2004, Women for Women International has offered rights awareness training to 4,800 Afghan women in more than 20 districts in Kabul, Kapisa, Parwan, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Warduk provinces. Rights education gives women the ability to realize their vast potential and the strength to fight discrimination and domestic violence. Women have the right to basic knowledge about human reproduction, nutrition, stress management, hygiene and the prevention and treatment of prevalent diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Through a partnership with the Ministry of Women, the Afghanistan Chapter informed more than 3,800 thousands of women of their right to vote in the national and parliamentary elections. Voter education is a crucial element to teaching woman that their voices and their needs could be expressed freely. Historically women in Afghanistan had been kept out of the voting booths with intimidation and violence. Women for Women International helped to register 2,000 woman to vote in 2004 presidential elections and another 1,800 women for the 2005 parliamentary elections. Many women overcame fears and intimidation about their political participation. Participants voted for the first time in the hopes of becoming a catalyst for further change.

In the job skills training program, women work to develop their existing skills or learn new ones that will lead to employment and self-sufficiency. Through tailoring, silversmithing, horticulture, carpentry, food processing, electrical repair, and more, women are able to cultivate their skills in local markets.

Women also receive business skills training such as how to build and manage small businesses. The technical skills include marketing, basic accounting, pricing, business plan development and cooperative operations. In Kabul, Wardak, and Parwan, vocational skills training, literacy training, and income-generation education help educate Afghan women about their potential as workers and businesswomen.

With these trainings and new skills, a woman is able to move from crisis to stability. She can start to move away from the panic that unemployment and poverty perpetuates. Becoming economically self-reliant teaches women that they truly are crucial components to family and communal stability.

Women for Women International’s Afghanistan Chapter operates a micro-lending program for graduates of the sponsorship program. Since 2004, the chapter has distributed nearly $750,000 to approximately 2,700 women borrowers. The repayment rate is 99%. Women use these loans to open businesses for the first time. Pooling their resources, women have opened a bakery in Kabul.

Women who previously had no voice or little bearing in the direction of their national future are now playing active roles in the restoration and development of their country. Through the renewal of their own lives, they are active hands in the reconstruction of their homeland.