Afghan Women's Support Forum

The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) has launched its latest Call for Proposals in Afghanistan.  This Call for Proposals provides programmatic and institutional funding opportunities for local organisations in Afghanistan working to enhance the protection of women and girls and promote the participation and leadership of women in humanitarian crisis and response. This call will fund qualifying local civil society organisations in Afghanistan through […]

The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program (MEP) is pleased to host a closed, work-in-progress screening of the documentary “School for Girls.” To book see the live link HERE. Overview The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program (MEP),  the Middle East Women’s Initiative (MEWI), and the South Asia Institute is pleased to host a closed, work-in-progress screening […]

Simon Diggins on offering resettlement and educational opportunities to those living under the Taliban regime and Margaret Owen on connecting schoolgirls in Britain and Kabul – Guardian letter Kabul, Sun 1 Sep 2024 16.38 BST Your harrowing report on the worsening oppression of women in Afghanistan reminds us that our business in that country, despite the withdrawal of […]

Afghan women are flooding social media with recordings of songs as acts of resistance and rebellion against the ‘brutal’ new rules Arpan Rai https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/OQX54rNG Afghan women are reportedly defying the Taliban through the forbidden act of signing after a ‘bizarre and brutal’ new ban on their voices in public. The lyrics of a popular song ringing out […]

The Taliban say it’s mandatory for Afghan women to conceal their voices and bare faces in public. Aug 23, 2024, 07:33 AM EDT ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public under new laws approved by the supreme leader in efforts to combat vice and promote virtue. […]

Jessica Ure BBC London A woman who fled Afghanistan when the Taliban took control three years ago says she fears for those she left behind. Sosan and her husband came to London in 2021 and have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK through the government’s resettlement scheme, along with thousands of other Afghan nationals […]

The world has long been aware of the scourge of apartheid — the systemic segregation or discrimination of people based on their race. But what about the institutionalized practice of singling people out for ill-treatment due to their gender? The push to recognize “gender apartheid” under international law is gaining steam, with oppression against women […]

Watch/listen video HERE.

By Friba Rezayee – July 17, 2024. Ms. Rezayee, one of Afghanistan’s first two female Olympians, is the founder and executive director of Women Leaders of Tomorrow, a nonprofit to empower Afghan women and girls through education and sports. When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, one of its first actions was to bar […]

It is the first time the Taliban is attending the talks but female representatives from Afghanistan have been excluded. By Osama Bin Javaid Published On 1 Jul 20241 Jul 2024 Taliban security personnel stand guard as an Afghan woman walks along a street at a market in the Baharak district of Badakhshan province, on on February […]

Stephan Shemilt Chief Cricket Writer Members of the former Afghanistan women’s team have called on the International Cricket Council to help them form a refugee team based in Australia. Formed in 2010, the Afghanistan women’s team disbanded in 2021 when the Taliban returned to power and banned women from universities, parks, sports and raided the […]

© UN Women/Sayed Habib Bidell Girls and women across Afghanistan lack access to secondary education since the Taliban takeover. 18 June 2024 Human Rights The systemic oppression against Afghan women and girls is “so severe and extensive that they appear to form a widespread and systematic attack” which could amount to crimes against humanity said Richard Bennett, the […]

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi andAbubakar Siddique 20 June 2024 Leading Afghan women’s rights activists have sounded the alarm ahead of a major international conference on Afghanistan hosted by the United Nations. Rights campaigners have slammed the world body for inviting the Taliban to the June 30-July 1 event in Qatar, a move that they say provides tacit […]

In 1893, for the first time in modern democratic history, women voted in the national elections in New Zealand.[1] 131 years ago this was a model for equality in the political arena. Yet the arc of history does not always bend towards justice. In the heart of Asia in a country known to the world for […]

SKY NEWS Tuesday 18 June 2024 11:45, UK Khalida Popal says she and her teammates faced harassment, abuse and attacks from people in her country but they persevered to “be a voice for our voiceless sisters.” https://news.sky.com/video/afghan-womens-football-we-stood-up-against-the-taliban-says-ex-captain-khalida-popal-13154825 “Representing our country was the most beautiful memory”, says Khalida Popal who captained the first women’s national football […]

Report Calls for Accountability, End to Serious Abus Heather Barr Associate Director, Women’s Rights Division heatherbarr1heatherbarr1 On June 18, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, will present to the UN Human Rights Council his latest report, which powerfully calls for the Taliban to be held accountable for their crimes against […]

Mahjooba Nowrouzi BBC Afghan Service After the Taliban restricted Afghan women’s ability to work, learn and go out in public, some women initially defied these new rules, taking to the streets to protest. But soon, those who gathered in the capital Kabul and other major cities to demand “food, work, freedom” felt the full force […]

Mahjooba Nowrouzi BBC Afghan Service After the Taliban restricted Afghan women’s ability to work, learn and go out in public, some women initially defied these new rules, taking to the streets to protest. But soon, those who gathered in the capital Kabul and other major cities to demand “food, work, freedom” felt the full force […]

14 MAY 2024 After the Taliban takeover, former magazine-owner Siamoy* redirected her work towards women’s empowerment and capacity-building. Focusing on the most vulnerable women, including illiterate women and women with disabilities, her NGO now provides training and start-up funding for women-led businesses in five provinces. “UN Women gave us hope – the kind of hope […]