Afghan Women and Girl's Survival Fund

As the humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan continues, there is a need for heightened attention to the practice of mutual aid, by which communities come together to provide and care for one another. Demonstrated by what MADRE has always known: when service provision and feminist organizing are tied to self-determination, it can build resilience and community power.

Over the past year, through our Afghan Women’s and Girls’ Fund, MADRE has partnered directly with underserved local activists and women’s organizations in Afghanistan that have too often been at the margins of philanthropy but who best understand the context, the urgent needs of families, and the centrality of women’s and girls’ rights as a matter of justice and as necessary to building community resilience. With partners, our efforts have been focused on uplifting and sustaining the Afghan women's movement, influencing international policy in favor of women's rights, and bolstering grassroots women’s organizing, meeting the needs of nearly 12,000 Afghans, in-country and as refugees.

MADRE also continues to work with partners affected by the Taliban takeover to hold convenings for human rights defenders. This past June, MADRE and our partners, Afghan Women & Peace Studies Organization (WPSO) and WILPF-Afghanistan, convened Afghan women human rights defenders currently residing in Pakistan, the largest receiving country of Afghan refugees.

Participants discussed priorities for access to humanitarian aid and international-level advocacy strategies for the promotion and recognition of Afghan women and girls’ human rights. Attendees also joined two virtual sessions, the first with Afghan women gathered in both Kabul and in Geneva. This session was designed to support Afghan women leaders’ collaboration as they carry out their human rights work amid the difficulties of exile or, in the case of those in Kabul, of operating under the Taliban regime and ongoing conflict. During the second virtual session, participants presented their priority recommendations to support Afghan women and girls’ rights to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan. Bennett included many of these priorities in a July statement to the UN Human Rights Council.

MADRE acts in solidarity with Afghan women and pro-peace feminists as we work with our grassroots partners in Afghanistan to ensure that their immediate needs are met and that their voices are heard and amplified by the international community.

Thank you for your commitment to Afghan women and girls' rights defenders and for supporting MADRE in this life-changing work.

The recent destructive earthquake in Afghanistan killed 1,000 people and left nearly 1,500 wounded and without a home. This was the deadliest earthquake to hit the region in two decades. Thanks to your generosity, MADRE’s Afghan Women’s Survival Fund immediately responded with emergency support to ensure that women and families have food, water, medical care, and other necessities as they begin the painful work of rebuilding their lives and communities.

Since the Taliban’s takeover, Afghan women’s leadership in addressing the food insecurity crisis and distributing humanitarian relief has proved especially important. Given that women and girls face persecution, it is even more difficult to get their needs met. Channeling resources into the hands of local women leaders and activists is essential–enabling them to equitably reach and provide relief to women and their families while establishing themselves as leaders in their communities.

MADRE’s Afghan Women’s Survival Fund partners directly with local activists and organizations that are too often at the margins of philanthropy but who best understand the context, the urgent needs of families, and the centrality of women’s rights as a matter of justice and as necessary to building community resilience.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Taliban takeover, MADRE will continue to provide grants to further sustain in-country programming for the long-term that will support women and girls during this protracted crisis and enable the continuity of Afghan women's organizations, including underground and in exile. Notably, MADRE has launched initiatives to facilitate trauma management, prevent gender-based violence, address forced marriages for girls, and continue girls’ education efforts. As one university student and former director of a girl's school said, "women have a role to play in this difficult time in our history."

Thank you for helping to make this critical work possible.