Free to Run

Today we're thrilled to announce a partnership between United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy and Free to Run. UESCA will be supporting Free to Run's team of coaches in conflict areas like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine with access to their coaching certifications - ensuring Free to Run's running and rights-based programs for girls and young women are always backed up by the latest developments in sports science, with coaches qualified to the highest standard. Together, we're proud to be taking steps to elevate the standard of endurance sports coaching in conflict-affected regions, and to advance gender equity globally through running!

Nadira Talayee's story begins in Kabul, where running was limited to childhood games and quickly discouraged as girls grew older. Despite these challenges, her passion for sport persisted. When she learned about Free to Run through friends, she was drawn to the program’s promise of exploration through running, hikes, and races. Supported by her family, Nadira joined our team and discovered a new sense of confidence. Now, years later, she’s studying data science at Smith College in the United States. Though life is different, she’s built a running club in her new community and reconnected with Free to Run as an Ambassador, sharing her story and staying connected with fellow Afghan alumni. Read more of Nadira's story at freetorun.org/blog #freetorun #running #empowerment #womeninsports #sportsforchange #runningcommunity

This year for International Day of the Girl, we’re celebrating the theme of Girls’ Vision for the Future. This particular vision comes from a participant in Iraq. ❤️ At Free to Run, we’re proud to stand alongside the girls and young women we work with, as they take action to create a world where all girls are protected, empowered, and free to boldy (re)claim public space. When girls lead, the impact is immediate and far-reaching—strengthening families, communities, and economies, and brightening our shared future. This October 11 for #InternationalDayOfTheGirl, join us in championing their visions and building a world where every girl has the chance to reach her limitless potential. #FreeToRun #GenderEquity #GirlPower #GirlsVisionForTheFuture

For Hanifa, an alumna of Free to Run's Afghanistan program now living as a refugee in Berlin, it's the final countdown to the BMW Berlin Marathon on Sunday! Hanifa escaped Afghanistan in 2021 on a military plane and is now dedicating her marathon to the women in her home country who no longer have the opportunities they once dreamed of together. "I’m running for the women and girls back in Afghanistan who can’t—my mother and sister, and all the others who are forbidden from participating in sports under the Taliban." And for all the women and refugees around the world who may feel powerless or discouraged, Hanifa says "I want to show them that we can stay strong, even when we’re far from home." Read more about Hanifa and her journey in our latest blog post: https://lnkd.in/gxriRkUp

Each year, Free to Run has a team of Ambassadors who use their running and other athletic endeavors to help raise funds and awareness for global gender equity and our work with girls and young in conflict areas. We are always in awe of this incredible team, and the feats they accomplish! Today we're turning the spotlight on Katya Guryeva who recently ran the length of Armenia over 22 days, securing the supported FKT on the Armenian Transcaucasian Trail. Katya ran 362km with almost 33,000m of elevation from the Armenian border with Iran to the border with Georgia - raising over $1,300 USD in the process. Congratulations Katya, and thank you so much for your incredible support of Free to Run! Check out Katya's Instagram @running_armenia for more on her journey. P.S. - There's still time to become a Free to Run Ambassador in 2024 if you have race plans coming up! Check out the link below for more information, or reach out to ambassadors@freetorun.org if you're curious about the program in 2025! https://lnkd.in/gWwrRhXq

On August 15 we shared some of the restrictions that have been placed on women in Afghanistan since the Taliban's return to power in 2021. But since then, a new set of 'vice and virtue' laws have been announced, which prevent women from even speaking in public. They must also not be heard singing or reading aloud, even from inside their houses. For failure to comply, women and girls can be detained and punished in a manner deemed appropriate by Taliban officials. For many of the young women we work with in Afghanistan, weekly Free to Run sessions are the only connection they have to their peers - and a rare opportunity to focus on their own physical and mental wellbeing. “Since the change of government, girls and women have been deprived of their right to education, work, development, and freedom, and all women have stayed at home. In these few years I have endured many hardships. Even now, after a few years, I cannot finish school and graduate - maybe this will remain an unattainable dream for me. I can’t go to courses safely, I’m afraid that something might happen to me. I have no hope of continuing my education, I have stayed at home forever. Doing nothing is just hopeless, and day to day you begin to feel you’re not useful anymore.” — Z (name changed) If you'd like to support our (secret) indoor strength and wellbeing sessions for young women, you can do so at freetorun.org/afghanistan

August 15, 2024. 3 years to the day since the Taliban began dismantling the rights of women in Afghanistan - including the right to education, to participate in sport, to visit parks, or to move freely without a male guardian. Not to mention the return of public executions by stoning. Today we're sharing the stories of young women in our Afghanistan program, who feel passionately that movement, community, and wellbeing are crucially important in their lives. -------- “When the Taliban took over the government, I knew very well that they were long-standing enemies of women and girls, misogynistic people who saw women as inferior and submissive. This left me with countless unanswered questions about the future. What about us girls? Does this mean I have to abandon all my goals? This was unacceptable to me, but I still had hope and was searching for a way to escape this outdated society. I couldn’t accept being a slave. Every morning, I prayed that it was all a nightmare. It wasn’t, and I had to face the reality. I tried to adapt to the Taliban’s rules but wasn’t yet disheartened. I managed to find a job in a hospital’s children’s department, which made me happy. However, seeing girls around me who no longer have the right to education and choose their futures fills me with deep sadness. When I saw a thirteen-year-old mother whose child died in her arms, with no reaction due to her lack of understanding, and her husband called her a murderer, all my hopes were shattered. How can a thirteen-year-old girl suddenly become a mother? Is this our destiny? Do we have no right to our lives? How can I accept this bitter fate? This is my reality, and I hope that one day everything will change, and women will have their rights restored.” — N -------- “I am F, and I was a school student. I had such wonderful days. In the morning, I would wake up with a goal: going to school. I would get up happy and full of energy, wash my face, have breakfast, put on my school uniform, and grab my bag, ready to go to school with my friends. It was so pleasant to enter the school, greet my teachers and classmates, and start our lessons. After school, I would attend various courses. I enjoyed those days, but they passed too quickly. Now, those days are just a dream. I had real motivation back then, but now I can’t have those days even for a single day. The school doors are closed to me and my friends, and I can’t attend the courses I used to. Now, I wake up in the mornings without happiness or a goal. For three years, I have been at home with no activities. Some days I read books or write about my good days on paper. Life without a goal is so hard, but I pass through this difficult period with hope for the future, hoping for a day when I can achieve my goals and go to school or university again.” — F -------- Read more and learn how to support our work in Afghanistan on the Free to Run blog: https://lnkd.in/gDAzhhd8

Tomorrow is August 15, which will mark three years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. If you’ve been following Free to Run for a while, you’ll know that women and girls were forbidden from participating in sport in 2021, forcing us to suspend our operations in Afghanistan and evacuate our program staff. Since 2022, we've been delivering our clandestine ‘Omid’ program (indoor strength training and mental resilience sessions) delivered in secret to provide at least some small sense of hope and community for the young women who have been effectively trapped in their homes. The oppression of Afghan women under the Taliban has deepened each year, with increasingly brutal and restrictive decrees stripping them of their rights, freedoms, and dignity. These policies have pushed Afghan women to the margins of society, erasing decades of progress and forcing them into lives of fear and isolation. Tomorrow we'll be sharing their stories, but every day we stand behind the women who are no longer free. For a look back at what happened in 2021, you can watch the Free to Run film here: https://lnkd.in/gnb56EtV

August 3rd marks ten years since the horrific Daesh (or so-called Islamic State) genocide against the Yazidi people in the Sinjar region of Iraq. A decade later, we remember the immense suffering endured by the Yazidi community and stand in solidarity with survivors, many of whom remain displaced from their homeland. Free to Run remains steadfast in our work to empower and support the healing journey of Yazidi girls and young women as they continue to navigate the aftermath of this tragedy - helping them reclaim their rights, pursue justice, recover, and reintegrate into society. Their voices deserve to be heard.

On Friday at 10.51 am Paris time, 100m sprinter Kimia Yousofi will represent Afghanistan in the Women's 100m Preliminary Round (Heat 3). ✨ Kimia is one of three women on the gender-equal Afghan Olympic team, selected earlier this year. Like its athletes, the head of Afghanistan's Olympic Committee and its secretary general are both in exile. As for Kimia, she left Afghanistan and received safe passage into Australia in 2022 - a year after the Taliban returned to power. This is Kimia's third Olympic games and as she told AFP in July, "It's an honor to represent the girls of my homeland once again - girls and women who have been deprived of basic rights, including education... I represent the stolen dreams and aspirations of these women. Those who don't have the authority to make decisions as free human beings." No Taliban officials have been allowed involvement with the Paris Games, but that has not stopped them from denying the participation of the incredible women representing Afghanistan. A Taliban spokesperson was quoted by AFP as saying "Only three athletes are representing Afghanistan... Currently, in Afghanistan girls' sports have been stopped. When girls' sport isn't practiced, how can they go on the national team?" Join us in standing behind Kimia as she runs on August 2, and behind every woman and girl in Afghanistan who should have the right to find joy in sport.