Impact(Ed) International’s Post

As I was pitching our project to reach girls in Afghanistan, I saw the article below. “Horror” is the appropriate word. I feel compelled to share this project with my LinkedIn network and ask if you would help connect us to potential funders... Globally, significant progress has been made in girls’ education, but for girls in Afghanistan there is no education beyond sixth grade. Eighty percent of school aged girls are out of school and 30% of primary-school-aged girls have never attended school. In Afghanistan, women and girls are essentially banned from public life. We have the opportunity to reach 4.3 million girls isolated at home in Afghanistan through popular free-to-air television channels, along with another 25 million people (boys, families, and community members). We’ll use the format of our highly successful, International Emmy Award-winning, animated TV series, My Better World, adapted for girls in Afghanistan. We have brilliant partners, embedded in communities, that know how to appropriately and safely involve girls in story development using a Human Centered Design approach. When we used this model in Northern Nigeria the World Bank measured a 43% increase in girls’ enrolment in school across 128 communities. The UK gov’t called it “strong value in girls’ education.” Using this proven framework, we’re going to build girls’ social emotional health, resiliency, and life skills (alongside boys allyship for gender equity), while simultaneously motivating communities to shift harmful social norms – creating a more “enabling environment” for girls to grow psychologically, socially, and academically. Would you introduce us to foundations, family offices, and others who might be interested in making this happen? Thank you so much! #afghanistan #girlseducation #humanrights #SDGs

 "When Girls' Rights Matter" I followed keenly the news about the proposed wedding of 100 girls and women in Niger State, Nigeria, which was not surprising given the challenges faced in the region. It was disheartening to learn that the girls and young women were orphans whose parents were killed in attacks by kidnapping gangs. The State National Assembly speaker, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, revealed that the girls and young women were to be married off, and dowries would be paid to the bridegroom. In response to this, Nigeria's women's affairs minister, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, took quick action to stop the ceremony and determine if any of the girls were minors. However, those involved threatened the minister with legal action if she did not withdraw the suit within seven days. Niger State has a high percentage of out-of-school children, making this situation even more disheartening. Additionally, the report that some of the girls were married in private ceremonies is concerning and suggests a disregard for international conventions that aim to eliminate discrimination against women and protect the rights of children. It's essential to recognize that these girls have undergone trauma and should not be further subjected to violations of their human rights. They deserve support, protection, and opportunities for education and skill development rather than being forced into early marriage and the associated health risks and hardships. Positive empowerment initiatives should focus on the girls' best interests, ensuring their voices are heard, their experiences valued, and their educational and well-being needs addressed.  Plan International, Save the Children International, UNICEF, UNWomen Wwk #EqalAccessToEducation #GenderEquality, #EarlyMarraigeAndChildBearing

Afghan Women have Expressed Deep Concern about the UN and the International Community's Dual Policy Towards Afghanistan and their Engagement with the Taliban Zan News: The Afghanistan Women's Political Participation Network has issued a 10-point resolution on the eve of the third UN special meeting in Doha, calling for a complete ban on the Taliban, the appointment of a UN special representative in accordance with the wishes of the Afghan people, and the participation of women in all meetings related to the fate of the country. The network emphasized in its resolution that the Taliban group has no legitimacy and that any interaction with this group is rejected. Afghan women protesters have expressed deep concern about the UN and the international community's double standards towards the country and their engagement with the Taliban. The resolution also states that equal rights for women as legal citizens of Afghanistan, access to health and mental health services, expanding economic opportunities for women, protecting women's rights in all aspects of life, lifting all bans and deprivations from women's lives, ending systematic discrimination, promoting a culture of respect and appreciation for women, solidarity and self-confidence in Afghan women are of special importance and efforts should be made in this direction. The Afghanistan Women's Political Participation Network also called for the prosecution of the Taliban for abuse of power and also for the endless crimes and oppression of the oppressed people and the flagrant violation of human rights in Afghanistan by this group in the Hague court. The presence of protesting women as rightful representatives of Afghan women in all important and international meetings and decision-making processes on Afghanistan, a complete ban on the Taliban group from any UN support and engagement with the international community, paving the way for the creation of an inclusive and elected government that will be formed with the will and vote of the Afghan people, and ending over 1000 days of girls' schools being closed and girls being deprived of education are among the other demands raised in this resolution. #zantv

It's been 1,000 days since Afghan girls lost their right to secondary education. As you know, universities are also closed to girls, and women are deprived of the right to education and employment. In a report on the situation of women in Afghanistan, the UN Women’s Office stated that since the Taliban’s return to power, they have issued 70 decrees against the rights, lives, and bodies of Afghan women. This shows that the Taliban are deliberately targeting the women and girls of Afghanistan, aiming at their future, dreams, and achievements. At least forty years of progress and efforts by women in Afghanistan have been confiscated by the 70 decrees issued by the Taliban. Since the Taliban’s return to power, we all know that the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is dire, but there are no reports on the number of suicides, mental health conditions, forced marriages, sexual assaults, torture, and murders of women. This is due to the severe restrictions imposed by the Taliban on the media and the cessation of all human rights organizations’ activities in the country. Therefore, we are living in increasing despair and fear of Afghanistan’s dark future. Afghan women and girls have protested in the streets and alleys to make the world aware of the ongoing catastrophe in the country, but the Taliban responded to the protests with violence, arrests, imprisonment, and enforced disappearances of protesters. Therefore, the only platform left for Afghan women to make their voices heard by the world is international forums. Without repeating already spoken and unheard words, I want to emphasize that the consequences of issuing 70 decrees against the rights, lives, and bodies of women in Afghanistan are not limited to the current generation and Afghan women but will also affect future generations and countries in the region with rulers similar to the Taliban. Most importantly, sexual minorities are also subjected to the worst forms of harassment, including assault, murder, imprisonment, and torture under the Taliban’s rule. Inside Afghanistan, there is no structure to support women and sexual minorities. #Afghanistan UN Women United Nations Rädda Barnen / Save the Children Sweden Save the Children in Afghanistan

Despite numerous challenges, Afghan grassroots organizations lead a compelling push for women's rights, social justice and education for girls. We have partnered with Freedom Now in drafting a joint report entitled “Now and Then: Grassroots activism under the Taliban” to highlight how donors, international organizations, foreign governments, and other stakeholders can support these activists and ensure the continued operation of critical grassroots civic organizations within Afghanistan. “The state of civil society has changed dramatically in Afghanistan in the past three years,” said Freedom Now’s Executive Director Andrea J Prasow. “Nearly 60% of organizations operating in Afghanistan did not exist before 2021 and more than 75% are women-led, a likely response to the Taliban’s increasing restrictions on women. While these organizations are doing indispensable work and elevating marginalized voices, their leaders and members face considerable personal risk and constant threat of arrest.” “Grassroots civic organizations are vital agents of positive change, embodying the spirit of activism and community engagement,” said Hogan Lovells partner Sina R. Hekmat. “The international community must provide these brave activists the necessary support to amplify their impact. Doing so will contribute to the advancement of human rights, social justice and sustainable development in communities around the world.” The report makes several recommendations including: • Providing dedicated funding for capacity-strengthening; • Engaging grassroots organizations in program planning and decision making; • Exerting pressure on the Taliban to lift restrictions on civil society; • Promoting protection of civic actors; and • Facilitating the safe relocation of activists in danger. Read more in the report here: https://lnkd.in/ejbmjs4h #WomensRights #SocialJustice #HumanRights #CommunityEngagement #SustainableDevelopment

Today, my full solidarity, appreciation, respect, and empathy are with the women and girls in Afghanistan and those who are exiled. Nothing has moved me more in recent years than hearing the stories of courageous women risking their lives to provide education and opportunities to women and girls in Afghanistan.   We have cried together, we have kept silent when the pain was too much to say or do anything, and we have fueled the desire to keep fighting injustice and unfairness.   I have held space, made it safe, and gained their trust so that they could speak about their unique stories. The only way for me to do that was by being authentic, transparent, and vulnerable.     These brave women and girls have taught me much and challenged me. Listening to their journeys made me more conscious of my privileges—all of them.   I present myself as a Citizen of the World. Such privilege has been shattered by testimony from somebody who said, “I feel I don’t have the right to be from anywhere. Even if I was born and grew up here, all my rights are suppressed, as a woman, as a person from an ethnic and faith minority, as a human being.”   Today, I’m using another privilege, the access to an audience here on LinkedIn, to visualize women and girls' struggles in Afghanistan and those in exile.     In solidarity with them.    Silence is not an option!   #internationalwomensday     ***** How do I know these women?   I’m currently involved in a scoping exercise to understand the struggles faced by human rights activists in hostile environments where the civil space is shrinking daily and to find new directions/ideas for them to continue their fundamental jobs that societies need.  

Dear LinkedIn friends, I wanted to share a very important case from Gilgit-Baltistan, the northern Pakistan. Yesterday, the Chief Court in Gilgit-Baltistan sparked controversy by allowing a 13-year-old girl to dictate her own whereabouts. She chose to accompany a 17-year-old accused individual, allegedly involved in her abduction according to an FIR filed at a police station on January 21, 2024. The girl claimed a consensual marriage, purportedly solemnized in KP, after being taken to KP's Mansehra district two and a half months prior, where she allegedly provided falsified documents for the marriage. Despite NADRA records indicating her age as 12, an ossification test conducted by a medical board at PHQ Gilgit, under court orders, placed her age between 13 to 16. Now the question is, there are a number of organizations, non-governmental both national and international, government and civil society organizations, but did any organizations did any self-evaluation about their ground performance? A place like Gilgit-Baltistan, though its literacy rate is high, but there are no laws enacted to protect various vulnerable segments of society including children. What the organizations which are working on child rights, early marriages, informed consent have done to address the issues on the ground? I understand there must have been seminars and sessions to discuss these issues, but what on the ground? What the monitoring mechanism to address these issues which are happening in parts of the world which are not too much exposed to media and cyberspace, unfortunately due to the lack of much-needed internet services in this technological age? Time to rethink and redevise the strategies to counter these issues. #GilgitBaltistan #ChildRights #HumanRights #CivilSociety #Pakistan #GenderEquality #NGOs #Awareness #Justice #SocialIssues UNICEF Amnesty International UNESCO UNDP Pakistan UNWomen Wwk Save the Children International Save the Children Pakistan Children Parliament NCRC Pakistan Ministry Of Human Rights

The suppression of #women is becoming a global trend even here in the US starting with the reversal of Roe v Wade. We're facing many forms of oppression globally, including: Economic inequality: Women are paid less than men for the same work, and only hold 28% of managerial positions globally. 178 countries have #legal barriers that prevent women from fully participating in the economy. Lack of political representation: Women make up less than 24% of parliamentarians and 5% of mayors globally. In 2020, women held less than 25% of parliamentary seats and 22% of cabinet minister positions. #Violence: One in three women and girls will experience violence or abuse in their lifetime. In Haiti, gang rape is a common form of sexual violence, and women migrants face further exploitation. Lack of access to #education: 130 million girls are denied the right to education. Female genital mutilation: 200 million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation. Maternal mortality: Around 300,000 women die in childbirth each year. Some countries that are considered to be among the worst for women include Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Chad, DR Congo, Sudan, and Sierra Leone. #leadership #strategy #money #humanrights #privacy #Dobbs #policy #regulations #politics #media #socialmedia #voices #healthcare #trends

How long will the international community continue to lament the plight of Afghan women without taking action? Remember, women's rights are never granted : Key Milestones in Afghan Women’s Rights – A Timeline - 1919: Right to Education & Employment. Women gained the right to pursue education and work, marking a pivotal step in Afghanistan’s modernization efforts under King Amanullah Khan’s reign. - 1959: The Unveiling of Women on Afghan Independence Day, women in Kabul appeared unveiled for the first time in public, symbolising a shift towards greater social freedoms. - 1964: Constitutional Rights Granted The new Afghan constitution provided women with the right to vote and participate in the parliament, setting a landmark in gender equality. - 1978-1980s: Expansion of Education The Communist government emphasised education for girls, significantly increasing female enrollment in schools and universities. - 1980s: Rising Workforce Participation Women increasingly joined the workforce, notably in urban areas, occupying roles in education, healthcare, and government. - 1996-2001: Rights Crushed under Taliban Rule The Taliban’s rise marked a severe rollback, as women were forbidden from education, employment, and most public appearances. - 2001: Post-Taliban Era With international intervention, women regained access to education, healthcare, and political representation. Afghanistan’s new constitution enshrined women’s rights, opening new pathways for advancement. - 2015: Women in Military and Police The Afghan government encouraged women’s participation in the security sector, including the army and police forces. - 2020: Historic Peace Talks Afghan women participated directly in peace negotiations with the Taliban, a historic acknowledgment of their role in shaping Afghanistan’s future. No need to remind what is happening since the 15th of August 2021.... "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. When society is torn apart by crises or wars, it is women who are the first victims, and it is always their rights that are the first to be rolled back." - Simone de Beauvoir.