Women Empowered, Inc. - Afghanistan (WE-Afghanistan) promotes peace, democracy and human rights in Afghanistan by advancing women's rights, girls' education, and gender equality.  Under this umbrella, our areas of focus include:

* Legal awareness and assistance for women

* Women's economic empowerement and skill-building

* Girls' and women's health and education

* Preventing gender-based violence

 

 

Our approach to achieving change include:

* Capacity building of the media and civil society

* Advocacy

* Raising public awareness

* Empowering women directly

 

WE-Afghanistan seeks to undertake activities such as the following:

* Offering seminars and internships relating to human rights and equal rights for women, women's participation in society, and nonviolence toward women.

* Training journalists to use the media as a platform for raising awareness about women's rights and advocating for equal treatment of women.

* Providing legal assistance, counseling and referral services to women.

* Offering skill building and vocational training workshops (such as sewing, tailoring, handicrafts skills, and animal husbandry).

* Building and supporting schools.

* Establishing a mobile health clinic to meet primary health needs in rural Afghanistan.

* Undertaking advocacy with Afghan parliamentarians, government agencies, and local communities.

 

Featured Project

 

In 2014, WE-Afghanistan won a Peace Projects grant from the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF) to implement a media advocacy program designed to build the capacity of young journalists to use the media as a platform for change. In this program, 15 young journalists are selected to participate in the six-month long training program to increase their journalistic skills, human rights/women’s rights knowledge, and practical experience through internship and field work. The program enables them to design, implement, and perpetuate journalistic programming that increases public awareness of women’s rights, human rights, and democracy.  The six-month program is divided into multiple units. 

- During the first two months, participants are taught about journalism and human rights with a focus on women’s rights.

- During the third and fourth months, participants intern at different media outlets and human rights organizations. They work with seasoned reporters, producers, and technicians to learn about technical issues, write reports, and copy-edit, as well as with human rights practitioners to gain a direct, hands-on understanding of the legal status of women in Afghanistan and the role of the government.

- During the last two months, the young journalists develop and produce an independent report for submission to the Project Manager and then, through him, to potential media outlets.