Amplifying the Voices of Afghan Women: Policy Briefs Pamphlet

Afghans for progressive Thinking (APT) is a youth-led non-profit organisation in Afghanistan that actively addresses human rights crises, with a specific focus on women’s rights, while simultaneously promoting girls’ access to education through creative and impactful initiatives. Since its inception in 2010, APT activities have impacted and inspired over 60,000 youth and children to build a vision for a just and inclusive society.

An overview

In mid-August 2021, a perilous turning point unfolded in Afghanistan, jeopardising the hard-earned achievements of Afghan women in the fields of education, work, and societal progress. Their substantial contributions had greatly influenced the development of society and the pursuit of a fair, inclusive, and democratic future. Tragically, these gains now faced a dire threat of erosion and reversal. Since the Taliban regained control, girls have been prohibited from attending secondary, high schools and universities. Desperately, the situation for women and girls has continued to deteriorate under Taliban rule, particularly after the ban on women rights to employment in December 2022.
However, the current challenges and restrictions that young people in Afghanistan are facing cannot overshadow their tremendous achievements in socio-political spheres in the past two decades. To support them in reclaiming their voices to contribute to shaping a better future for the country, Afghans for Progressive Thinking (APT) provided an opportunity for young women to participate in its leadership program, which provided 30 young women from across the country a platform to address the current barriers they are facing by writing policy briefs and presenting recommendations for sustainable change. APT then collected and published them in a pamphlet that has the objective of amplifying the voices of Afghan young women and share their recommendations with a wider audience.

leadership development program

One of the main initiatives carried out by Afghans for Progressive thinking is the Leadership Development Program, designed to increase the capacity of their debate club members and students to become open-minded future leaders of the country. The program is made for young men and women, members of debate clubs and Afghan Universities students, who want to improve their leadership skills. The initiative stems from the belief that, by learning leadership skills, young men and women in Afghanistan would be able to identify ways to advocate for human rights, free and democratic societies and present recommendations on how to overcome the current situation. In addition, the leadership program also serves as a hub of networking for the youth from different backgrounds in Afghanistan to connect and build their network.

After one and a half months where participants attend ten online sessions on different topics inter-connected with leadership capacity building, participants are divided into groups to develop a policy brief addressing the dominant challenges in their society. The outcome of these sessions is a pamphlet  containing four policy briefs, each focusing on a specific topic and providing recommendations for the assigned challenge. The main objective of the pamphlet is to amplify the voices of Afghan young women by providing them with the opportunity to write and share their recommendations with a wider audience.

Impact Story from two of the participants of our Leadership Program

Nilab Ibrahimy- A young woman participant in our previous Leadership program:

“This is Nilab Ibrahimy. I have learned about the Leadership Development Program by APT in 2022 through social media. I was very attached to attending it because leadership can benefit every aspect of your life, giving you greater confidence, strengthening your communication and negotiation skills, and developing character. The values you learn as a leader can improve your personal life and relationships and set you on the fast track to success in your career and life.

During the course, I learned various points about leadership; its fundamentals, and types. In addition, I made some nice friends from different backgrounds and leadership potential, and was able to learn from talented and international instructors. Since they were from different countries, we came to learn about leadership from different perspectives. During the program, I learned the importance of networking for a leader. So, I decided to interact more with friends and others in my community. I hope to be able to pass on the newly acquired knowledge to others and help them achieve their dreams.”

Tahmina Rahraw- A young woman participant in our previous leadership program:

“I am Tahmina Rahraw. I first learned about APT’s leadership program through a friend who participated in it and found it to be an outstanding and life changing opportunity. I filled out an application and after a few days, I received an invitation to attend an online interview. I was happy to be selected to attend the program which had so much impact in my personal choices, opinions and professional life. It helped me to learn something new. It was my first experience to be part of an amazing online program, and I learned a lot through these sessions about leadership, responsibility and self-identity and knowing my brand. Last but not least, it taught me about building my strength, identifying my trigger points and knowing my weaknesses. I learned how to improve my communication skills and advocate for our rights. We studied conflict analysis, leadership, and learned how to write policy briefs. Furthermore, the most important part was the idea of promoting peace which is crucial for our society right now.”

Conclusion and Key Recommendations

Today, the women and girls in Afghanistan are subjected to continuous discrimination. To help them secure their rights and freedom, the United Nations should put pressure on the Taliban government to open doors of schools and universities to girls as soon as possible. If the United Nations threatens to withdraw humanitarian aid and support the Taliban might not have any other choice other than opening the doors of education to girls. More realistically, online education like hybrid learning is another alternative. The United Nations and other countries who support Afghan girl’s education can reinforce education by making available online education spaces and providing scholarships for girls to study abroad. A strong education system is the key to get more children in school, and help them to have healthy relationships and to be responsible citizens and contributors to a peaceful society.

Read the full version of the pamphlet here.