Afghanistan has experienced four decades of conflict, political tension, droughts and food insecurity. Mass unemployment, millions of displaced people and the recent Taliban takeover have created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
When the latest crisis began in August 2021, Peace Direct staff quickly began reaching out to local organisations to offer support, many of which were among the first responders during the takeover.
However, their role on the front line of building peace in Afghanistan is still not recognised and six months since the crisis began, many have already been forced to shut down. Promises made to get girls back into school have not been delivered. And yet, we are beginning to see flickers of hope in a time characterised by fear. Many local organisations have been able to continue their life-saving work to uphold human rights and peace, and offer humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities. Their participation, leadership and funding will be crucial in responding to the current crisis in Afghanistan. One of these groups is our local Afghan partner, EQUALITY for Peace and Development (EPD)
Working with EPD, we will be able to support more local organizations and women’s rights networks in Afghanistan through our Afghan Solidarity Fund at this challenging time. We are grateful to those who have already donated to this vital work.
You can join them in supporting this work directly by donating to our Afghan Solidarity Fund.
EQUALITY for Peace and Development
Our partner, EQUALITY for Peace and Development (EPD) is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation. They are dedicated to empowering women and youth at the community and policy level in Afghanistan. Working on the Afghan Solidarity Fund, they identify local organisations needing support, and give out small scale grants to enable them to resolve conflict in their communities and protect the rights of those most at risk.
The aim of this work is to:
“By all means help people in other conflicts, they need the entire world’s support, but while doing so, please don’t ignore Afghans, or forget the catastrophe that recently occured in Afghanistan. All of the hard-won gains and civil liberties that the women of Afghanistan fought for over the past 20 years have disappeared almost overnight. Under these circumstances, our only hope is that women’s civil society organisations can continue to work at the local level. For that they need some basic financial support. We are very grateful to our partner Peace Direct for their support, not only to EPD but to many organisations like ours through the Afghan Solidarity Fund. Please do contribute to this funding and allow us to continue our mission of supporting Afghan Women at the community level.” – Ruqaia Tabascum, Program and Gender Specialist at EPD.
“The world’s focus may have shifted to other conflicts erupting around the world, yet the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan continues. The rights of women and girls that have been dismantled by the Taliban are in urgent need of sustaining. There has never been a more urgent time to support and safeguard community-led peacebuilding. We need to keep shining a light on what is happening in Afghanistan, and make sure that support gets to where it is needed most. By extending our Afghan Solidarity Fund into the country, we want to send a message of solidarity to the people of Afghanistan.” – Dylan Mathews, Chief Executive of Peace Direct
You can support this work with a gift today to our Afghan Solidarity Fund, set up to support peacebuilding and women’s rights organisations like EPD.
We would like to thank the People’s Postcode Lottery for supporting this work.
We now have small granting programmes active in seven countries: Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan. This model of our work promotes greater local ownership and allows local leaders to control the funding they need.
