WOMEN & CHILD PROTECTION
GOAL
Enhancing Quality of Life and Well-being While Preventing and combatting violence against women and children in rural and Urban settings of Afghanistan
SITUATION
Decades of conflict have torn the traditional social fabric of Afghan society and made way to social evils spreads in Society. This has exerted severe effects on marginalized sections of Afghan communities—especially women. In this context, women’s rights Reforms have become a highly sensitive and contested issue in Afghanistan. Unfortunately some of the past approaches towards addressing Women Rights has been Counter Productive .In 2013, outspoken clerics in parliament denounced the Elimination of Violence Against Women law as “un-Islamic” and a “foreign project,” and they thwarted approval of the corresponding presidential decree of 2009.
In developing programs to support women’s rights in Afghanistan keeping in mind the cultural sensitivities and religious sentiments is paramount. Women’s rights advocates and practitioners in gender-related projects need to engage religious leaders and their institutions if they hope to influence their communities and the country as a whole. Many working in the field of women’s rights avoid engaging with religious figures perceived as conservatives opposed to progressive change. This parallel streams needs to be brought together and build trust to produce environment that give liberties to both women and children ensuring Dignified Living.
Approach: Engaging Religious Leaders
Effective engagement with religious leaders takes significant time, right approach, effort and funding to build the essential ingredients of trust and ownership. Afghanistan has witnessed the failure of multiple projects in which the international community offered large sums of money to traditional leaders as an incentive to gain their support for a particular ideology, rather than embark on a process of true engagement and dialogue.
FOCUS AREAS
- Public Awareness through local effective mediums
- Training and Capacity building of religious leader
- Training and capacity building of community institutions
- Training and capacity building of key community leaders
- Identification of victims for counseling
- Training on Mental Health First Aid
TARGETED BENEFICIARIES
- Children, Street Kids
- Girl Students and Talented Women
- Working Women and Mothers