Morning everyone. This week’s nomination is so eloquent it doesn’t need any introduction. The way women in Afghanistan are now being treated is an abomination and the way they’ve been abandoned by the powers that be in the West, even more so. We’re proud to help Afghanaid this week and thank Craig Webber for his considered nomination.
Hello mate, I thought I'd send this to you to see if it warrants being forwarded to the committee.
It's not an individual but a UK based charity supporting the women of Afghanistan.
Please see nomination below.
Cheers, Webber
To the awesome 500 Reasons team and wider group,
It has been wonderful to read all of the worthwhile causes supported over the years and I hope you will consider my nomination, Afghanaid.
Following on from a number of worthy nominations from this group a couple of years back I was moved last week by a report I read focusing on Afghanaid. As you will no doubt remember from the widespread reporting in August 2021 Afghanistan has been abandoned by NATO and the West. This has had devastating ramifications for a whole host of groups, including ethnic minorities, interpreters, those working for western agencies (the list goes on and on) but none more so than women, and approximately 19 million of them.
It is not too extreme to say that currently it is all over for any Afghan women who may want a job or career and had grown accustomed to exactly that over the preceding 20 years. They have been forced back into the home, back into a burqa and only allowed out in public when chaperoned by a male family member or husband. Girls have been removed from schools and women who had jobs have been forced to stand aside for men. There have been widespread reports of young girls and women being taken as spoils of war over the past 2 years. This 20 year tissue of lies has been exposed as a betrayal on an unparalleled level. The lights have gone out. There is no reasonable Taliban.
In fact, they have been more draconian than they were in the 20th century. These women have been abandoned by NATO, the US and the UK, to name just a few. From Bush to Blair and Biden to Boris, plus all of those in between, you should be ashamed. It is utterly overwhelming what is happening in in this beautiful country. Any female under the age of 22 has grown up in an Afghanistan with choices in their personal and professional life. A freedom to go in their own direction and be who they want to be. Can you imagine how this feels to be taken away overnight, with no hope of a return? To give some context the median age in this ancient country is just 18. The West has no leverage to support these 19 million women. China, Russia, Pakistan and Iran are the only countries on earth who can lean on the Taliban but their human rights and gender equality records are questionable at best. Our geo-political power left with the last C-17 American plane that took off from Hamid Karza airport in August 2021, along with the basic freedoms that a generation have enjoyed. In these dark times it is charities like Afghanaid who offer some glimmer of hope for those women who do want to continue with the lives they once considered normal. This isn’t the time to discuss the merits of democracy by bullet as those left behind need help now, and none more so than the women of Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Jalalabad, Kunduz, Ghanzi….. Afghanaid supports a wide range of causes but is dedicated to protecting the rights of disenfranchised Afghan women and girls. In particular it works to help females exercise their rights to pursue their individual potential to self-determination and to representation in all areas of life; political, social, cultural, economic. This wonderful charity relentlessly advocates for women’s rights and if ever they needed support, it’s now. Thank you for your consideration and understanding. Keep up the fantastic work. Webber https://www.afghanaid.org.uk/Appeal/iwd-2023-support-women-in-afghanistan