Afghan Women Advancement & Rural Development Organization (AWARDO)

AWARD Background: AWARD is an organization led by Afghan women who lived through very difficult times and yet found a way to be University educated and politically savvy. “When the Taliban closed down the schools for girls, we opened the schools for girls.” Ms. Najiba Faiz, founder of AWARD. AWARD was established to support and empower Afghan women in the Provinces of Afghanistan. Whether in Provincial Capitals or at the District levels, AWARD serves to introduce and advocate for the work of Afghan women. Rights of Afghan women have suffered from past policies such as those of the Taliban which severely limited women's freedom of movement. For example, women could travel only when accompanied by a male relative, which put a particular strain on female-headed households and widows rights. AWARD seeks to create a harmonized environment within the community by boosting capacity and empowering individual abilities through women’s education, training, employment and work accomplishment. The overall objective of AWARD is to recognize the inherent and formative role of women in society for the betterment of all people. The emphasis of AWARD is on improved effectiveness of democracy, respect for human rights by Government, gender equity, and sustainable rural development with implementation of infrastructure projects and community capacity building. Afghanistan is now embarking on a process to create credible and accountable institutions in which all Afghans are represented. One role of International communities is to assist and encourage this process. There cannot be true peace and recovery in Afghanistan without a restoration of the rights and intellectual and creative gifts of half the human population. If Afghanistan has 30 million people, approximately 15 million are women. After the Taliban’s rise to power, women and girls were systematically discriminated against and marginalized, and their human rights were violated.