Women's Leadership

We support women with their aspirations towards political participation and provide opportunities to learn skills. This helps them to gain confidence to work on influencing policy on women's rights. Rabia Balkhi, together with The Canadian CIDA and Open Society Afghanistan (OSA), created the first database of potential women leaders.

We visited all of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, interviewing women that were well known to their local communities. A list of 1400 women was produced and shared solely with senior government figures to protect the women's security. This list of impressive women was used to identify competent candidates for future senior appointments and for the decision makers to consult with on nationwide important matters.

In the past five years Rabia Balkhi has supported a number of young women to attend to their higher education. An Italian NGO has provided the funds for this project and some of the women have now graduated from university and found jobs. These young women are also those that have lost their fathers and they end up supporting their extended family after graduation and finding employment. They themselves are the young leaders that take part in empowering other women in their circles.