Special Project for Displaced Afghan Women

This project is intended to provide displaced Afghan business and professional women with tools to regain dignity, establish themselves, and rebuild.

Nermin Ahmad

Our four-part approach includes: 

• Resources: Many Afghans arrived with one set of clothes. They need new goods (undergarments, gently used loose clothing, large scarves). Donations are being used to provide new, modest undergarments. We also seek cloth and sewing machines.  
• Guidebook: using stories and life hacks from immigrant women who experienced common perceptions/misperceptions, faced fundamental/common differences as business & professional women, entrepreneurs, and young women going to university. The guidebook is structured so that it can be adapted to any women moving to a new country. No equivalent information exists for business and professional women in the US.
• Advocacy: Cultural competency training is being developed for those engaged in empowering and advocating for arriving women and their families.  Complementary training is being developed for arriving refugees.
• Mentorship: Our vibrant mentoring program will be opened for Afghan women seeking allies and mentors.

Message

We are creating a living document that can be adapted for any group of displaced women in any country. The concept is to use the real experiences of displaced women and immigrants to help new arrivals more rapidly achieve dignity, independence and integration in their new home. With this come advocacy and mentorship resources and training that bridges cultural gaps and supports understanding and respect among business and professional women.