Legal Training/Political Participation/Leadership

Laura Bush Afghan Women’s Leaders Fund. Established in May 2006 by USAID, the Fund provides Afghan women leaders with necessary resources to participate in key training and conferences regionally and in the West. (USAID Funded).

Political Training and Leadership Exchanges. Between 2004 and 2006, USAID, the Department of State, and Embassy of Afghanistan sponsored a number of exchanges and delegations of Afghan women to attend key training/conferences including plenary sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, the Global Summit of Women in Mexico City and Seoul, Korea, as well as delegations to the United States for International Women’s Day. (State/USAID/Embassy of Afghanistan Funded)

In cooperation with USAWC, the Woodrow Wilson Center and RAND Corporation researched and published a document, pro-bono, titled “Best Practices” Progressive Family Laws in Muslim Countries, that depicts family laws in 12 Muslim nations. (Privately funded)

$330,000 - Afghan Women Leaders CONNECT. Led by Council Member Diana Rowan, CONNECT supports Afghan-led women NGOs and legal training institutions that provide training in Afghan civil law/civil procedure codes and international conventions on civil rights. It has also supported the Afghan Women Judges Association (AWJA) legal aid clinic in Mazar-e-Sharif which provides free legal counsel to 100 vulnerable women each year and increases public awareness about women's rights. (Privately funded)

$219,000 – Afghan Women Judges Training. Since 2004, three training programs for Afghan women judges, funded by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), in partnership with the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), have provided visiting Afghan women judges with on-site training in family, criminal and civic law (State/INL and private funds)

$35,000 – International Association of Women Judges. Grant from the State Department (INL) supported legal and judicial awareness classes in 2005 for 300 high school girls and their teachers in Kabul. (State/INL funded)

PBS, Afghanistan Unveiled. After PBS purchased the rights to the film, Afghanistan Unveiled, and broadcasted it over two hundred PBS affiliates, the film was nominated in July 2005 for an Emmy in the “News and Documentary” category. PBS and Council Member Caroline Firestone helped bring five of the original camera women to New York for the September 19 award ceremony. Council Member Pat Mitchell continues to work with the journalists and is exploring ways to support future endeavors. (Privately funded)