Women's Resource Centers

In 2003, USAID committed to buiilding 17 Women's Resource Centers in Afghanistan. Programs at these Centers focus on providing training to women, meeting space and referral services and information sesources for women (and men) who come to them seeking assistance. They are managed by the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs.

• $3.56 million -- Women’s Resource Centers. A total of seventeen centers are completed (one built, in part, by a contribution by Time Warner). Asia Foundation was awarded a $2.5 million grant in December 2005 to help build capacity at the Centers and implement new programming. $1 million was contributed by the Council in 2005 to provide the following services: (ECA/State/USAWC Funds/USAID).
  • American Councils for International Education (ACIE): ACIE conducted a project to expose Afghan educational administrators and community leaders to different approaches in education and literacy training. The workshop was held at California State University Chico. The participants returned to Afghanistan and conducted training sessions at the Women's Resource Centers.
  • World Learning (WL): WL, in partnership with the Afghan Center Kabul, conducted leadership training for six Afghan women at Bluefield College in West Virginia. Council Member Caroline Firestone generously donated DELL computers to these women to help further their training back in Kabul.
  • University of Delaware (UD): UD partnered with the Afghan Institute for Learning and Creating Hope International in a program to prepare women to take leadership positions in the Women's Resource Centers.
  • Women for Afghan Women (WFAW): WFAW worked with Afghan women entrepreneurs to train them in designing and manufacturing products that can be sold in the United States.
  • Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development (GLC): GLC, a component of the WSOS Community Action Commission, in partnership with the Reconstruction Authority for Afghanistan (RAFA), conducted a program to foster business development by women in Afghanistan.
  • Institute for Training and Development (ITD): ITD's program enhanced the capacity of ten Afghan women educators and NGO and Women's Resource Center workers to educate women and girls and to manage the educational services provided by their organizations.
• Afghan Women Leaders CONNECT: Connect has dedicated new resources to expand the existing Women’s Resource Center in Bamiyan to enhance services for women in that province. (Privately funded)