Mission
The U.S.-Afghan Women's Council is a public-private partnership, created in 2002 by Presidents George W. Bush and Hamid Karzai, and now homed at Georgetown University. It connects the U.S. Government, the Afghan Government, the private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations to develop and implement initiatives in support of Afghan women and children. The U.S. chairs are the President of Georgetown University, Dr. John DeGioia, and the Secretary of State's Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer. The Council is under the direction of Dr. Phyllis Magrab, Director of Georgetown's Center for Child and Human Development, who serves as the Council's Vice Chair. The Afghan chairs are the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Women's Affairs. Mrs. Laura Bush is the Council's Honorary Advisor, in reflection of her many contributions to Afghan women and children as First Lady, and her continued dedication today.
The Council uses its network to identify needs in Afghanistan, to convene interested partners to develop a proposal, and to help broker connections for funding and implementation. The Council also organizes periodic training programs and capacity-building consultations for Afghan women traveling to the United States.Download PDF of brochure.
Projects
The Council's work covers entrepreneurship, literacy and education, leadership, health care, and children. The Council consists of a core group of Members who are pre-eminent figures in government, the private sector, and philanthropy. They serve as a defacto steering committee to guide the work of subcommittees on health, education and literacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The subcommittees consist of individual Members and a broader network of affinity groups who support the Council's overall goals. Download Initiatives and Activities document.
Examples of Council projects include:
- Partnering with the U.S. Agency for International Development to create the International School of Kabul, the American University of Afghanistan, and the Women's Teacher Training Institute in Kabul;
- Constructing a learning center for children in Bamyan, and providing children in Kabul with education and vocational training;
- Creating Women's Resource Centers throughout Afghanistan, training Afghan women judges, and supporting legal services for women;
- Providing skills training, literacy, and health care to women and families in the hand-woven carpet industry;
- Educating aspiring Afghan women entrepreneurs through business training and mentoring;
- Training health care workers and midwives;
- Establishing a burn center to treat victims and provide reconstructive surgery;
- Providing leadership training for Afghan women.
Sponsors
The Council's meetings and activities are sponsored in part by the Goldman Sachs Foundation. The Goldman Sachs Foundation is a global philanthropic organization which promotes excellence and innovation in education and works to improve the academic performance and lifelong productivity of young people worldwide through a combination of strategic partnerships, grants, loans, and the deployment of professional talent from Goldman Sachs.
Updates
AUAf Welcomes New President, Launches Mentorship Program: Dr. C. Michael Smith is the newly-arrived President of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAf). He and his wife, Dr. Elspeth Smith, are settling into their new home in Kabul after a prior assignment in Nigeria, where Smith headed (and helped to found) that country's American University. Dr. Smith also oversaw the accreditation of 30 universities in the United Arab Emirates, and has extensive background in education administration in the United States. Dr. Smith brings to Afghanistan his passionate commitment to providing educational opportunities to all young people. We wish him and his family the very best! As part of AUAf's outreach, the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan recently launched a mentorship program to match eighteen AUAf students with young professional members of the World Affairs Council of Houston. Mentors will provide students with advice and guidance in making decisions on graduate school and careers.
10,000 Women Program Enters Its Second Year in Afghanistan: The second year of the Goldman Sachs-sponsored "10,000 Women" initiative to provide business education is underway at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAf), in partnership with Thunderbird School of Global Management. Between November 2009 and April 2010, sixty Afghan women will be trained at AUAf, and graduates will mentor and network with the 54 graduates from the first year of the program, and with leading business support agencies in Afghanistan. Thunderbird develops and provides the curriculum, which is focused on entrepreneurial skills such as marketing, finance, and the production of a viable business plan.
IEEW "Peace Through Business" Graduate In the News: NBC Nightly News profiled "Peace Through Business" 2009 graduate Andeisha Farid in its "Making a Difference" segment on the October 30th broadcast—and prompted viewers to donate almost $50,000 to her work. Twenty-seven-year old Andeisha Farid spent her childhood living in refugee camps outside Afghanistan, and became involved with Charity Help International's Child Sponsorship Program. That experience led her to found the non-profit Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO) upon her return to Kabul in 2007. AFCECO runs two orphanages in Pakistan and seven orphanages in Afghanistan, in addition to a girl's school and several vocational training centers. In addition to providing children a safe and nurturing environment, AFCECO instills important leadership values of tolerance. The NBC profile of Andeisha and the bright and ambitious girls in one of her orphanages inspired viewers to donate almost $50,000 in the days immediately following the broadcast.
Planning is now underway for the 2010 class of "Peace through Business" students trained by the Institute for the Economic Empowerment of Women, in partnership with Northwood University. Applications for students and mentors are available at www.ieew.org.
Microfinance Success Story: Mina Sherzoy, Director of Training for USAID's Capacity Development Program in Kabul, held a successful fundraiser on October 22 in Kabul for "The Savings Group", a microfinance organization that lends to women in rural areas of Afghanistan. The "Savings Group" is organized by women leaders from government, journalism, business, and NGO's—including the members of the recently-formed civil service Afghan Women's Caucus, which was launched during the women's leadership training at Georgetown University in July 2009. "Savings Group" clients shared their stories: one woman was able to expand her bakery to open three new locations, another woman is financing a small dairy business. Their stories prompted the President of Kabul Bank to donate the funds to settle their remaining payments, and helped to raise a total of $40,000 for the evening.
Networking with Women Physicians: The Council hosted a meeting at Georgetown on September 25 for twelve women physicians from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, all of whom were participants in a State Department-sponsored International Visitors Program to learn about the U.S. health care system. Leading physicians and professors from Georgetown's Medical School, representing the nursing, pediatrics, neonatology, reproductive health, and family medicine divisions, shared in the discussion of how best to address challenges faced throughout the South Central Asia region. These include treating large populations with limited resources; a lack of basic public education in health and hygiene; the difficulty women face in accessing health care due to a limited number of clinics and transportation, financial, and cultural restrictions; and harmful cultural practices such as early marriage and childbirth. Council members and the Georgetown physicians offered suggestions and assistance in advancing family planning, reducing the numbers of unattended births and resulting infant and maternal mortality, and increasing awareness of basic health care practices.
Connections Newsletter:
How You Can Get Involved
- We invite you to browse through the links to Council projects, below, and to consider donating your time, talent, or resources directly to them.
- Be a trainer or a mentor—share your professional expertise with Afghan women counterparts. Contact us for further information.
- We welcome opportunities to speak to school groups, clubs, and organizations about the Council's work, and to explore how your group can make a difference.
Links to Council Projects and Partners
10,000 Women
Abbott Laboratories
Afghan Women Leaders Connect
ARZU RUGS (Download PDF of Overview, Mission)
Aschiana Foundation
Embassy of Afghanistan, Washington, DC
Grossman Burn Foundation
Project Artemis
Sozo International
The American University of Afghanistan
The Ayenda Foundation
The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women
The International School of Kabul
U.S. Agency for International Development
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of State
Contact Us
Eva Weigold Schultz
Executive Director, U.S.-Afghan Women's Council
202-687-5095
ew245@georgetown.edu
