UK Women Helping Afghan Women — Urgent Fundraiser Launched As UK Not-For-Profit Partners With FAWZIA KOOFI, PEACE NEGOTIATION TEAM MEMBER & Advocate for Rights of Girls And Women

EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR AFGHANISTAN:

The Centre of Peace and Education, based in the UK, in partnership with Fawzia Koofi, the prominent women and children’s rights activist and Afghan member of the peace negotiating team, are calling for urgent funding for the protection of the women and children of Afghanistan. Afghan communities are being forced out of their homes under the grave threat brutal and extreme violence from the Taliban. Today there is no shelter or protection for the internally displaced, who are numbering in the 100,000s. They are forced to escape their homes with little warning and no possessions, forced to reside in the open spaces of parks and streets across Afghanistan. It is the women who will bear the brunt of this war — yet again — Rape, forced marriages and erosion of all women’s rights. She is unable to protect herself and her children.

The funds raised for this emergency will be spent on clean water, food, sanitation and tents for the people who are internally displaced. Fawzia Koofi has been extremely proactive and has been reporting to us daily at the Centre of Peace and Education. She reports that the residents of Kabul are doing their utmost under these extreme insecurities, sharing all they can, including their meals. Help is needed now.

Special processes are in place to ensure the delivery of funds and that the money is allocated in accordance with the emergency needs and international standards.

BACKGROUND:

The UK-based organisation Centre of Peace and Education provides opportunities for girls from rural and vulnerable communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan to complete their compulsory education, empowering them to make the choice they want for their future. It is a not-for-profit organisation that funds sustainable school places for girls, and today has teams established in the UK, Afghanistan and Australia. It equips its students with the knowledge of the national curriculum and trauma healing, so that they leave school with the resilience needed to pursue their happiness and ambitions.

The Centre of Peace and Education has a school in Afghanistan with more than 160 primary and secondary girls enrolled. The organisation was founded by Rachel Cruz, who has previously spent many years in Pakistan (FLOW International), where she was instrumental in raising millions of dollars in Sydney, Australia, when the floods hit Pakistan in 2010, working with the Consul General of Pakistan. She went on to work with local communities which led to the successful implementation of The Rose School that is self-sustaining and has been handed over to local management in 2017. Clean water is also an area of great importance in rural and vulnerable communities, where they do not have access to clean water at all. Rachel and her team were instrumental in implementing clean water strategies in Tharparkar, Karachi and other areas of Pakistan, including consulting on individual homes and providing the necessary resources.

The Centre of Peace and Education is partnered with Fawzia Koofi — the globally renowned Afghan politician and women’s rights advocate — to support projects promoting women’s rights and empowerment. She is part of the peace negotiation team representing the Afghan government and has been instrumental in the furtherment of women’s rights and opportunities in Afghanistan over the last 20 years. Fawzia Koofi began her political career in 2001, promoting the right to education of girls in the Back-to-School campaign, and was the country’s first female leader of a political party. She has survived two assassination attempts, which have not lessened her resolve to use her voice and public platforms to speak for vital improvements to the lives of women and girls across the country.

The Centre of Peace and Education is “Teaching girls to move mountains through education”. Our mission is to inspire rural and vulnerable communities to believe in, and insist on, the highest level of education for their girls through encouraging effective and lasting change at ground level. This begins with women from rural regions becoming leaders within their communities, ensuring their own meaningful participation is on the agenda regarding the current peace process in Afghanistan.

THE ASK:

They are asking women around the world- and all those who believe in equality and justice — to come together, to show these people that they care. And, ultimately, that together WE ALL make a difference.

We must stand with the women of Afghanistan because we know their plight and we recognise that we have the means to support them, even from far away. TODAY, YOUR SUPPORT will provide them with the URGENTLY NEEDED CLEAN WATER, FOOD, SANITATION AND TENTS so they can protect their families in the face of the very real and extreme brutality surrounding them.

If you’d like to help them meet their goal, donate here: https://centreofpeaceandeducation.co.uk/donate/

OR via their GoFundMe appeal: https://gofund.me/69da95b2
More about Rachel Cruz: www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-cruz-peaceeducation
More about Fawzia Koofi: https://fawziakoofi.org/
More about The Centre of Peace And Education: https://centreofpeaceandeducation.co.uk