Afghan Women's Resource Centre (AWRC)

Partner: Afghan Women's Resource Centre
Project: Mehtarlam and Jalalabad Women's Centres
Location: Nangarhar and Laghman Provinces
Canadian Donor Support: US$70,450

AWRC was originally founded in 1989 by a group of Afghan refugee women in Peshawar, Pakistan to address the urgent needs of Afghan refugee women.  In 2002, with funding assistance from CW4WAfghan, AWRC was able to re-establish an office for AWRC in Kabul, and begin its activities in Afghanistan.

In addition to a number of other projects, in 2009 CW4WAfghan funded the establishment of a suboffice for AWRC in Laghman province. This project includes establishing female and youth discussion groups, internet training, and ten workshops on various issues of community mobilization and building capacity as female leaders. An additional twenty workshops will be organized for the men and women in the community.

AWRC's vision is "of a future where Afghan women are active agents of positive change in their community and country. AWRC serves women and children in the provinces of Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa, Laghman and Ningarhar in Afghanistan, and in Peshawar, Pakistan. AWRC focuses on women's empowerment for gender equity and on the protection of children. Currently, their main programmes include: Community Mobilization & Advocacy, Education, Community Empowerment, Supporting Civil Society Organizations."

These women's resource centres aim to facilitate women's active contributions to Afghanistan's broader development objectives by providing opportunities for women in rural areas to help them access the skills, information and knowledge required to become agents of social change in their country.

The centres provide women with a safe, welcoming place to come outside of the private sphere, where they are free to pursue personal and professional development according to their own needs and interests. The variety of activities held in the centre helps it to gain status as a community hub, where people come together to meet, plan and socialize. The women’s centres offer services that respond to the basic hopes and needs of communities: to increase literacy, to stimulate economic development for poverty alleviation, and to build human capital through skills development and access to information.