For Immediate Release: Monday, August 15, 2022
Media Contact: Olivia Rasmussen, [email protected]
One-Year Since Kabul Fell: VOICE Urges Humanitarian Community to Listen to Local, Women-Led Organizations to Address the Crisis Facing Afghan Women and Girls
NATIONWIDE – To mark one year since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan was cemented with the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, Mendy Marsh, Co-Founder and Executive Director at VOICE, a feminist organization dedicated to eradicating violence against women and girls and holding the humanitarian community accountable to women and girls in crisis settings, released the following statement:
“Over the course of the past year, the Taliban’s horrific campaign to turn back the clock on Afghan women and girls’ rights through their violent persecution and marginalization has made it clear that the Taliban has not changed. But the current conditions on the ground in Afghanistan and facing Afghan refugees around the world is also a direct result of the U.S. and broader humanitarian community’s failure to prioritize the voices and needs of Afghan women and girls. Even as the media has largely left behind the crisis in Afghanistan, allowing it to be overshadowed by other global events, it is critical people not forget about Afghan women.
“Afghan women, girls and women-led organizations must be at the center of the international community’s response to the crisis in Afghanistan. They have the knowledge, skills and expertise to create solutions that will better support them in this crisis and ensure critical funding and resources reach those most in need. After Afghan women spent two decades thinking they were part of a partnership with the U.S. and international community, to then be betrayed and left behind, it’s past time for the global community to listen to Afghan women and girls and empower them to drive solutions to this crisis.
“VOICE is proud to work with the Afghan Women’s Advocacy Group (AWAG) because Afghan women and girls’ voices need to be heard. As a global organization, we have the power and responsibility to help uplift Afghan women and girls’ concerns, experiences and insights into what is needed from the international community to address the crisis that has unfolded since August of last year. It’s time the rest of the international humanitarian community join us and start putting their words into action.”
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About VOICE
VOICE is a feminist organization confronting one of the world’s oldest and most widespread human rights abuses: violence against women and girls (VAWG). We power the revolutionary force of women- and girl-led organizations, fueling their efforts across the globe as they build networks, launch movements, and provide critical programs at the frontline of crisis, conflict, and disaster where VAWG is at its worst. Our approach, steeped in women’s rights practice, offers something new and necessary in the fight to end VAWG.