Category: News

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Sahar remains in Afghanistan

We know many of you have questions about the impact of President Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. In response to President Biden’s decision, Sahar’s Board of Directors and staff have reaffirmed our enduring commitment to educating young Afghan women and girls. We’ve served over 250,000 girls since September 2001 and witnessed the incredible strides in girls’ lives through education. We will continue to stay on the ground, support our Afghan team, and maintain the vital security precautions that enable our students and staff’s success. 

As an organization that serves Afghan girls and women in a conflict zone, we’ve long anticipated the impacts of a US troop withdrawal. Over the years, we’ve developed a sophisticated risk mitigation strategy that will guide our decisions as further developments and changes occur. 

In announcing the decision to withdraw US troops, President Biden reiterated the United States government’s commitment to diplomacy and humanitarian aid, including the ongoing support for girls education. We are pleased that the Biden administration has outlined significant financial resources for these efforts.

Sahar’s decision to remain in Afghanistan is a testament to our trust and ongoing partnership with our team on the ground and our shared commitment to girls’ education. We will continue to update you as the withdrawal process unfolds. 

As members of our community, donors, and champions of girls’ education, we thank you for your continued commitment to Sahar during a time of significant change. 

With Gratitude,

Catherine Gelband – President of Sahar Board of Directors

Ginna Brelsford – Executive Director

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Blog News

Welcoming the Biden-Harris Administration

Sahar translates into ‘a new day’ in Farsi and indeed yesterday was a new day in the United States. We celebrate the inauguration of President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The ascension of the first woman vice president, the first Indian and African-American woman to the second highest seat in the land, is a moment of victory for all – including immigrants and those who have suffered mightily and even died for equality.

Notably, among the first Presidential actions was to sign an executive order reversing the Muslim ban. We look forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration to champion girls’ rights!

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Blog News

Celebrating 20 Years

Dear Friends of Sahar,

Our world has suffered immeasurably this past year. Just as the holidays arrive, many families remain separated from one another because of COVID-19. And yet, at the same time, we’ve all learned how to cope with this new normal, defined by uncertainties, zoom sessions, WhatsApp groups, masks, and social distancing. For Sahar, the impacts of COVID-19, the Afghan-Taliban negotiations, and the U.S. troop drawdown have amplified our resilience. Of course, resiliency has been part of Sahar’s story since the beginning.  

It is under these conditions that Sahar celebrates its 20th year of providing education to Afghan girls. Among our many accomplishments, we have delivered innovative gender equity programs to over 250,000 girls and their families, built or repaired 18 public schools, and educated 850 female teachers. Recently, we expanded our work to include engaging men and boys as gender allies. Our programs and schools create safe spaces for girls to study, play, and learn skills for the future, while also fostering peace among families and reducing the dire conditions of poverty.  

For 20 years, we have witnessed the hardships and trauma that endure within families and their communities after decades of war. Throughout it all, we find light and reasons to continue fighting—for gender equity, peace in Afghanistan, and a world where all girls can go to school.  

Sahar looks forward to shaping the lives of another 250,000 girls over the next 20 years. We will continue to build schools, provide educational opportunities to Afghan communities, and champion girls’ rights. Your conviction to promote a better world where all girls can study and reach for their dreams sustains our work in Afghanistan. Thank you. 

Happy Holidays from our family to yours. May the coming year be filled with light and hope of better things to come for our families, Afghanistan, and the world at large. 

Ginna Brelsford                                            Catherine Gelband 

Executive Director                                        Board President 

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Blog News

Sahar Awarded WomenStrong International Grant

An MPC session at a high school in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan in September 2020.

Sahar is pleased to announce that WomenStrong International has awarded us with a two-year
grant (2020-2022) to support Men as Partners in Change (MPC) as part of their innovative
Learning Lab in Girls’ Education and Empowerment (GEE).

WomenStrong finds, funds, strengthens, and shares women-driven solutions to transform lives.
WomenStrong brings together these organizations to learn and share through Learning Labs. In
these Labs, members explore their areas of work by looking to alternative intervention models,
existing academic research, and replicable practitioner approaches.

Sahar is excited to continue growing as part of the GEE Learning Lab, which focuses on how to
keep girls in school and prepare them with the tools and resources they need to live dignified and
peaceful lives. The GEE Learning Lab also works to understand how best to engage boys and
men as partners in girls’ empowerment, a central component of our MPC program.

Despite a challenging year due to COVID-19, the MPC pilot project – also supported by
WomenStrong – proved to be an incredibly valuable program for the communities with which
we work. “I learned by rights and, at the same time, women’s rights. I
understand that human rights are not restricted to men but for all human beings,” says Yasir
Walizadah, an MPC Trainee who did his training entirely remotely earlier this year.

We are grateful to WomenStrong for their continued support and look forward to continuing the
MPC program as we work to promote girls’ education, rights, and empowerment in Afghanistan.

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News

20th Anniversary Celebration

Join us on Thursday, October 29, 2020 at 6pm PST with Board Member, Joel Meyers, and Executive Director, Ginna Brelsford, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our work! 

The celebration will include special appearances by our wonderful Afghan Fellows who will speak to the successes and continued challenges of girls’ education in Afghanistan. 

Proceeds from this fundraiser will benefit our mission to empower girls and women with the education they need to build peaceful, thriving communities.

Register here to join us – we look forward to seeing you!

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News

Our Response to COVID-19

Sahar staff hand out COVID-19 care packages to community members in Mazar-i-Sharif.

This week Afghan students return to the classroom after more than six months out of school because of COVID-19. For us at Sahar, this back-to-school season marks the beginning of a new phase of COVID-19 response.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education first closed schools in March 2020. Since then, through the work of our implementing field partner, we began operating our programs remotely via WhatsApp. Our Men as Partners in Change Program and Early Marriage Prevention Program delivered course-specific training while also sharing information about how students could keep themselves, their families, their communities safe in light of the pandemic. In addition to adopting a remote model of programming, we also distributed care packages with COVID-19 necessities like hand soap and face masks to students and local community members. Responding to the immediate needs of the community was important because many of the communities we serve do not have access to the resources necessary to respond to the pandemic.

As schools reopen, we continue to reach the girls we work with by phone, WhatsApp groups, and peer-to-peer contact. The teachers involved in our programs are working with school administrators to ensure the healthy and safe return of girls to school. Through our MPC program, we have access to mosque leaders, community leaders, fathers, and boys in schools, all of whom we are encouraging to send their daughters and sisters back to school. Sahar’s field officers are resuming our programs cautiously and keeping girls’ health a priority.

Looking forward, addressing gender inequality is fundamental to recovering from the pandemic. In Afghanistan, there is a high likelihood that many girls will not return to school after missing almost half the year. There are also growing concerns that girls are at a higher risk of early marriage due to their families’ financial struggles. These challenges make continuing our gender-responsive work all the more important. COVID-19 has and continues to deepen existing gender inequalities and, as an organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities for girls, we must work to ensure that the future looks bright for Afghan girls despite the pandemic.

Although addressing gender disparities is a definitive challenge of COVID-19 response, it is also an opportunity. If our work has shown us anything, it is that girls are an invaluable resource to their families, communities, and countries. By promoting the right of girls to receive an education (even and especially within a pandemic), we are promoting the development of a peaceful and resilient Afghanistan.

Donate to support our work and make sure students and teachers can return safely to their classrooms.

You can change the life of a girl and her community.

Donate Today