I’M CALLING ON YOU, MY READERS, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ AND WHITE ALLIES TO TO TAKE ACTION TO STOP THE TALIBAN FROM ERASING AFGHAN WOMEN AND GIRLS. IN THIS POST, I HAVE OUTLINED HOW YOU CAN HELP.
PLEASE SHARE THIS POST ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA, WITH YOUR FRIENDS, AND WITH FAMILY AND COLLEAGUES. AFGHAN WOMEN NEED YOUR HELP.
For 17 years, I worked through my nonprofit, Afghan Friends Network, in the province of Ghazni, Afghanistan to educate girls, boys, and women.
On Thursday Ghazni was taken over by the Taliban and our schools were shut down. The Taliban have told women and girls not to go to school, work, or attend university.
The director of our schools (name not shared for her safety) has been on the Taliban watch list for many years, but she continued her work to educate girls and empower women by putting her own life on the line, certain that things will get better.
Last week, she fled to Kabul and is hiding. I’m in direct contact with her. She is in shock and terrified.
She described to me that looters have descended on the streets of Kabul after the government collapse. People are hiding in their homes and men are staying up all night guarding their families.
Shops are empty of food, oil, and gas. Prices of food have gone through the roof. All flights leaving the country are booked. Afghans are terrified of what is about to unfold and they are wondering why the world is just watching and not speaking up.
{We are doing special fundraising to help the director of our schools (who is currently in hiding) and our teachers with their expenses to get out of Ghazni, buy food or even leave Afghanistan. Donations can be made on the Afghan Friends Network website. Your donations are tax-deductible.}
Afghan women are terrified that once the US, Sweden, and other countries evacuate their embassies the Taliban will once again take away all their hard-earned rights and advancements.
I’m worried for our students, teachers and feel completely demoralized as I watch Afghanistan fall apart after the hasty departure of the US & NATO support teams.
This morning, I decided that if I don’t do something, our work and these women will soon be erased from society. So, I’m calling on you for help. It won’t take much time but you can help save Afghan women and girls' lives.
Here is how YOU can help support Afghan women and girls:
1. Call or txt your representatives and ask them to:
Put pressure on the Taliban to honor the Afghan constitution
Demand that the Taliban allow women to be an active part of the society. They must allow women and girls to go to school, work, vote, and participate in civil society.
Inform the Taliban that they must allow a free Afghan media
You will be able to send a message to your representative within a couple of minutes.
2. Contact one of the members of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and US Sentate Foreign Relations Committee. A full list of contacts is included at the end of this blog post) and ask them to:
Extend the evacuation deadline
Process visa for Afghans who are at risk
Put pressure on Pakistan to stop enabling, funding and supporting the Taliban.
Demand that the Taliban allow women to be an active part of the society. They must allow women and girls to go to school, work, vote, and participate in civil society.
Inform the Taliban that they must allow a free Afghan media
3. Please call on:
Kenneth Roth head of Human Right Watch on Twitter handle @KenRoth
Abdulla Shahid head of UN General Assembly on Twitter handle @abdulla_shahid
Deborah Lyons head of United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Twitter handle @DeborahLyonsUN
4. Share this post and use the following hashtags to amplify the voices of Afghan women.
#unitednations #humanrightswatch @hrw #AfghanWomen #stopthetaliban
5. Evacuated Afghan refugees will be arriving in Sacramento. Opening Doors, the resettlement organization is looking for volunteers to pick up arrivals at the airport, donations of clothes and furniture.
6. Donate your frequent miles to help Afghans at Miles4Migrants.
7. Hayward, Fremont, Union City volunteers needed at the Afghan Coalition for.
1. Afghanistan relief advocacy
2. Afghan evacuation support
3. Afghan resettlement support
4. A space for people to coordinate efforts across the country
Here is how you sign up.
Names and Contacts for Members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
Barrasso, John (202) 224-6441 WY
Booker, Cory A. (202) 224-3224 NJ
Cardin, Benjamin L. (202) 224-4524 MD
Coons, Christopher A. (202) 224-5042 DE
Cruz, Ted (202) 224-5922 TX
Hagerty, Bill (202) 224-4944 TN
Johnson, Ron (202) 224-5323 WI
Kaine, Tim (202) 224-4024 VA
Markey, Edward J. (202) 224-2742 MA
Menendez, Robert (202) 224-4744 NJ
Merkley, Jeff (202) 224-3753 OR
Murphy, Christopher (202) 224-4041 CT
Paul, Rand (202) 224-4343 KY
Portman, Rob (202) 224-3353 OH
Risch, James E. (202) 224-2752 ID
Romney, Mitt (202) 224-5251 UT
Rounds, Mike (202) 224-5842 SD
Rubio, Marco (202) 224-3041 FL
Schatz, Brian (202) 224-3934 HI
Shaheen, Jeanne (202) 224-2841 NH
Van Hollen, Chris (202) 224-4654 MD
Young, Todd (202) 224-5623 IN
Names and Contacts for Members of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs:
Allred, Colin (202) 225-2231 Texas 32nd
Barr, Andy (202) 225-4706 Kentucky 6th
Bass, Karen (202) 225-7084 California 37th
Bera, Ami (202) 225-5716 California 7th
Buck, Ken (202) 225-4676 Colorado 4th
Burchett, Tim (202) 225-5435 Tennessee 2nd
Castro, Joaquin (202) 225-3236 Texas 20th
Chabot, Steve (202) 225-2216 Ohio 1st
Cicilline, David (202) 225-4911 Rhode Island 1st
Connolly, Gerald E. "Gerry" (202) 225-1492 Virginia 11th
Costa, Jim (202) 225-3341 California 16th
Deutch, Ted (202) 225-3001 Florida 22nd
Fitzpatrick, Brian (202) 225-4276 Pennsylvania 1st
Gonzalez, Anthony (202) 225-3876 Ohio 16th
Gonzalez, Vicente (202) 225-2531 Texas 15th
Green, Al (202) 225-7508 Texas 9th
Green, Mark (202) 225-2811 Tennessee 7th
Houlahan, Chrissy (202) 225-4315 Pennsylvania 6th
Issa, Darrell (202) 225-5672 California 50th
Jackson, Ronny (202) 225-3706 Texas 13th
Jackson Lee, Sheila (202) 225-3816 Texas 18th
Jacobs, Chris (202) 225-5265 New York 27th
Jacobs, Sara (202) 225-2040 California 53rd
Keating, William (202) 225-3111 Massachusetts 9th
Kim, Andy (202) 225-4765 New Jersey 3rd
Kim, Young (202) 225-4111 California 39th
Kinzinger, Adam (202) 225-3635 Illinois 16th
Levin, Andy (202) 225-4961 Michigan 9th
Levin, Mike (202) 225-3906 California 49th
Lieu, Ted (202) 225-3976 California 33rd
Malinowski, Tom (202) 225-5361 New Jersey 7th
Malliotakis, Nicole (202) 225-3371 New York 11th
Manning, Kathy E. (202) 225-3065 North Carolina 6th
Mast, Brian (202) 225-3026 Florida 18th
McCaul, Michael T. (202) 225-2401 Texas 10th
Meeks, Gregory W. (202) 225-3461 New York 5th
Meijer, Peter (202) 225-3831 Michigan 3rd
Meuser, Daniel (202) 225-6511 Pennsylvania 9th
Miller-Meeks, Mariannette (202) 225-6576 Iowa 2nd
Omar, Ilhan (202) 225-4755 Minnesota 5th
Perry, Scott (202) 225-5836 Pennsylvania 10th
Pfluger, August (202) 225-3605 Texas 11th
Phillips, Dean (202) 225-2871 Minnesota 3rd
Salazar, Maria Elvira (202) 225-3931 Florida 27th
Schneider, Bradley (202) 225-4835 Illinois 10th
Schrier, Kim (202) 225-7761 Washington 8th
Sherman, Brad (202) 225-5911 California 30th
Sires, Albio (202) 225-7919 New Jersey 8th
Smith, Adam (202) 225-8901 Washington 9th
Smith, Adrian (202) 225-6435 Nebraska 3rd
Smith, Chris (202) 225-3765 New Jersey 4th
Smith, Jason (202) 225-4404 Missouri 8th
Spanberger, Abigail (202) 225-2815 Virginia 7th
Steube, W. Gregory (202) 225-5792 Florida 17th
Tenney, Claudia (202) 225-3665 New York 22nd
Titus, Dina 202) 225-5965 Nevada 1st
Vargas, Juan (202) 225-8045 California 51st
Wagner, Ann (202) 225-1621 Missouri 2nd
Wild, Susan (202) 225-6411 Pennsylvania 7th
Zeldin, Lee (202) 225-3826 New York 1st