Campaign Objectives
- Increase public awareness and community organizing around gender apartheid in Afghanistan and the human rights violations of Afghan women and girls.
- Amplify the voices and stories of Afghan women and girls in their fight for equal rights.
- Urge the U.S., the U.N., and the international community not to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government. Currently, no country recognizes the Taliban.
- Work towards increasing access to food, healthcare and education to ensure that women and girls do not succumb to humanitarian crises or face exclusion from public life. Given recent droughts, harsh winter, massive unemployment and a sharp decrease in international aid due to the Taliban takeover, more humanitarian aid is needed.
- Report on the violations of human rights and Taliban atrocities in Afghanistan.
- Work with women’s rights and human rights organizations globally to restore Afghan women’s rights.
- Assist and influence public policy research and strategy development to help stop gender apartheid.
Campaign Components
The Feminist Majority Foundation Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls has four major components:
- Public education and community organizing;
- Public policy research and strategy development;
- National and global outreach; and
- Supporting humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, especially for programs serving Afghan women and girls.
The Beginning of the Campaign – 1997-2001
In 1997, the Feminist Majority Foundation launched a Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid, successfully bringing the Taliban regime’s atrocities against women and girls to world attention. The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) has been working to support equality and justice for Afghan women and girls and continues to stand by Afghan women and girls today.
The campaign, led by Eleanor Smeal and Mavis Leno, became the first of its kind to build a U.S.-based grassroots constituency around a foreign policy issue of women’s rights. It successfully brought the Taliban regime’s atrocities against women and girls in Afghanistan to the attention of the U.S. and the world.
Under the “Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan,” we urged the U.S. government and the U.N. to do everything in their power to restore the human rights of Afghan women and girls. The Campaign successfully raised public awareness about the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan, preventing U.S. and U.N. recognition of the Taliban. We brought together more than 110 leading human rights and women’s organizations to condemn the Taliban’s human rights abuses against women and girls and to put pressure on the U.S. and the U.N. to end gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
At a 1998 White House event celebrating International Women’s Day, President Clinton and Secretary-General Annan announced that the United States and the UN would not recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
The work increased humanitarian aid to the region. It also pressured UNOCAL, a California oil company, to abandon its plans for an Afghan oil and gas pipeline which would have produced over $100 million annually in royalties for the Taliban.
With the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, FMF renamed its campaign to the Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls and began working to convey to the world that Afghan women are a critical part of the solution for the future of Afghanistan in the face of a repressive regime.
During the Republic Government – 2002-2021
In 2002, FMF expanded its nationwide public education campaign. It demanded the full and permanent restoration of the human rights of Afghan women and girls; the inclusion of women in the leading, planning and governing of post-Taliban Afghanistan; and the increase and monitoring of the provision of emergency and reconstruction assistance to women and girls. It also supported the creation of key bodies such as the Afghan Ministry for Women’s Affairs, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and Afghan women-led non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Feminist Majority Foundation’s work earned it a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2002.
Up to 2010, we helped to win a total of $367 million in U.S. funding of Afghan women and girls’ programs. FMF is proud of the tangible progress it has made alongside Afghan women over the last 25 years to restore their human rights and demand equal representation in Afghanistan.
The Fight Continues – 2022 – Present
Since the second Taliban takeover of the Afghan government in August 2021, FMF has continued to support Afghan women and girls by amplifying their voices and advocacy for their human rights. We have also helped evacuate feminist activists and their families from Afghanistan, as well as college students, for their safety.
After the first regime of the Taliban collapsed in 2001, during the Afghan republic and elected government (2002-2021), Afghan women and girls made great achievements in their fight for equality. Despite the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 and the rapid loss of human rights, Afghan women have been leading efforts in Afghanistan and globally to restore their human rights. We continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them to support and to amplify their voices in the fight for equality.
Since 1997, the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) has worked to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan and helped Afghan women and girls achieve equality. Since the second Taliban takeover of the Afghan government in August 2021, FMF has continued to support Afghan women and girls by amplifying their voices and advocacy for their human rights. We have also helped evacuate from Afghanistan some feminist activists and their families, as well as college students, for their safety.
Despite the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 and the rapid loss of human rights, Afghan women have been leading efforts to restore their human rights in Afghanistan and globally. We continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them to support and to amplify their voices.
After the first regime of the Taliban collapsed in 2001, during the Afghan republic and elected government, Afghan women and girls made great achievements in their fight for equality. We will continue to work with Afghan women to restore and continue their fight for equality.
