Peaceful Tomorrows' Women for Women Partnership

May 24th, 2005





In late 2004, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows met with Women for Women International to discuss how Peaceful Tomorrows might partner with them in efforts to help Afghan women. This March, Peaceful Tomorrows officially partnered with Women for Women. Members of our organization, and their friends, are now sponsoring Afghan women from a region particularly affected by military intervention. Peaceful Tomorrows feels this project forwards our mission of acknowledging our common experience with all people affected by violence throughout the world.

Women for Women International was founded in 1993 to help women overcome the horrors of war and civil strife in ways that can help them rebuild their lives, families, and communities. Women for Women International launched its Afghanistan program in 2002 to help women support their families and equip them with the skills necessary to participate in the reconstruction of civil society. Programs are being implemented through a holistic, tiered approach to offer Afghan women economic security at a grassroots level through training on women's rights, leadership and job skills. They also provide direct aid and opportunities to start income-generating projects. The program operates in Kabul Province in several districts, including Khairkhana, Afshar, and Shari-naw, as well as the province of Wardak. The main office is in Qalai Fatullah.

The partnership with Peaceful Tomorrows works like this: Peaceful Tomorrows members and their friends sign up to financially support an Afghan woman who has registered with the Women for Women program. Sponsors will receive periodic updates from Women for Women International on how the program is going in the PT sponsored group. Sponsors are also encouraged to exchange letters individually with their Afghan sisters. For more information on Women for Women International, or other 9-11 family groups sponsoring Afghan women, please visit:

www.womenforwomen.org

www.beyondthe11th.org

For background on the history of Peaceful Tomorrows' involvement with Afghanistan, please read below:

In January, 2002, one month before the official ‘creation’ of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, four 9-11 family members traveled to Afghanistan. The “War on Terror’ had begun, and Afghanistan was its epi-center. These four courageous family members had decided there must be alternative responses. They wanted to meet Afghan families who had also lost a loved one to violence. They wanted to put a human face and a life story to a tragedy that was then occurring on the other side of the world.

Therein lies the heart of Peaceful Tomorrows – reaching out to civilian casualties of war and violence, and recognizing them in ourselves.

Peaceful Tomorrows lobbied hard in Congress during the Spring of 2002 for the creation of an “Afghan Victims’ Fund”. The rationale was simple; Americans had been overwhelmingly generous and compassionate to our families in the months after 9-11. Ordinary Afghan civilians were also being hurt and killed in Afghanistan, through the US led military campaign. Wouldn’t an effective foreign policy aimed at fostering good will not only recognize that loss, but include compensation for Afghan civilian victims and their families?

Ultimately, guided by the leadership of Senator Leahy, $4.5 million was secured from USAID to provide assistance to families and communities affected by the US military campaign in Afghanistan. This assistance was allocated in the 2002 and 2003 appropriations bills. The funds were used for quick impact projects for war-affected communities in southern and eastern Afghanistan, in areas that were especially hard-hit by the US military actions.

Since that first trip, Peaceful Tomorrows has remained committed to helping provide assistance to Afghan civilians. Other members of Peaceful Tomorrows participated in three follow up delegations to Afghanistan. Each trip has helped further our understanding of the plight of ordinary Afghan families struggling after years of war, oppression, and military campaigns. In early 2005, Peaceful Tomorrows donated the remaining funds from our Afghan Sister Campaign to "Afghans For Tomorrow", to help purchase school supplies for Afghan children. As an organization, we also wanted to establish an on-going program for our work regarding Afghanistan.

by : http://www.peacefultomorrows.org