As we RISE for the Bodies of All Women, Girls & the Earth and activate worldwide, we continue to find ways to RISE for and with the women of Afghanistan, to share the reality of life on the ground, and ways we can directly help.

VIDEOS FROM WOMEN ON THE GROUND IN AFGHANISTAN

Women on the ground bravely recorded these messages despite great risk to themselves. Their stories are as important as ever:

School Girls, watch video»

Mother with Children, watch video»

Mother with Children, watch video»

Healthcare Worker, watch video»

NEW MOBILE HEALTH TEAM LAUNCHES IN AFGHANISTAN

Simeen is a mobile health team that will travel to the provinces that are in greater need of health services. The mobile health team consists of an obstetrician/gynecologist and a pediatrician, accompanied by a nurse, a registrar and a nutritionist. The program will be implemented on a weekly basis in various areas of Afghanistan over a period of one year, providing free examination, medicine and food supplements for malnourished children.

The new project is dedicated to Simeen, a 24 year old girl who wished to be a health worker and was killed when volunteering to help with vaccinations in Jalalabad.

Since the Taliban took over, Afghans, especially women, do not have access to basic rights such as education and healthcare, and are particularly affected in remote villages and areas that have been in absolute deprivation for decades. Healthcare facilities are desperately needed, especially during the winter season and with the escalation of COVID-19, as well as the severe drought that has swept across the country. Due to poverty or lack of services, in most of the country there are not many options for a pregnant or breast-feeding mother to receive care. Women usually give birth at home under the supervision of a local midwife and many die of a simple sepsis easily cured with antibiotics*. Afghanistan still has the highest maternal mortality rate of any country. Many children are facing an extreme shortage of food, and, according to public health figures, an estimated 80 percent of Afghan children are now malnourished. In a preliminary report, UNICEF said that more than 2 million children are suffering from malnutrition and are at risk of losing their lives. In some cases, patients experiencing more mild disease-related symptoms are not treated on time until it becomes too late, serious and incurable.

Help support the Simeen mobile healthcare team, donate TODAY.

We stand with the women of Afghanistan who believe women have the right to education, to travel, to freedom of movement, to jobs, to security, just having freedom to be able to breathe and be. We cannot underestimate the power of our solidarity at this moment.

*“In 2017, the lifetime risk of maternal mortality in Afghanistan was approximately 1 in 33 compared to the global lifetime risk of 1 in 190 (10). Main causes of maternal deaths in Afghanistan are hemorrhage, sepsis and complications of unsafe abortion.” – frontiersin.org