A few words about
Our Programs
Our organization is involved in numerous projects.
Shahmama works to advance the rights, justice, accountability, leadership, and meaningful participation of Afghan women and girls. Our programs connect their lived realities, experiences, priorities, and perspectives with evidence-based international advocacy and policy engagement, while advancing pathways to justice and accountability, inclusive decision-making, peace, and international solidarity.
Through our work, we seek to ensure that Afghan women and girls are meaningfully heard and engaged as rights-holders, leaders, advocates, and agents of change in processes and decisions that affect their rights, lives, and future.
Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Rights
Shahmama works to advance gender equality and protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls. Through evidence-based advocacy, policy dialogue, research, awareness-raising, and engagement with relevant international institutions and mechanisms, we draw attention to systemic discrimination, gender persecution, and other violations and barriers affecting Afghan women and girls, while advocating for their rights, dignity, equality, and fundamental freedoms.
Advancing Justice and Accountability
Shahmama advances justice and accountability for violations and abuses of the human rights of Afghan women and girls. Through evidence-based advocacy, policy dialogue, and engagement with international human rights, justice, and accountability mechanisms, we promote women’s access to justice and work to ensure that their experiences, perspectives, and priorities inform relevant international processes and that violations against them are addressed and not met with impunity.
Strengthening Women’s Leadership and Meaningful Participation
Shahmama works to strengthen the leadership, agency, and meaningful participation of Afghan women and women-led civil society in peace, civic, social, policy, and decision-making processes. We create opportunities for Afghan women to bring their lived experiences, expertise, priorities, perspectives, and recommendations directly into discussions that affect their rights and future, ensuring that their participation goes beyond representation to meaningful influence on decisions and outcomes.
Promoting Peace, Inclusion, and Social Justice
Shahmama promotes inclusive, rights-based, and gender-responsive approaches to peace and social justice. We recognize Afghan women as essential actors in peacebuilding, dialogue, social cohesion, and shaping Afghanistan’s future, and advocate for their meaningful participation in processes concerning peace, political transition, inclusion, and social justice.
Amplifying Afghan Women’s Voices through International and Multilateral Engagement
Geneva serves as a key hub for Shahmama’s international and multilateral engagement. Through International Geneva, we bring the voices, lived experiences, priorities, perspectives, and recommendations of Afghan women into international policy and human rights spaces, engaging with United Nations human rights mechanisms, diplomatic missions, international organizations, civil society, experts, and other relevant stakeholders.
Alongside our engagement in Geneva, Shahmama engages in New York in connection with key United Nations processes and forums, including the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), as well as other relevant international forums.
Through international conferences, policy dialogues, diplomatic briefings, bilateral advocacy meetings, side events, consultations, and engagement with relevant international processes and mechanisms, we seek to bridge the gap between Afghan women’s lived realities and international policy and decision-making, while strengthening their meaningful participation and influence.
Building International Partnerships and Solidarity
Shahmama builds international partnerships and solidarity to strengthen collective action for the rights, justice, accountability, leadership, and meaningful participation of Afghan women and girls. Through strategic collaboration, knowledge exchange, joint advocacy, and dialogue with women-led civil society, international institutions, diplomatic missions, human rights organizations, experts, researchers, and other relevant stakeholders, we work to sustain international attention and action in support of Afghan women and girls.