The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) has launched Onward for Afghan Women, which will provide Afghans in exile with a network of resources and opportunities. The program was launched earlier this month. 

Spearheaded by GWIPS Executive Director Melanne Verveer, the initiative draws upon years of partnerships with Afghan leaders, journalists, NGO heads, parliamentarians and activists, many of whom are under active threat from the Taliban, ranking high on their kill list. The initiative is centered around supporting Afghan women leaders in their advocacy efforts on the behalf of women and girls in Afghanistan. 

Verveer said the initiative supports women in Afghanistan after the fall of the government to the Taliban last August.  

“They have either arrived halfway towards their final destinations, or they are in their final destinations, until pray to God, they get to go back to their country one day,” Verveer said in an interview with The Hoya. “But right now that seems far off. And so Onward for Afghan Women is a way in which we can continue to support them, so that they can be contributing in all the ways that they would like to the future of Afghanistan.”

Project Onward is committed to promoting the education of its hundreds of female members, according to Verveer  

“We have enabled many of them to get to other colleges and universities complementary with their skill sets so that they can have gainful employment that is commensurate with their skills, their experience and their education,” Verveer said. 

Roya Rahmani, a former diplomat and Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United States, is one of the initiative partners living in Washington, D.C. She works at the Walsh School of Foreign Service where she is an expert on issues of foreign policy, security and women’s rights. 

Rahmani joined GIWPS as a distinguished fellow in July 2021, shortly after completing her mandate as ambassador and just weeks before the Taliban took Kabul in August 2021.  She is pursuing her own research on the application and history of Islam and Sharia law, Rahmani said.  

Project Onward increased awareness about the complex challenges facing people in Afghanistan today, through a series of public events led by Afghan experts, according to Rahmahi.  

“These are very deep and important lessons for students in Georgetown and around the country, for those who will be leaders and policymakers in the future,’’ Rahmahi said. ‘‘There is always room for students to come forward. And if they want to discuss their interest, to take on roles and support, be part of research, be part of developing different initiatives, they have the opportunity to learn hands on some of the challenges that we discuss.’’

The panels are meant to help students better understand the perspectives of Afghan women who have worked in advocacy for years, according to Rahmahi. 

The panels reached thousands of people in over 100 countries, covering policy, the future of female education under Talibal rule, the rapidly growing humanitarian crisis in the country and what peace talks and negotiations should look like, Rahmahi said. 

Onward for Afghan Women supports Afghan women leaders who have already done advocacy work in support of women and girls in Afghanistan through engaging with GWIPS to conduct research, host global convenings and support the future generation of leaders. 

Allie Smith, director at Onward for Afghan Women, said that although Afghanistan now finds itself in a dark place, a hopeful future is possible. 

“To evacuate them from their home country, and to have them into the United States is heartbreaking,” Smith said in an interview with The Hoya. “To be able to facilitate opportunities for these women to continue to be the leaders that they are and to continue to contribute to peace and security and equality for Afghanistan, for the women and girls that were made in Afghanistan, is a privilege.”

Rahmani said she hopes the resettlement of experts abroad will sustain their work for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. 

“And then also to think of how to help them resettle, how to help them continue their work, how to make sure that the connection to the ground is not lost,” Rahmani said, “And how to continue the advocacy so that as soon as a new issue comes up and absorbs the entire attention of the international community, the Afghan women would not be forgotten.”