Charity of the Month: Vital Voices’ Afghan Women’s Fund

It has been hard to watch news coming out of Afghanistan these past few weeks as the progress for Afghan women backslides with the Taliban—long known for oppressing women and girls—now in control. As a woman-owned, ‘not-just-for-profit’ grounded in giving back, we here at What’s Good wanted to use our monthly charitable giving program to help. As we did our research one organization stood out as being a particularly good fit with our values: Vital Voices.

For more than 20 years, Vital Voices has been nurturing and supporting women leaders, helping them build skills, gain confidence, and access resources so that they can wow the world with their innovative solutions to our most pressing global challenges. They invest in women leaders who are tackling climate change, gender-based violence, socio-economic inequality, and more, so that all girls and women have the opportunity to thrive, no matter where they live.

When it became clear that progress for Afghan women and girl—precarious, but progress nonetheless—was at risk, Vital Voices did what so many women do in a crisis: they got to work. They immediately set up an Emergency Fund for Afghan Women and leveraged global partnerships to meet urgent, mid-term and long-term needs focusing on the most at-risk Afghan women: women’s rights activists, journalists, educators, civil society leaders, human rights defenders and direct service providers.

While they raise money and work with partners to help Afghan women find safety and resettle their lives with dignity, they are also calling on the Biden Administration to stand by their commitments and pledge that pulling U.S. troops from the country does not mean leaving Afghan women and girls behind. Add your name to the open letter.

For the month of September, What’s Good will donate a portion of each order to Vital Voices Emergency Fund for Afghan Women, making your purchase of our eco-friendly products even more meaningful. In addition to our monthly giving, we work with makers and small businesses that do the same. And, we also donate one percent of our annual revenue to 1% for the Planet (last year our beneficiary was Feeding America). So you do more than buy a product with us, you do good. 

Other ways you can support the girls and women of Afghanistan:

• Encourage your friends to shop at What’s Good during the month of September by sharing this post.
• Call your representatives and let them know it is a priority to protect Afghan women and girls now and into the future
• Stay engaged in the issue, even after the headlines change
• There are a number of other local and global organizations doing life-saving and life-building work, including International Rescue Committee, International Medical Corps, International Committee for the Red Cross, Women for Afghan Women and more. Do your research, see which ones might resonate with you and your values and donate, even if it’s just $10 a month.

And one final note, we didn't think we'd be writing this while our rights in the USA are being threatened. It is all overwhelming, but just like we always say about doing one green thing, if each of us makes even the smallest action, we make change. And together, we can do more good. 

Keywords:

Vital Voices, Afghan Women, Afghanistan, women leaders, crisis in Afghanistan, Taliban, Afghan women and girls,