G7 must not abandon the women of Afghanistan and should keep promises to at-risk women of safe passage out of country

London, UK – The leaders of the G7 countries need to do more to ensure that ending the “forever war” in Afghanistan does not result in a forever crisis. Chaos at the airport in Kabul is making it impossible for at-risk women and girls to reach evacuation flights. Governments need to step up to assist immediate evacuation efforts and also provide investment for the long-term future of those who remain.

Ahead of the G7 virtual meeting on August 24, Women for Women International is calling on political leaders to:

1. Ensure safe and coordinated routes out of Afghanistan to those who face imminent danger, particularly women’s rights activists and their families. This includes providing visas for, and assisting with the escort and evacuation of Afghan women at risk, and providing humanitarian aid to those surrounding Kabul Airport.
2. Expand any emergency immigration programmes or policies to include a category for at-risk women, cease any forced removals and reconsider any refused asylum claims in light of the change of the political situation and expedite any existing family reunification applications. Allocate resources for livelihood assistance and resettlements.
3. Protect and invest in the needs and rights of women and girls who remain in Afghanistan. This includes actively leveraging all avenues to safeguard Afghan women and girls; ensuring humanitarian aid has specific provisions to support the specific needs of women and girls; encouraging neighbouring countries to keep borders open to evacuations and facilitate aid; and further invest in support services for women including those that provide safety and security, mental health and psycho-social support including ways to keep women connected to one another, livelihoods, strategies for gender-based violence prevention and response, and responding to ongoing conflict and violence across the country.

We are speaking daily to many of our staff in Afghanistan—successful women’s rights advocates who now say they are frightened for the future. One of them told us:

“Our faces are well-known in villages for giving training to women. After this, we don’t have the hope of life in Afghanistan. We are all the supporters of our families and I don’t think we can support our families anymore.”

The CEO of Women for Women International, Laurie Adams, says:

"We made a promise to Afghan women and girls that they had a brighter future and supported them to use their power to speak out and claim their rights. They are now vulnerable because of that. Women for Women International will not abandon the women of Afghanistan, and the same must apply to G7 leaders. We need practical, concrete commitments from governments to protect and invest in women who remain in Afghanistan."

Notes to Editors

Women for Women International helps women survivors of war rebuild their lives. Over the past few decades, we have worked with 120,000 women in Afghanistan in our Stronger Women, Stronger Nations program. In the time we have operated in Afghanistan, women's rights advocates including some of our staff and community change agents have won every right women enjoyed in Afghanistan. We hope to increase services for those who are displaced and those who need us most now. We are continuously assessing how to adapt our programmes for the new reality under Taliban rule, including investing in more security and using technology to reach women where they are sheltering. More info can be found at /how-you-can-take-action-women-afghanistan. 

On August 24, 2021 President Biden will virtually meet with G7 leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France, and Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy. The leaders will discuss Afghanistan policy and evacuating their own citizens as well as Afghan nationals at risk. They will also discuss plans to provide humanitarian assistance and support for Afghan refugees.