Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan
Calgary, Canada
Project Location:  Ghazni Province, Afghanistan
$10,000 2009
www.cw4wafghan.ca/

Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4W)is a volunteer not-for-profit organization founded in 1996. The goals of CW4W are to advance education and educational opportunities for Afghan women and their families; and to educate and increase the understanding of Canadians about human rights in Afghanistan. Donor funded projects are implemented and managed in partnership with Afghan non-profit organizations. These projects include a number of community schools, village libraries, an orphanage, as well as teacher training, literacy, English and computer classes. Programs are aimed at providing higher quality education and access to education, particularly for Afghan women and girls.

Funding from the ABSF is supporting the Shuhada High School for Girls in the remote village of Sang-e-Masha in Ghazni Province.  This Girls’ High School was established in 1990 and it is the only school openly active during the Taliban regime despite the prohibition of education for women and girls. The school began with only four classrooms and now has over thirty‐four classes with 2988 girls from grades 1‐12. Approximately 50 girls graduated from Grade 12 this past year and 30‐40 girls pass the Kabul University entrance exams each year and are admitted to various faculties. ABSF funds are going towards the addition of a school library, a twelve-month salary of a librarian and the equipment necessary for a school laboratory for girls to study chemistry, biology and physics.