Project
On
Help Afghan Women in Returnees Camps
Kabul City, Afghanistan

Implementing Agency:Women’s Network in Sweden
Project location:Returnee’s camp in Kabul City
Project Duration:5 months ( December 2005- April 2006)
Project Coordinator:Laila Langari, an Afghan woman based in Kabul, Afgh.




Project Background:

The 23 years of war in Afghanistan, the invasion of Soviet Union of Russia, then the civil war among different Afghan military parities and Mujahideens and finally governance of Taliban and terrorists in Afghanistan, caused thousands of Afghan families to immigrate to Pakistan and Iran, neighboring countries of Afghanistan.

In those countries, these families didn’t have enough opportunities to education and work.

In 2001, after the event of September 11th in New York USA, the political and economical situation of Afghanistan was changed. The new Transitional government of Afghanistan under the lead of Hamid Karzai was established. Thousands of the Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran. They were settled in returnees’ camps in Kabul City. They started a tough life with no job skills and education.

The only financial help for those returnees was distribution of one tent and $100 to each family by UNHCR at the beginning of their returning to Afghanistan. The government of Afghanistan didn’t have the any plan to provide them housing or any financial help. There was no educational program for children; no work was provided for any women and men. The children were begging on the streets and or collecting spoiled vegetables from food markets to provide food for themselves and their families. It was winter time and the weather degree was under 0 C. According to the report of those families, 4 children and old people had died due to cold weather. They also had bad health condition during the warm weather in the summer time.

In December 2003, Leila Qaraee and Hanna Larsson, the members of Women’s Network in Sweden had an official trip to Afghanistan to research about the life condition of Afghan women and children. During that time, they also visited one of the returnees’ camps which were located in a place by the name of Zor Abad in Kabul City.

Then in August 2005, according to the order of the government, the residents of that camp shifted to a half ruined building located in another place of Kabul city by the name of Charahee Qambar.

Since that time, the members of Women’s Network in Sweden (WNS) decided to take in mind supporting the women and children in that camp. Up to now they have donated the following amount of money on different dates:

  • In March 2004, WNS donated 400 USD for the 350 children in that camp to buy school clothes.
     
  • In July 2004, WNS donated 350 USD to provide a vocational training (shawl Weaving) for 20 women in the camp; now some of those women weave shawl and earn income to support their families.
     
  • In January 2005, WNS donated 1000 USD for 104 families of that camp to buy quilts. The raw materials of the quilts were provided to 50 women in the camp to make quilts by their hands. They made them and then they were distributed to 104 families.
     
  • In December 2005, WNS donated 3079 USD to implement a 5 month project in the camp. The project provided work (producing handicrafts) for 6 women. The women produced handicrafts and their products were sent to Sweden and then to Norway for marketing. ( the complete report of this project is already prepared in Dari Language that is available in WNS office)
     
  • In January 2007, WNS plans to extend the above mentioned project to help some women and children in the camp.
     

In implementing all these small projects, members of WNS (Laila Qaraee, Hanna Larson, Naseem, ?????) in Sweden, a Norwegian woman by the name of Unni Rustad in Norway, and an Afghan woman by the name of Laila Langari in Kabul Afghanistan, have worked hard and they will continue their supporting for developing these projects in the future.