Uplift’s Director of Humanitarian Relief, Hila Nawa-Alam, was published in PeaceRep this week sharing Uplift’s methods for delivering aid to Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations with the help of community development councils.

Let this eid serve as a reminder of the strength in unity as we find ways to share kindness and compassion with friends, loved ones, and those around the world who need it most.

On World Refugee Day, we celebrate the courage of refugees worldwide while also recognizing that nobody chooses to be a refugee; that this status is one of necessity, and that we must work together to support and be compassionate towards those who face no option but to leave their home in the pursuit of freedom and security.

Cash-for-Work is a short term intervention to provide temporary employment to public projects to the most vulnerable segments of the population. The projects incentivize individuals to improve their own communities from within.

Last year, Uplift piloted a Cash-for-Work program in 2 provinces in Afghanistan with great success in collaboration with our partner organization, Community Driven Development Organization (CDDO). This year, in an effort to contribute to reducing poverty, we have expanded the program to 12 provinces.

Since August 2021, millions of girls and women inside Afghanistan have been denied the most basic of human rights—an education. Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world that denies education past the 6th grade for girls. The potential loss of generations of educated girls and women will have a lasting and devastating impact on the development of both women and Afghan society at large.

Uplift’s micro-grant program focuses on developing projects that empower women to become economically independent. Uplift is supporting a project run by our partner organization Hope for Afghan Women that provides vending carts and business training/mentorship to female-headed households.

Baseera, 13, fled Afghanistan with her family last year and started attending one of Uplift’s schools for refugee children in Pakistan. An aspiring artist, she immediately wanted to get involved in the art program at her school.

Happy Earth Day! Today is a reminder of how necessary it is for us to be mindful of how our actions impact our earth, and the importance of working together to protect it.

Eid Mubarak to all!

4 million children under the age of five are malnourished in Afghanistan.

Ramadan Mubarak to all.

Happy Nowruz! Today marks the beginning of a new year, the arrival of spring, and the rebirth of nature. On this day, we celebrate the renewal of hope and compassion. May your year be filled with joy and good health.

As we look ahead and develop new projects in 2023, we also want to take a moment to thank our supporters and local partners who helped us accomplish some great things with and for Afghans—who have persevered in the face of crisis—in the last year.

Our micro-grant program at Uplift is essential because it gives us the opportunity to provide funding to local non-profit organizations that focus on the economic empowerment of women in Afghanistan.

On International Day of Education, we urge our friends around the world to remember the plight of Afghan girls and join us in advocating for their basic right to education.

Through Uplift’s micro-grant program, we partner with local non-profit organizations in Afghanistan aimed at empowering women to be financially independent.

Despite the recent events in Afghanistan—the ban on women’s university education and the denial of women’s participation in local and international NGOs—Uplift remains committed to our goals and the people we serve.

The crucial window of opportunity to provide aid to millions of vulnerable Afghans is rapidly closing as the country faces yet another harsh winter.

The announcement that universities in Afghanistan are closed to women is a human rights violation. Afghanistan, like any other country, cannot thrive by keeping half of its population in the dark.