OPEN ASIA | Armanshahr was established as an independent organisation 24 years ago. This organisation has concentrated its human rights work mainly on countering war and militarism, promoting justice, defending victims, combating systematic violence against women and endeavouring to achieve a just and sustainable peace. The organisation firmly believes in the power of culture as means to change minds.
OPEN ASIA is a pioneer on the study of violence against women and advocating for an end to it. Its national study on Violence against Women in Tajikistan in 1996 was used as a methodological model by international organisations, notably WHO in other countries.
In the past several years a series of mutually-supportive initiatives and programmes have been carried out by the organisation in Afghanistan in order to build capacity, to support and promote women’s participation in political, social and transitional justice processes as well as in the nation’s macro decision-making processes.
More than 60 public seminars about women’s rights from a total of 186 have been held, allowing to make women’s voices and opinions visible. The organisation created the 50% Campaign for Women of Afghanistan, and established the Committee for +25% Women’s Quota in elected bodies, founded the Women’s International Film Festival-Herat in collaboration with Roya Film House, and created the ‘40-Braids international caravan of women’s films. In 2018 the sixth edition of Human Rights Week focused on women’s issues, gender-based violence and transitional justice, taking serious steps to raise consciousness. During the 7th edition of Human rights Week the opening event was allocated to discussing “Peace with warmongers; women of Afghanistan, 40 years after CEDAW and 20 years after UNSCR 1325″.
Armanshahr; a unique human rights publisher
Armanshahr has distributed more than 280,000 copies of books for free across Afghanistan in the past several years. Under its Women’s series, more than 50 titles (books, handbooks, and studies) were specifically published on women’s rights and women peace builders with a total print run in excess of 50,000 copies. Among them: Justice for Women in War and Peace, Topics in Feminist Theory, The Second Sex, Sexual and gender-based violence in war, Selections from Dictionnaire critique du féminisme, Sous les sciences sociales, le genre, Mother went to prison for the right to vote, Electoral Politics: Making Quotas Work for Women, Gender and Nation, Three Herati women, My Realm: Poems and photos by women; Together for Equality an illustrated text of CEDAW published recently to mark the 40th anniversary of the Convention. Throughout these years, Armanshahr has published 252 issues of “Women’s Human Rights e-bulletin” with the aim of monitoring the conditions of women’s rights in Afghanistan, the wider region and the world, and raising consciousness.
Culture and Art at the heart of change
One of the pillars of Armanshahr’s activities has been paying attention to cultural and artistic productions (theatre, arts exhibitions, concerts, poetry nights, book reading groups, documentary films production, film screening etc.) with human rights, justice and peace content. To that end, “Simorgh Peace Prize at the Heart of Asia” (watch Film, watch Play) was established. The Simorgh International Peace Prize allocated its fourth edition to achievements of women of Afghanistan and the region. This time round, women as true protectors of peace in three countries located at the heart of Asia – Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan – were recipients of the awards; women who despise war-mongering and stand up to it by their civic and sustained initiatives; innovative women who resist the despotic and war-afflicted world and give us hope to continue the struggle to change the unjust relations and serve equality.
Several campaigns, including “Unveiling Afghanistan, the Voices of Progress”, were pursued by Armanshahr in order to echo progressive, anti-war, justice and peace-seeking voices .
By concentrating on women’s rights from the angle of accessing justice in all its dimensions, in particular making the voices of women heard in the major scenes of decision-making and especially in the process of ending war and creating peace and initiating sensitivity towards the issue, Armanshahr has endeavoured to emphasise the pervasiveness of justice and peace. Consequently, Armanshahr has organised the International Women’s Film Festival-Herat, in cooperation with Roya Film House, since 2013 in order to create a platform for dialogue and education by means of the 7th Art. It has also recently launched the 40-Braids Film Caravan with the aim of bringing together artists in the field of film and cinema with women’s rights activists at the international level.
Armanshahr has also produced two documentaries: “I (Eye) witness”, based on stories of common people about war, violence and forced migration during four decades of war; “Afghanistan: unveiling a never-ending tale”, which narrated the views of a number of male and female elite members of the society in relation to peace.
The summit of Armanshahr’s activities consists of establishing a bond between the macro cultural, social, political issues of the society and its various strata of people on the one hand and the fundamental concepts of justice, peace, human rights, women’s and children’s rights on the other. Armanshahr has endeavoured to advocate for the rights and participation of all social groups, in particular the vulnerable including women and children, in all its activities.
MEMBERSHIP
OPEN ASIA|Armanshahr, a member of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), Women’s Alliance for Security leadership (WASL) and co-founding member of the Afghanistan Transitional Justice Coordination Group (TJCG), has responded to the collective demand of advocates of justice, gender equality and peace worldwide and in Afghanistan by endeavouring indefatigably on the path of achieving justice, supporting women, ending impunity, combating war and militarism in every form and in any disguise that destroys the lives of women, men and children of Afghanistan.
