:Jamila Afghani
{{Short description|Afghan women's rights activist}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Jamila Afghani
| native_name = {{Nobold|{{lang|prs|جمیله افغانی}}}}
| image = Jamila Afghani 2020 in Cologne -3294.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Jamila Afghani in 2020
| office = Afghan Women's Network
| constituency =
| majority =
| term_start =
| term_end =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1976}}
| birth_place = Kabul, Republic of Afghanistan
| known_for =
| occupation = feminist and activist
| residence =
}}
Jamila Afghani ({{langx|Prs|جمیله افغانی}}; born 1976 in Kabul){{Cite book|title=Peacemakers in action : profiles in religious peacebuilding|last=Dubensky|first=Joyce S.|publisher=Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding|year=2007|isbn=978-1-107-15296-0|volume=II|location=New York|pages=250}} is a feminist and an activist for women's rights and education in Afghanistan. She is the founder and executive director of the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO). She is also an executive member of the umbrella organization Afghan Women's Network (AWN). In 2022, Jamila Afghani was awarded the seventh annual Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.
Biography
As a child, Afghani had polio and because of complications from the disease has to depend on a brace to walk.{{Cite web|url = http://n-peace.net/candidate/candidate-107|title = Jamila Afghani|access-date = 8 September 2015|website = N-Peace Awards|publisher = N-Peace Network|archive-date = 5 September 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130905144618/http://n-peace.net/candidate/candidate-107|url-status = usurped}} When she was fourteen, she was shot in the head during the Soviet War.
Afghani fled Kabul in the 1990s during the Afghan civil war, settling in Peshawar.{{Cite journal|url = http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=17277778&site=ehost-live|title = Catalyst For Change: Jamila Afghani|last = Oates|first = Lauryn|date = 2005|journal = Herizons|access-date = 8 September 2015|volume = 18|page = 9|url-access=subscription }} Afghani earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Peshawar.{{Cite journal|url = https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/30223/Afghan%20Women%20Leaders%20Speak%20conference%20website%2011-17-05.pdf?sequence=5|title = Afghan Women Leaders Speak|date = November 2005|access-date = 8 September 2015|website = Mershon Center for International Security Studies|publisher = Ohio State University| hdl=1811/30223 | last1=Mills | first1=Margaret | last2=Kitch | first2=Sally }} Afghani's first job was as a social worker for Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.{{Cite web|url = https://tanenbaum.org/peacemakers-in-action-network/meet-the-peacemakers/jamila-afghani/|title = Jamila Afghani|access-date = 7 September 2015|website = Tanenbaum's Peacemakers in Action|archive-date = 4 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083407/https://tanenbaum.org/peacemakers-in-action-network/meet-the-peacemakers/jamila-afghani/|url-status = dead}} She also helped women in the camps become literate through Qur'anic education classes.
Afghani has stated that one of the greatest barriers to women getting education is a lack of female teachers.{{Cite book|title = Contested Terrain: Reflections with Afghan Women Leaders|last = Kitch|first = Sally L.|publisher = University of Illinois Press|year = 2014|isbn = 978-0252038709|pages = 26}} In 2001, Afghani founded NECDO, to facilitate education for women and children. NECDO also teaches sign language, and has classes about conflict resolution and gender issues. NECDO is known for creating innovative ways to reach out to women and girls. For example, it created a library for girls, but they recruited boys to bring the girls to visit the library, awarding prizes to the boys for every five girls they brought. Her organization serves around 50,000 women in 22 provinces.
Afghani's work directly challenges the misconception that Islam supports violence against women.{{Cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2015/06/88771/afghanistan-feminism-womens-rights-jamila-afghani|title=How One Amazing Afghan Woman Is Making Huge Strides for Equality|last=Clark|first=Meredith|date=11 June 2015|website=Refinery 29|access-date=2020-01-06}} She created the first "gender-sensitive training in Afghanistan for Imams."{{Cite news|url =http://womensenews.org/story/the-world/150612/in-afghanistan-danger-stalks-gender-imam-training|title = In Afghanistan, Danger Stalks Gender Imam Training|last = Nalli|first = Hajer|date = 12 June 2015|work = Women's eNews|access-date = 7 September 2015}} She started the project by finding interested Imams to look at the information she and others had prepared. The Imams started preaching the new materials, which cover women's rights from an Islamic point of view, right away. In 2015, she had about 6,000 Imams working with the program. In Kabul, her program has "resulted in a series of khutbas (Friday sermons) in twenty of the city's influential mosques.{{Cite web|url = http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/muslimwomen/bio/jamila_afghani/|title = Jamila Afghani|access-date = 8 September 2015|website = Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality|archive-date = 28 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150928152017/http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/muslimwomen/bio/jamila_afghani/|url-status = dead}} Afghani has discovered through her work that "women's mouths get shut when they don't have Islamic justifications" because Afghan culture is very religious and conservative.{{Cite news|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/muslim-women-movers-and-s_b_4546673.html|title = Muslim Women: Movers and Shakers Fight for Women's Rights|last = Taplin-Chinoy|first = Shahnaz|date = 5 January 2014|work = Huffington Post|access-date = 7 September 2015}} Her gender training has had strong effects on men who did not realize that Islam allowed women's rights and has helped turn men into advocates for women.{{Cite news|url = https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/03/how-to-promote-womens-rights-in-afghanistan-and-around-the-world/|title = How to Promote Women's Rights, in Afghanistan and Around the World|last = Weingarten|first = Elizabeth|date = 3 June 2015|work = Foreign Policy|access-date = 8 September 2015}} Afghani has said that the "program is its own kind of revolution because religious leaders once known for oppressing women now use the words of the Quran to promote fairness for them."{{Cite news|url = http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/22/world/iyw-educating-girls-muslim-countries/|title = Altering Perceptions of Women in Muslim Countries|last = Khalid|first = Kiran|date = 23 October 2013|work = CNN|access-date = 8 September 2015}}
She also works to challenge the patriarchal tribal system of government in Afghanistan. She believes that one of the problems with Afghanistan is that the citizens are unable to distinguish the differences between "Islam, culture and politics." She states that she has been threatened by some Afghans who are against her teaching and promoting a peaceful interpretation of Islam.
Afghani was awarded the Tanenbaum Peacemaker in Action Award in 2008. In 2017, she was among the finalists nominated for the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.[https://auroraprize.com/en/aurora/detail/11242/2017-aurora-prize-finalists- Aurora Prize.] 2017 finalists. In 2021, Jamila Afghani was nominated for the Aurora Prize for the second time and went on to become the 2022 Aurora Prize Laureate.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://necdo.org.af/ Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO)]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGu19jMDlq4 Tanenbaum Peacemaker in Action Jamila Afghani on Religion and Peace] (video)
{{Feminism}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afghani, Jamila}}
Category:Afghan women's rights activists
Category:Afghan women activists
Category:University of Peshawar alumni
Category:Afghan people with disabilities