BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE & EQUITABLE AFGHANISTAN
REIMAGINING AID WORK & DEVELOPMENTHerat Earthquake Relief & Recovery
Herat Earthquake Relief & Recovery
Herat Province in western Afghanistan experienced a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on October 7th, 2023, followed by a series of earthquakes just as strong. Many lost their lives and entire villages were leveled. Thousands of families remain displaced and in need of permanent shelter. We initially funded the installation of 20 water reservoirs to ensure access to clean drinking water for the villages hardest hit. After meeting with local communities, we decided to address their most pressing need - permanent climate-protective housing. In collaboration with our local partner, Community Driven Development Organization, we are building permanent housing that is earthquake-resistant and eco-friendly. The homes have been designed by local engineers with environmental impact and cost-effectiveness measures in mind, as well as the architectural aesthetics of the culture/region.
Our team at Uplift Afghanistan is donating our services so that 100% of your donation goes directly to construction materials and salaries for local laborers from the affected communities.
To support this project, click the donate button above.
Our Mission
To uplift the people of Afghanistan by connecting compassionate, impact-driven donors with community-led initiatives and grassroots organizations they can trust.
Our Vision
To be a key player in the redevelopment of Afghanistan from an aid-dependent economy to a self-sufficient, sustainable, and thriving nation.
Our Work
As a charitable fund, we vet and support grassroots organizations that are doing impactful work on the ground in Afghanistan and with Afghan refugees around the world.
We are a non-political, humanitarian-focused organization with knowledge of and sensitivity to the local cultures and customs of the Afghan people. As a team of experts with eyes and ears on the ground, we are able to assess critical areas of need, remain adaptable to evolving crises, and work to ensure a sustainable future for Afghans and Afghan refugees worldwide.
We seek to reclaim aid work as a conversation between equals, with those we serve setting the agenda for what kind of support best meets their local needs. We see our donors as culturally conscious allies in this work.
Our Sectors of Support
Afghanistan’s socio-political and economic climate is in a state of upheaval, with uncertainty being the hallmark experience of the 35 million Afghans in the country, as well as the hundreds of thousands fleeing the country for fear of persecution. It is an understatement to say that the situation is complex.
To help navigate the complexities of the current situation, we have divided our sectors of support into seven funds. Each fund is responsible for supporting a trusted network of grassroots organizations doing work on the ground in Afghanistan and with Afghan refugees around the world.
Education
A necessary prerequisite for any civil society is an educated populace. To help ensure a stable and self-sufficient future for Afghanistan, the country needs to expand its educational system, and ensure that every girl and boy has access to a full and rich primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Resources within this fund support curriculum development, teacher training and salaries, school building, and collaborative educational partnerships between local school children and their peers around the globe.
Humanitarian Relief
The Humanitarian Relief Fund addresses the many crises facing the nearly 35 million Afghan civilians left behind in the wake of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the subsequent collapse of the country’s infrastructure. The number of civilians who are without access to food, water, and essential medical supplies, or regular salaries, is increasing. Without a functioning infrastructure and in the absence of government services, unemployment is skyrocketing, with the poverty rate expected to reach 97% by the middle of 2022, according to UN projections. To alleviate some of the suffering caused by this crisis, resources within this fund are directed to on the ground operations that provide emergency support for internally displaced persons and food, shelter, and medical care for the country’s most vulnerable populations (women, children, and the elderly).
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Fund supports organizations committed to protecting and empowering Afghan women/girls, children/adults with disabilities, and ethnic/religious minorities within the Afghan population. As uniquely vulnerable populations within the current landscape of Afghanistan, these groups are in need of additional resources and measures of protection. This fund supports projects aimed at eradicating discriminatory practices and addressing the psychological, social, and economic consequences of those practices.
Refugee Resettlement
Since the U.S. handed over power to the Taliban on August 15, 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled the country. Many of these Afghan refugees served alongside US forces, contractors, government officials and aid workers over the past 20 years; others are members of the Afghan armed forces, women, artists, journalists, and scholars who are at particular risk of Taliban reprisal. Many families are arriving with only a backpack of belongings. Relocating and resettling refugees in a dignified manner requires a huge coordinated effort and many families need help securing shelter, acquiring basic supplies, finding jobs, and navigating the complex bureaucracy associated with the resettlement process. The Refugee Resettlement Fund supports evacuation efforts and provides resettlement services for recent refugees, including legal protection and counsel once they reach their host country.
Preserving Afghan Knowledge, Expertise & Art
Despite decades of conflict, Afghanistan has rebuilt its academic, cultural and political capital, with an increasingly vibrant research and academic community, and a thriving and creative arts scene. Today, many of these individuals have been displaced but the preservation of expertise, experience, creativity and culture is critical to advancing democratic values, freedom of expression and the reestablishment of a civil society. This includes Afghans in exile who, if afforded dignity and safety, can play an integral role in their host communities and in shaping a better future for Afghanistan. This fund supports fellowships and scholarships that enable the thousands of Afghans, many in exile, to continue their work, build upon their country’s knowledge, and preserve its cultural heritage to ensure that essential institutional memory and the hard-won advancements of entire generations are not lost. This fund also supports projects aimed at documenting and archiving Afghan cultural practices and narratives that preserve cultural memory. This fund is co-led in partnership with the Civic Engagement Project (CEP). With an ecosystem approach to civic engagement and social change, CEP has spent over a decade connecting individuals, networks, and institutions across sectors.
Environmental Protection & Sustainability
Much of Afghanistan’s natural landscape has been impacted and destroyed by decades of war. The aim of this fund is to support organizations working to: 1) restore and protect Afghanistan’s natural habitats and the diverse species that depend on them; 2) revitalize agricultural lands in ecologically responsible ways that alleviate the consequences of climate migration; and 3) protect Afghanistan’s waterways and ensure access to clean water.
Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
The Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure Fund was set up to support the revitalization of local economies by identifying and marketing key resources in each region and building the necessary infrastructure for resource sharing across the country and in the global marketplace. Projects supported by this fund must: 1) prioritize the health and wellbeing of local people and local habitats, ensuring that neither are exploited in the process of revitalizing local economies; and 2) address local needs in innovative and sustainable ways that build local capacity and support job creation.
Our Core Values
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We uphold the dignity of Afghan people by uplifting their voices, honoring their values, and making sure they have control over their own representation.
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We commit to cultivating a culture of transparency by exchanging knowledge and best practices on aid allocation and distribution. We rely on advances in data science to enable governments, aid organizations, community leaders, and donors to make informed decisions.
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We are actively involved in advocating for self-determination by identifying and eliminating marginalizing practices and systems that prevent access to resources and sustainable outcomes for all Afghans.
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We believe in one people, one planet. We believe that what happens in one part of the world affects the entire global community. We believe that our cultural roots as people are braided, and our destinies as nation-states are interwoven. Therefore, it’s imperative that we make economic and social decisions that operate on the principle of win-win. It’s imperative that we value people over profit, and we let our guiding principles be compassion and equity.
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We believe in thinking about old problems in new ways. We believe in reimagining the way aid work has always been done in order to arrive at more sustainable and equitable solutions. We believe in honoring the input of local people on local problems.
Impact Fund
When you support the Impact Fund, you give our experts the flexibility to direct your support to the area or project of greatest need. In the current situation in Afghanistan where there are multiple crises unfolding, this flexibility is key in allowing us to direct your unrestricted support where it will make the greatest impact in real time.