Sahar Speaks

Are you an Afghan woman journalist? Did you arrive in the States over 2021/22?
Then apply for our *new* fellowship program with IWMF!

If selected, you'll get:
- an in-person retreat
- mentorship opportunities
- peer networking
- and the chance to apply for a competitive reporting fund to continue your vital journalism

Any questions, just reach out to myself or Sahar Speaks alumna Zahra Nader, the program's project coordinator.

Reclaiming Futures - IWMF Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in summer 2021, Afghan women journalists have been forced into exile, unable to move forward in their careers. Reclaiming Futures is a pilot project supporting women journalists and media employees in exile as they establish themselves in the U.S....

So many of you have asked how to help the women reporters of Sahar Speaks. We've now set up a fundraiser to help get them back on their feet. They are scattered around the globe, many in camps and hotels. They fled Kabul with a tiny bag each, leaving behind their clothes, books and and also their laptops and cameras for work. One of them, a successful TV presenter, escaped to Pakistan overland while four months pregnant.
Please share if you can.
Thank you for all your support!

Resettling Afghan women reporters of Sahar Speaks Help us raise funds to support Afghan women journalists from Sahar Speaks as they resettle and establish their careers again

Tensions between Afghanistan and Iran are high amid claims that Iranian police have tortured and killed Afghan migrants, including burning three to death in a car this month. The abuse Afghan migrants face in Iran has been well-documented. Alumna Zahra Nader penned this moving op-Ed for DW Deutsche Welle, recalling the maltreatment she received as a young refugee growing up in Iran. “I cried quietly. I promised to say goodbye to school, and with that, to all my dreams”

Opinion: 'As an Afghan refugee in Iran, I grew up with fear and humiliation' | DW | 22.06.2020 Journalist Zahra Nader recounts her experience as an Afghan refugee in Tehran. She told DW that the bias and prejudice she faced in the 1990s still exists today.

Another vigorously-reported read from alumna Zainab Farahmand, this time for Germany’s WELT, on the newborns who survived the horrific recent attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/plus209574347/Afghanistan-Grosse-Zweifel-an-Friedensprozess-mit-Taliban.html

Delighted to share this story by alumna Zainab Farahmand. The number of Afghan children in school recently decreased for the first time since 2002. But the families of women murdered in Afghanistan's forever war are turning their legacies into opportunities for education. Published by Guardian global development

Turning grief into hope: one Afghan terror victim's legacy of learning When his sister Rahila was killed by a bomber, Hamid Rafi was inspired by her diaries to set up an education centre in her name

Congratulations to alumna Nilofar Niekpor, whose photo was selected for UNESCO’s travelling exhibit “Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads” 3,500 images were submitted of which 100 will go on tour. 👏

We’re thrilled that alumna Tahmina Saleem will be exhibiting her work this month in London! Tahmina is part of a small group of talented female photographers from around the world, who were selected for the exhibit at the Oxo Tower, March 5-8.

Women by Women | Tahmina Saleem | ActionAid UK ActionAid's women's photography campaign celebrating the incredible stories of women - captured by women.

We are delighted to share this new story by alumna Fariba Housaini. As the Taliban rises, more Afghan families are being torn apart as the men in the family try escape for better economic opportunities abroad. Afghanistan's lone mothers are finding it increasingly hard to cope back home. Published by Guardian global development with generous support from IWMF InternationalWomens MediaFoundation

What happens to Afghanistan’s left-behind women as the Taliban rises? As insecurity grows, mothers are risking everything to escape a society that judges them for being alone

What a night! On Monday at Wexner Center for the Arts, two more of our stories were adapted for the stage, and performed in front of a full house. Playwrights Nushin Arbabzadah and Alia Bano adapted stories by Pariwash Gouhari and Fariba Housaini, performed by Mehek Sheikh, Rithika Gopala Krishnan and Jordan Booker. Thank you The Middle East Studies Center at The Ohio State University The Ohio State University Department of Theatre 🙌👏