Project Name:    Support to Women in Prison   
Location:     Kabul, Balkh provinces   
Duration:       One year
Start Date:      August 2007
End Date:      July 2008
Beneficiaries:     146 women
Funded by:      ASDHA (Associacio Per els Drats Humans al' Afghanistan)


Project goal:
To facilitate a process of rehabilitation for women prisoners while they are in captivity and assist with their reintegration back in society upon release

Project objectives:
•    To provide relief and assistance to at least 146 women and  their children inside the Kabul prisons
•    To establish a network with outside agencies for referral services
•    To increase women’s awareness of rights, peace, conflict resolution, gender, health issues
•    To conduct regular literacy classes for women prisoners
•    To build their skills through conducting vocational training inside the prison with a goal to generate own income and to keep away from criminal activities
•    To ensure delivery of legal services for women in prison and during their release from the prison
•    To establish a shop to sell the products of women prisoners in Mazar-e-Sharif in order to build an income generating system for them


Major Activities :

In April 2004, AWEC began working in the Wolayat detention centre with women prisoners in Kabul and in September 2005 started working in Mazaar detention center.  The project goal is to increase the well being and opportunities of women who are inside the Kabul and Mazaar prisons by hiring social workers to support these prisoners and to facilitate their re-entry into society; in order to do this family members are visited by the social workers, and family visits with the women are arranged, this helping  women to accepted back into their families after release, and keeping them in touch with the society during their imprisonment. In addition, our social workers identify their basic needs for food, clothes, kitchen tools, hygiene materials etc,so that these prisoners do not face any problems in this regard. Our social workers facilitate awareness raising workshops and sometimes invite other organizations to support us in this regard. We also provide literacy and vocational training for female prisoners. 

The doctor checks sick detainees twice a week regularly and sometimes conducts extra visits to the prison when needed. In general women prisoners were not able to access medical assistance, but now an Afghan female doctor is allowed in both the Kabul and Mazaar detention centers to visit regularly providing treatment and medicine for women-prisoners twice a week.

With support from Global Rights International , AWEC has hired a legal assistant who conducts case studies. because Most of the women in prison can not afford to hire a lawyers for the follow up of their cases and the legal Assistant provides help in regard. In addition to supporting women in prison AWEC supports prisoner’s children, who live with their mothers in prison, providing them education, toys, clothes and hygiene material, and introduce some of the children whose mother's trial period is longer into the orphanage.
In the framework of this project there is successful collaboration going on with other stakeholders and key players such as prison staff, UN and other NGO’s. Literacy  and vocational training programs (including embroidery, knitting and candle-making) was arranged, as well as creative art workshops for the women to express themselves