Formation2002
FoundersGulalai Ismail, Saba Ismail
Founded atPeshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Legal statusNon-governmental organization
PurposeWomen's rights advocacy, education
HeadquartersPeshawar
Chairperson
Gulalai Ismail
Websitewww.awaregirls.org

Aware Girls is a non-governmental organization in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, founded in 2002 which aims to address violence and discrimination against women and young girls in Pakistan, and advocate for women's rights, education, and access to sexual and reproductive health resources.[1] Their stated aim is "to strengthen the leadership capacity of young women enabling them to act as agents of social change and women empowerment in their communities."[2]

The chairperson of Aware Girls is Gulalai Ismail, a human rights activist based in Peshawar. In 2018, Aware Girls was shut down by the Pakistani government after Gulalai joined the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a social movement campaigning for Pashtun human rights.[3]

Formation

Aware Girls was formed in Peshawar in 2002[4] by sisters Gulalai Ismail and Saba Ismail, at the time aged 16 and 15 respectively.[5] They began by campaigning in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area against gender based violence such as honour killings and acid attacks and then by educating girls and women about their human rights, giving them negotiating skills to use within their families[6] and empowering them to become leaders and educate others in their own local communities.[4] Saba Ismail explained the catalyst for the organisation's formation was experiencing gender inequality while growing up in Swabi and an incident when a girl cousin who had wanted to study and become a pilot was, age 12, made to marry a man 15 years her senior and discontinue her education.[1] Sana was already active in promoting women's right to education and healthcare while in college and Jahangir met the others at a seminar about violence against women and was a co-founder of an organisation called the Child Rights Advocates Forum.[5]

Campaigns

In addition to empowering young women at home and in their communities, Aware Girls also aims to educate young people against extremism with peaceful resistance to the Taliban by educating peers against radicalisation and to encourage more women into positions of political influence.[7] This is done through their Youth Peace Network outreach work including workshops and seminars, creating local youth groups and using peer to peer education and support to reach at-risk young people in rural areas.[8] Malala Yousafzai was an attendee of Aware Girls training in 2011 and in 2016 the Malala Fund, with financial sponsorship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation set up the Gulmakai Network to support local organisations such as Aware Girls who campaign and work on the front line of education for girls and who aim to influence policy change, making Gulalai Ismail one of the Gulmakai Champions.[9][10][11]

Aware Girls also runs a programme of HIV prevention amongst women in Pakistan which aims to educate women about sexual health, the transmission and treatment of HIV as well as reducing the stigma of living with a diagnosis. This programme is sponsored by the MTV Staying Alive initiative.[12]

Aware Girls also conducts research, provides support and counselling and advocates for policy change for women in Pakistan affected by trauma as a result of terrorism and violence.[13] Saba Ismail's research has revealed that women are disproportionately affected by the economic problems associated with terrorism and by the increase in domestic violence associated with family psychological problems. She said in 2015, "Terrorism has destroyed houses, properties, businesses and livelihoods. Children are frightened and weep. Women have lost hope."[14]

Aware Girls also runs a referral helpline for victims of domestic gender based violence. The Marastyal helpline connects women with providers of emotional support, legal advice and emergency medical treatment.[15]

Awards

In 2014 Aware Girls received the Global Rising Star award from the Star Foundation.[16]

On November 24, 2016, Aware Girls was the recipient of the Fondation Chirac Peace Prize for its contribution to the prevention of conflict in Pakistan which was presented by the then French president Francois Hollande.[17]

In her capacity as the chairperson of Aware Girls, Gulalai Ismail has won several awards including International Humanist of the Year Award, given by the International Humanist and Ethical Union at the World Humanist Congress,[18] the Commonwealth Youth Award (2015),[19] the 2013 Democracy Award from National Endowment for Democracy[6] and was joint winner, with murdered journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, of the Anna Politkovskaya Award, Reach All Women in WAR (RAW in WAR) award for campaigning against religious extremism.[20]

Gulalai and Saba Ismail were also featured in Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2013 for empowering girls in Pakistan.[6]

Criticism

Aware Girls is being criticised in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for violating cultural norms and making people liberated from culture and religion which directly impact the society's sentiment. Gulalai's video went viral when she was explaining rural girls about how they feel awkward and discomfort for putting chail -shawl used widely in Swabi which is considered as symbol of modesty and resistance historically.[21]

Sponsors and affiliations

Aware Girls has received funding from several organisations and among them lists the following as partners and/or donors:

Aware Girls is a member of numerous national and international organisations including:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Gray, Lucy Anna (18 November 2018). "Forgotten Women: One detained and another receiving threats from across the world - meet human rights activists the Ismail sisters". The Independent. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  2. ↑ "Who we are". Aware Girls. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  3. ↑ "Female Activists Chart New Course In Pakistan's Conservative Pashtun Belt". Gandhara Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. March 29, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Briggs, Billy (13 October 2015). "The Peshawar women fighting the Taliban: 'We cannot trust anyone'". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Meet the founders". Aware Girls. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 "GULALAI AND SABA ISMAIL For empowering Pakistani girls". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  7. ↑ "'Aware Girls' counter Taliban extremism in Peshawar: report". Pakistan Today. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  8. ↑ "Pakistan". Peace-direct.org. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  9. ↑ Thomas, Tess. "The key to seeing every girl in school: local education leaders (blog post)". Malala.org. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  10. ↑ "Pakistan Fighting for education funding, building schools for girls and training young women to speak out for their rights". Malala.org. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  11. ↑ Plackis-Cheng, Paksy. "Aware Girls". Impactmania. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  12. ↑ "Aware Girls". TransConflict. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  13. ↑ "Govt, NGOs asked to help militancy-hit women". Dawn. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  14. ↑ Briggs, Billy. "Living with terrorism in Peshawar: Anyone, anywhere, at any time, could explode". The Herald. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  15. ↑ Burke, Pamela (30 September 2014). "Peacebuilder Gulalai Ismail Fights For Girls' Rights In Pakistan". The Woman’s Eye. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  16. ↑ "Aware Girls". Star Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  17. ↑ Owensby, Susan (22 December 2016). "Gulalai Ismail wins the 2016 Chirac Prize for the Prevention of Conflict". Radio France Internationale. France Médias Monde. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  18. ↑ "Gulalai Ismail wins International Humanist of the Year Award", Humanists UK, 9 August 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2018
  19. ↑ "Winners of Commonwealth Youth Awards 2015 announced (Press release)". The Commonwealth. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  20. ↑ "Pakistani activist Gulalai Ismail wins Anna Plitkovskaya Award". The International News. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  21. ↑ Shinwari, Sher Alam (2018-11-03). "Traditional 'Chail' still in vogue among Swabi women". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  22. ↑ "Partners/Donors". Aware Girls. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  23. ↑ "Our members". Humanists International. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
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