Futures in the Balance: Taking Action to Ensure Afghan Women's & Girls' Rights Under Taliban Rule

As Afghanistan marks one year since the Taliban took control, the humanitarian and human rights situation in the country is devastatingly grim, particularly for Afghan women and girls. Severe food insecurity, an economic crisis, human rights abuses targeting women and girls, and overt gender discrimination have brought Afghanistan to the brink of humanitarian collapse and eroded decades of progress towards development and gender equality. The United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and the international community’s shift in attention and resources to the conflict in Ukraine continue to exacerbate the breakdown of safety, rights, and assistance for Afghan women and girls. As this situation further deteriorates, the U.S. must show leadership and take action to mobilize the international community to center gender equality and human rights in all diplomatic, development, peacebuilding, and humanitarian engagement in Afghanistan.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiAugust 15, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

Locally-Led Peacebuilding: From Policy to Action

This policy brief outlines the importance of locally-led peacebuilding (LLPB) programming, identifies best practices for working to advance LLPB, and provides recommendations to the Biden Administration, Donors, and Practitioners for its meaningful implementation.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiMay 27, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

The Climate Change Crisis: Ensuring Integration of Conflict Prevention and Climate Change in U.S. Foreign Policy and Development Assistance (April 2022 Update)

This policy brief provides key recommendations to the Biden Administration to robustly integrate conflict prevention and climate action and address the compounding crises of climate change, conflict, and fragility. The brief was originally released in August 2021 and has been updated to reflect recent research and global political and policy developments.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiApril 6, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

Building the Bridge to Peace: Reframing Peace and Peacebuilding

The FrameWorks Institute, Alliance for Peacebuilding, and PartnersGlobal joined forces to deliver evidence-based recommendations for more effective narrative strategies that build public understanding and support for peacebuilding.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiApril 5, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

Afghan Women’s Rights Remain on the Periphery of Talks with Taliban

Over the past six months, the Taliban has targeted and terrorized the women and girls of Afghanistan, swiftly reimposing draconian measures that limit their freedom and undermine their safety. In the past few weeks alone, numerous reports have emerged of women human rights defenders being detained, tortured, and killed for their activism. Despite public rhetoric claiming support for Afghan women and girls, the world has largely watched as the Taliban dramatically rolled back their rights by decades.

In solidarity with our Afghan sisters, we call upon the U.S. Government to exercise bold leadership in amplifying the voices and rights of Afghan women and girls, as is required by the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 and the U.S. Strategy on WPS.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionMegan RodgersJanuary 27, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

Lifesaving Humanitarian Response for Women and Girls in Afghanistan: An Urgent Call for U.S. Action

The rights of women, girls, and other marginalized groups in Afghanistan have suffered significant rollbacks since the fall of the Afghan government including death threats by the Taliban, barriers to accessing lifesaving services and resources, and human rights abuses. The U.S. must act now through a coordinated lifesaving humanitarian response to address these abuses and prevent further rollbacks of hard-won rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. The Alliance for Peacebuilding, Futures Without Violence, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security, Human Rights Watch, Mina's List, Refugees International, VOICE, and the Women's Refugee Commission came together to release this brief.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionMegan RodgersDecember 10, 2021AfP, Policy Brief

Integrating Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding into the COVID-19 Global Pandemic Response

This policy brief provides key recommendations to the Biden Administration to effectively mitigate the pandemic’s whole-of-society destabilizing impacts by centering conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiOctober 18, 2021AfP, Policy Brief

U.S. Immigration Policy Brief: What Does a Human Rights Centered Foreign Policy Approach to U.S. Immigration Look Like?

This policy brief provides key recommendations to the Biden Administration to prevent the weaponization of immigration that is fueling divisions and polarization in the United States.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiOctober 15, 2021AfP, Policy Brief, IRPB