Ways to support women/children/men left behind in Afghanistan?

August 13, 2021 4:44 PM

I am sitting here weeping at the news coverage of what is and will happen to those the US (my country) has left behind as we pull out of Afghanistan. Women/young girls will be trafficked/brutalized. Men who "collaborated" as translators, guides or even cooks will be jailed/killed. People are desperate to get out! What can I do? Are there aide groups I can donate to? Write to my representatives? How could they not see this coming is another question, but... is there something practical to do, groups to support? I cannot just sit here and weep.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

No one left behind (nooneleft.org) provides direct assistance plus advocacy. For the next 108 hours, all donations made to No One Left Behind will directly support flying SIV (special immigrant visa) applicants and families out of Afghanistan.
It's not enough. It is something. I too am so ashamed of us.
posted by evilmomlady at 6:19 PM on August 13, 2021 [15 favorites]

My old homies at the International Rescue Committee have a program working in Afghanistan and are stepping up to the fray right now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:34 PM on August 13, 2021 [9 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you, both. Something to do.

More please.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 7:49 PM on August 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

GFM shared by a Penn professor and second order connection on my FB list (so I assume it's legit), meant to help an Afghan man get out of Afghanistan and to a graduate program in Sweden: GoFundMe

Maybe look for other GFMs of this flavor as well?

This is all so hard. I'm not Afghan but am a Persian speaker and listening to interviews of people fleeing the taliban begging for help in Dari/Persian on international news has been especially devastating. Thank you for thinking of them.
posted by shaademaan at 8:14 PM on August 14, 2021 [3 favorites]

I was reading this article on The Guardian from the perspective of women in Kabul and written in collaboration with Rukhshana Media, a collective of female journalists across Afghanistan, and at the bottom there's a link to their fundraising page
posted by bitteschoen at 6:10 AM on August 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you for the additional resources. Good suggestions!
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 8:08 AM on August 15, 2021

More suggestions here: How can I help Afghanistan? 24 charities and causes you can donate to (The Independent)

inspired by this Twitter thread with a collection of links
posted by bitteschoen at 4:59 AM on August 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

See also this thread on Reddit (r/Afghanistan)
posted by bitteschoen at 5:03 AM on August 17, 2021

And this comment right here on metafilter has more links to suggested charities/fundraising efforts
posted by bitteschoen at 6:56 AM on August 17, 2021