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Our Global Reach
10 September 2026
Staff Accountant (Remote, US Based)

ICAN is hiring a Staff Accountant to provide financial and administrative support to ICAN’s Finance Director and broader team.

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Resource Library
12 May 2025
The Odd Couple: Women Peacebuilders and Security Actors Bridging Positions, Building Trust

The WPS agenda has proven a vital entry point for women peacebuilders to engage with the security sector and build trust within affected communities. These efforts—often invisible—are contributing to the reform of the sector, reshaping local security environments and mitigating violence.

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21 April 2025
The War Against Ourselves: Afghan Women Peacebuilders’ Response to the Mental Health Crisis in Afghanistan

This case study describes the drivers of the mental health crisis in Afghanistan, its gendered and cultural dimensions, and the strategies used by Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations to provide solutions. The authors conducted interviews with representatives of Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations and thematic experts, which were complemented by a desk review of project documentation and […]

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News & Media
10 September 2026
Staff Accountant (Remote, US Based)

ICAN is hiring a Staff Accountant to provide financial and administrative support to ICAN’s Finance Director and broader team.

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Country - Afghanistan

Website

Afghan Women News Agency Organization (AWNAO) is a nonprofit, non-political, and non-governmental organization that supports women’s participation in social activities. Its work amplifies women’s voices through news and magazine publications, advocacy, capacity building, and education. AWNAO strives to contribute to a progressive Afghanistan by promoting equal rights and peacebuilding through its advocacy work, with a special focus on women and marginalized groups. AWNAO engages in awareness raising for topics such as election participation, women’s rights, peacebuilding, and women’s empowerment.

AWANO works with organizations to deliver projects that promote peace at the community level, support women in the media, engage in research and training on conflict and peacebuilding, advocate for government accountability, and promote the rule of law. AWANO also trains female journalists to report on gender, peace, and women’s role in Islam. ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund has supported AWNAO since 2017. AWNAO joined ICAN’s She Builds Peace campaign in 2020.

Core Areas of Work:

  • Peacebuilding
  • Strengthening democratic governance and institutions
  • Women's rights

The international community should support women journalists and women-led news agencies in Afghanistan, we know that women’s narratives about their situation is very different from the narratives given by a man.

– Humaira Saqib Director, Afghan Women News Agency Organization (AWNAO)

Stories & Features

Watan e Ma – وطن ما – Our Homeland

This Winter Will Also Pass    O coldness of winter,    Within you, thousands of springs lie hidden.  The fire of love, within the ice,    Will create the warmth of life.    Be patient, O soul,    For beyond this long night,    The light of dawn waits for you.   ~ Rumi   این زمستان نیز خواهد گذشت ای سردی زمستان،    در دل تو هزاران بهار نهفته است    آتشِ […]

March 5, 2025
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Breaking from the Status Quo: Afghan Women’s Creative Resistance Through Art, Culture, and Heritage

In a powerful departure from traditional advocacy, ICAN—guided by our Afghan partners and women peacebuilders—hosted the event “Watan e Ma – وطن ما – Our Homeland: Women of Afghanistan Keeping the Flame of Freedom Alive” on March 17, 2025 at Blue Gallery in New York City. Held during the 69th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), the event celebrated Afghan cultural heritage and the resilience of Afghan women peacebuilders, who persist in their leadership for peace, justice, and equality under the Taliban’s regime of gender apartheid.  

ICAN Latest ICAN Updates
May 29, 2025
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More Countries & Partners

OUR PARTNERS MAP
Empatiku Foundation Indonesia

Empatiku is a civil society organization based in Indonesia that fosters empathy in the security and education sectors and addresses the rise of violent extremism. Since its establishment in 2015, Empatiku has innovated its programs to ensure the involvement of civil society, especially women, in bringing about social change.

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IMAN Research Malaysia

IMAN Research is a think tank based in Kuala Lumpur that focuses on issues of security, peacebuilding, and sustainable development. It provides academic and informal research to governments, development organizations, and specialists working in policy-development.

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Qadims Lumiere School and College Pakistan

Qadims Lumiere School and College was founded by Bushra Qadim Hyder in Peshawar, Pakistan. The institution provides a positive alternative to violent extremism through education, actively addressing divisions among Pakistani identity groups and gender inequalities that are exploited by extremist outfits.

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Digital Shelter Somalia

Digital Shelter is an initiative founded in March 2018 by human rights defenders in Somalia who are committed to advancing digital safety, digital rights, internet freedom, and digital inclusion.

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National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI) South Sudan

The National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI) was launched in 2016 as a partnership between the University of Juba, the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, and UN Women South Sudan. Created to meet South Sudan’s urgent need for ethical, inclusive, gender-responsive policies and visionary leadership in the aftermath of conflict, NTLI has quickly risen as a regional center of excellence in East Africa.

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Afghan Women Skills Development Center (AWSDC) Afghanistan

The Afghan Women Skills Development Center (AWSDC) is a non-governmental organization, founded in 1999 and dedicated to the promotion and protection of women’s rights in Afghanistan.

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Equality for Peace and Democracy (EPD) Afghanistan

Equality for Peace and Development Organization (EPDO) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 2010 in Afghanistan. EPDO works to promote women’s rights, social cohesion, civil society, and inclusive community development, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.

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Kaaj Media Production Afghanistan

Kaaj Magazine is a digital magazine led by Farahnaz Forotan, one of Afghanistan’s prominent journalists, who heads a distinguished editorial team dedicated to telling the human stories of a nation shaped by decades of conflict.

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Ganoubia Hora Egypt

Ganoubia Hora for Development is a young Egyptian feminist organization based in Southern Egypt.

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