AINA is a France-based NGO founded in 2001 by world-renowned photojournalist and National Geographic Fellow Reza (Reza Deghati). Aina aims to assist the growth of civil society in post-conflict regions through development of cultural institutions, an independent media and the empowerment of women. As a third-generation humanitarian association, Aina contributes to the emergence of civil society through actions in the area of education (particularly focusing on women and children), information and communication.
Aina promotes independent media development and cultural expression as a foundation of democracy. The association trains local participants, supports the local initiatives of independent media groups, and facilitates access to technology. As an organization, Aina is particularly focused on the education and upliftment of women because they believe that empowering women is a fundamental milestone along the path to a democratic state and media. AINA Founders believed that these skills could contribute to the building of a free and open society by supporting sustainable development, promoting human rights, and strengthening social unity. Now at the forefront of the women's movement, Aina empowers, trains and supports female journalists who will become the educated civic leaders and media teachers of Afghanistan's future.
Since its inception, Aina has had a significant impact on civil society in Afghanistan. Over 1,000 women and men have been trained in media and communication skills, with more than 90% now employed using these skills. Eight publications have been produced and are in circulation, including two women's magazines and one children's magazine, Parvaz. In addition, "Afghanistan Unveiled", the first documentary by an all-female production team and produced by Aina, was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2005.
Aina's mission is to foster civil society, independent media, cultural identity, the empowerment of women in media and children's education through education, information and communication.
Aina supports the development of media and cultural structures and the production of educational material in a country undergoing reconstruction. Through the training and cultural learning it provides, Aina contributes to Afghan education and promotes a spirit of peace and freedom, the very foundation of democracy. Aina's cross-disciplinary training program is based on new technologies, introducing participants to the electronic age. It is first and foremost intended for women and children whose development has long been neglected in Afghan society.
AINA also produces Afghani-made films. One of the films is a documentary entitled "Afghanistan Unveiled," which was made by thirteen Afghan women, including Jamila Emami and Gul Makai Rangbar under the direction of Brigitte Brault, a French journalist. It premiered July 16, 2003 at a luncheon at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC. The National Geographic Society then provided AINA a grant of $50,000 to fund the children's magazine, Parvaz.
Another project in Afghanistan run by AINA and funded by the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration, Britain's Department for International Development and the European Commission, involves mobile cinemas. In five-month periods in both 2002 and 2003, eight mobile cinemas travelled Afghanistan, bringing educational films to nearly a million people across the country. It is estimated that in 2002, the program reached 450,000 people in six weeks. Under the direction of coordinator Nicolas Delloye, the 2003 goal was to reach twice that. To reach the goal, eight mobile cinema teams were to spend five months roaming Afghanistan, reaching 1,000 villages. The three 30-minute education films involved ("Our School" by Ahad Zhwand, "The Afghan Cultural Heritage" by Waheed Ramaqh, and "The Voice of the Heart" by Mirwais Rekab) were made under Afghan Films.
AINA estimates that less than 20% of Afghanis have ever seen a film before. Films and most other forms of entertainment were banned under the Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001. Furthermore, less than 10% of Afghanistan's population has access to electricity.
Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze media messages as well as create, reflect and take action, using the power of information and communication to make a difference in the world. Media literacy applies to different types of media and is seen as important skills for work, life, and citizenship.
Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities. The organization claims to have assisted more than 220 million people survive humanitarian conflicts, seek improvements in livelihoods, and deliver durable development to their communities.
The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters is the international umbrella organization of community radio broadcasters founded in 1983, with nearly 3,000 members in 110 countries. Its mission is to support and contribute to the development of community and participatory radio along the principles of solidarity and international cooperation.
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Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR)(Danish: Den danske komité for hjælp til afghanske flygtninge) is a non-political, non-governmental, non-profit humanitarian and development organization working to improve the lives of the Afghan people since 1984.
Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. They do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciousness through their beliefs, values, and attitudes. Youth empowerment aims to improve quality of life. Youth empowerment is achieved through participation in youth empowerment programs. However scholars argue that children's rights implementation should go beyond learning about formal rights and procedures to give birth to a concrete experience of rights. There are numerous models that youth empowerment programs use that help youth achieve empowerment. A variety of youth empowerment initiatives are underway around the world. These programs can be through non-profit organizations, government organizations, schools or private organizations.
Human Concern International (HCI) is a Canadian federally registered charitable non-governmental organization (NGO) working in international development and emergency relief assistance since 1980.
Geographic mobility is the measure of how populations and goods move over time. Geographic mobility, population mobility, or more simply mobility is also a statistic that measures migration within a population. Commonly used in demography and human geography, it may also be used to describe the movement of animals between populations. These moves can be as large scale as international migrations or as small as regional commuting arrangements. Geographic mobility has a large impact on many sociological factors in a community and is a current topic of academic research. It varies between different regions depending on both formal policies and established social norms, and has different effects and responses in different societies. Population mobility has implications ranging from administrative changes in government and impacts on local economic growth to housing markets and demand for regional services.
Reza Deghati is an Iranian-French photojournalist.
Malek Shafi’i is a film director, producer, festival organiser, and human rights activist from Afghanistan.
Skateistan is a non-profit organization that uses skateboarding and education to empower children. Over 2,500 children, aged 5–17, attend Skateistan's programs in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa. 50% of students are girls. Through their innovative programs, Outreach, Skate and Create, Back-to-School, Dropping In and Youth Leadership, Skateistan aims to give children the opportunity to become leaders for a better world. Skateistan has Skate Schools in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and Johannesburg, South Africa. The international headquarters is in Berlin, Germany.
Media development involves capacity building for institutions or individuals related to freedom of expression, pluralism and diversity of media, as well as transparency of media ownership. Media development plays a role in democracy and effective democratic discourse through supporting free and independent media.
Roya Mahboob is an Afghan businesswoman. She founded and is CEO of the Afghan Citadel Software Company, a full-service software development company based in Herat, Afghanistan. She has received attention for being among the first IT female CEOs in Afghanistan, where it is still relatively rare for women to work outside the home. On 18 April 2013, Mahboob was named to TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2013 for her work in building internet classrooms in high schools in Afghanistan and for Women's Annex, a multilingual blog and video site hosted by Film Annex. This was the 10th anniversary of the TIME special edition. The Women's Annex platform give the women of Afghanistan and Central Asia a platform to tell their stories to the world. The TIME magazine introduction to Mahboob was written by Sheryl Sandberg who is the chief operating officer of Facebook and the author of "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead". U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Mahboob and other Afghan women entrepreneurs at the International Center for Women's Economic Development at the American University of Afghanistan. She is also known for her work with online film distribution platform and Web Television Network Film Annex on the Afghan Development Project. She is an advisor at the Forbes School of Business & Technology.
Women's World Wide Web (W4) is a European crowdfunding platform dedicated to women's empowerment. W4 is a registered 501(c)(3) organization in the United States, and a non-profit association in France, aVOICESiming to empower girls and women to find their own solutions to driving development. By establishing field projects across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the United States, and Europe, W4 works to ensure the protection of girls' and women's human rights and girls' and women's access to the constituents of development: in particular, access to technology, healthcare, schooling, earning opportunities, the exercise of their rights, and political participation.
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Farzana Wahidy is an Afghan documentary photographer and photojournalist. She has made photographs of women and girls in Afghanistan. She was the first female photographer in Afghanistan to work with international media agencies such as the Associated Press (AP) and Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Mary Ayubi is a filmmaker and journalist from Afghanistan. Due to her experience with the Taliban and war actions in Afghanistan, she uses media and film to document the violent actions of the Taliban and women’s rights in Afghanistan as it would pertain to violence. Mary now lives in Los Angeles and continues her career as a film maker by continuing research and working on a new documentary.
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Soore University (SU) is a private non-for-profit university located in Tehran, Iran. Soore University was founded in 1994, and it is considered among the top art universities in Iran alongside Tehran University of Art and College of Fine Arts at University of Tehran. Historically, Soore University has been particularly strong in Graphic Design and Cinema among arts.
Foreign aid for gender equality in Jordan includes programs funded by governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that aim to empower women, close gender based gaps in opportunity and experience, and promote equal access to education, economic empowerment, and political representation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.