Events
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Hear My Voice: Afghan Women Speak from Canada and Afghanistan
Time: 5:00 p.m. EST via ZOOM
The Afghan Women’s Centre (AWC) of Montreal empowers socially isolated immigrant women within Montreal by creating programs according to their needs, facilitating self-development workshops, and promoting team-based projects.
During this presentation, our speakers will explore AWC collaborations in Canada and in Afghanistan; the concerns, challenges and issues that refugees and newcomers face. Learn more about the difficulties that Afghan encounter both in Canada and inside of Afghanistan; the challenges that Afghan immigrants face coming to a new country; and the trauma of leaving their homes, as well often their families, behind. The speakers will also explore the humanitarian and emergency aid AWC initiative for Afghan women in Afghanistan. Frozan Rahmani, in collaboration with AWCM, produced a documentary with narrations from women about the hardships they face. Learn more about their stories and discover the voices of the women of Afghanistan.
This webinar will also cover current efforts by AWC to cooperate with the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation et Intégration Québec, helping offer refuge to Afghans in Canada. Lastly, there will be a focus on the situation with Afghan girls deprived of the fundamental right to education after the Taliban took over since last year.
Registration
About Our Presentaters
Frozan Rahmani
Frozan Rahmani is an Afghan Journalist and women’s activist currently living in Ottawa. Frozan have two bachelor’s degrees in the social sciences, one concentrating on women’s studies from Athabasca University and another in literature from Kabul University. She was one of the victims of educational deprivation under the Taliban's regime in the 1990s. However, after the collapse of the Taliban's first regime, as a result of a US-led military coalition in 2001, she was able to continue her education. Frozan worked for the United Nations in Afghanistan and as a journalist for various media including Internews, Pajhwok Afghan News, and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). She has been very active in various areas of women's and children's rights both inside Afghanistan and in Canada. Now after two decades the Taliban have again seized power and taken away Afghan girls right to education.
Frozan is advocating for these girls who are deprived of their basic human rights by amplifying the voices of Afghan women and teenaged girls to all who will listen. Her primary goals are to effectively support and help Afghan women in Canada, in the Ottawa region and to advocate for the Afghan girls and women who live under the oppressive regime of the Taliban.
Victoria Jahesh
AWC Project Manager - Executive Director
Victoria is a Strategic Planning and Senior Advisor at the AWC, where she began volunteering in 2007. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of the AWC of Montreal. Her career spans over 15 years in the non-profit, NGO, and corporate sectors. She has dedicated her life to advocating on behalf of social justice, women’s rights and empowerment, and gender equity. These values have animated her international involvement in countless fundraising events dedicated toward safeguarding the rights of vulnerable and disabled women and their families, reducing poverty, and fighting against systemic racism and sexism.
Victoria has a medical degree, with proficiency in four languages Farsi, Russian, English and French. Her extensive medical knowledge have greatly facilitated her ability to collaborate with international organizations such as the “Foundation of Hope for Tomorrow,” Shriners Hospitals for Children and the McGill University Health Center (MUHC).
Additionally, she has had the honor of consulting the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in designing and implementing training programs concerning Afghan culture for Canadian troops in preparation for their assigned missions in Afghanistan.
Makai Harif
AWC President & Founder
Makai Harif is the founder and president of the AWC of Montreal. With a Master’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, she worked as a teacher and a school principal for more than 20 years in Afghanistan. Due to the socio-political instability there, she moved to Russia with her children with the hope that she would go back to her home country after 3 months, but ended up staying there for over 8 years.
After going through the long and harsh path refugees often face, she founded a Centre for Refugees in Russia with the aim of supporting others. In March 2000, Makai and her family immigrated to Canada in order to find a secure and peaceful place to live. With a profound understanding of the trials and hardships faced by immigrant women, Makai founded the AWC of Montreal in 2002.
Since then, she has worked tirelessly lifting up and supporting immigrant women from all over the world. She has supported hundreds of women and their families within a wide range of needs: housing, employment, legal and social needs, language barriers, celebration of key holidays, and much more. Her loyalty, selflessness, and dedication, and knowledge are all model qualities for those who wish to serve as volunteers within the organisation.