Dear John,

You probably saw the images of crying Afghan schoolgirls banned from attending classes at the end of March. The situation for Afghan girls and women is continuing to worsen under the Taliban, while the unmet need for family planning increases and sexual and reproductive healthcare provision is ever more critical.

Our new Empower to Plan partner, the Afghan Family Guidance Association, has been on a mission to ensure stigma- and discrimination-free reproductive health and rights for Afghans since 1968. This, in a country with staggering rates of child and maternal death, and in which the UNFPA estimates that there will be 4.8 million unwanted pregnancies over the next three years if the international community doesn’t step up maternal healthcare and family planning provision.

The challenges are significant. So too is the urgent call for women and girls’ rights to be upheld and their needs to be met.

With your support, AFGA will be able to recruit and fund the salaries of three expert midwives for their static clinics in Kabul public hospitals. The midwives will provide confidential counselling on family planning and contraceptive methods, in order to enable women and men to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health.

Right now, the suffering of Afghan families is exacerbated by the huge reductions in the UK overseas aid budget, especially in sexual and reproductive health and education. We can mitigate these devastating consequences through supporting female health-workers to reach those in need.

Please join us in helping AFGA to deliver these vital services and protect the rights of women, girls and families at this critical time for the future of Afghanistan.

Thank you,

Population Matters & the Afghan Family Guidance Association