International Women's Day 8th March 2021

All of us at SEPAR International are thrilled to be celebrating this once again in 2021!!

We actively promote our SEPAR gender initiative and are making moves to empower women across the globe.

Just last week, our charity The SEPAR Community Foundation funded three places on our female only self defence course in Kabul where local women learnt de-escalation, self defence and confidence building techniques. This was a very successful afternoon and was thoroughly enjoyed. by all participants of all ages who were taught by a member of the Afghan kickboxing team!

International Women's Day means so many different things to different people and I have asked 3 women to describe what it means to them:

"As I pause to reflect on this day, I cannot help but honour the men, women and communities, who have made it possible for women to achieve great feats. Over the years, women have broken the glass ceiling in areas such as STEM, leadership, politics and governance. I, among many women in my community, continue to move beyond the glass ceiling, uplifting others with me. As we continue to highlight the achievements of women, it is important to acknowledge that more work lies ahead to continuously redefine the role of women in our societies."

Zahra, Kenyan national studying in the USA

All over the world people says being a women is difficult and you should face a lot of obstacles, but when it comes to Afghanistan, those obstacles become double, you will not be your real personality, you cannot wear, walk and act as you want, you will face limitations and it will be hard to live sometimes, but you can find some reasons to stay and fight for yourself and others. The reasons that make me stay and fight are love, sport and children.

Zahra young Afghan woman and mother of 2

During thinking about international women's day the first things comes to mind was one of Bamyan province mothers interview's when she asked about mothers day and she answered I just know that mother's day is a good and special day and that is all. She said this sentence while she suffered from things like war, poverty and lots of other problems that cause her just to be a home wife like most of other women here in Afghanistan. For me as an Afghan girl international women's day will find meaning while by remembering this day I just remember the good things like the power, right and happens of them on that time really we can celebrate this day by all mean.

Saira young Afghan female