Women's rights remain highly controversial in Afghanistan, as evidenced by the parliament's debate over and ultimate refusal last May to approve a law aimed at preventing violence against women.

Noorjahan Akbar, 22, is an Afghan women's rights activist and a prolific blogger. She believes that there has been a lot of positive chan...

Achievements in the field of media and freedom of expression are usually viewed as the biggest gain of the post-Taliban era in Afghanistan. From one radio station and two papers that were solely used for the purpose of spreading government propaganda under the Taliban, today, there are more than 75 TV stations, a hundred radio stations and hundreds of publications according to the Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan.

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan is funding a 6 month multi-media training project in Balkh province in order to equip females with photography and film making skills. Tolo Services and Cultural Organization (TSCO), is implementing this project, which is funded by SCA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIF26bPA4eM&feature=youtu.be Empowering Afghanistan's women and youth through access to media. We believe in the power of digital and social media as a means to connect with the world and to increase access to opportunity for everyone. The women and students of Afghanistan, through the support of a computer lab, would greatly benefit from access to...

When I returned to Afghanistan nine years ago, I rarely heard terms such as violence against women, women's rights, family violence, forced marriages, underage marriages, family law and so on. But now, nine years later, as the young media grow in Afghanistan, such terms are being discussed broadly and regularly.

Despite repeated threats, Najiba Ayubi is determined to direct her team of journalists towards in-depth reporting on sensitive subjects. Now 45, she has spent nearly a decade as managing director of the Killid Group, an Afghan media network encompassing press, radio and online outlets.

Members of the Taliban e-mailed some of the warnings; others arrived over the phone. One caller warned she would be murdered and disfigured so horrendously that her family would not be able to recognise her body. But the mother-of-one, whose most recent project is a news agency that spearheads coverage of the problems that Afghan women face, is undeterred.

Female journalists in Afghanistan brave danger "I have been threatened by the Taliban, corrupt authorities, warlords and even the government. But none of these threats will ever stop me from what I do." - Mahsa, Afghan journalist. IMS highlights the plight of Afghanistan's female journalists on International Women's Day Life for women in Afghanistan has never been easy.

What is your journalism challenge? What problem are you working to solve? More than a decade of foreign aid during the US-led war in Afghanistan gave birth to a lively and large Afghan press corps. However, women often get left out of the equation, meaning they suffer from a shortage of job opportunities, training and mentoring.

On 17 May, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova met in Kabul with the Association, founded in 2005 by Ms Shafiqa Habibi and now counting 350 members in five provinces. "Our greatest challenge is the lack of capacity - many journalists have no professional training.

Assertions and opinions in this publication are solely those of the above-mentioned author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Middle East Institute, which expressly does not take positions on Middle East policy.

Afghan Women and the Media - Is Their Story Being Told? This past March, Pat Mitchell, President and CEO of The Paley Center for Media, hosted a round table discussion in conjunction with the U.S. - Afghan Women's Council. The focus was to examine how to support Afghan women in media.

Since the United States went to war in Afghanistan in 2001, military success and changes in the power structure have been fleeting. But some things there have changed faster than others. "The development of the Afghan media sector stands out as a particular success story," reports Lauryn Oates in Herizons (Winter 2011).

KABUL -- Brajesh Verma, an Indian entrepreneur working in Afghanistan, came to the war-ravaged country in 2004 with two goals in mind: to help strengthen the media scene here as well as contribute in some way to improving the social lives of the Afghans.

Broadcast for five years from 2005-2010, weekly radio show Afghan Woman's Hour highlighted the role of women in Afghan society. It aimed to inspire women and girls to participate more fully in the rebuilding of their country.

In September 2013, the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) announced that it had registered some 62 cases of violence against journalists over the past eight months. The group said that the recent high number of violations "raises serious concerns about the safety of journalists and the situation of press freedom as the country prepares for the 2014 presidential and provincial council elections and international troops withdrawal."

“The World Is Made of Stories is about the Master Story; how we are its telling, untelling, and retelling. David R. Loy delivers freedom straight-up in a delightful, variegated collection of wisdom quotes and commentaries.

Educating Prisoners of Tradition: Visual Narratives of Afghan Women on Social Media

SAR-E POL, Afghanistan -- The owner of an Afghan radio network dedicated solely to women says one of its regional stations has been reopened after it was controversially shut down two weeks ago. Shafiqullah Azizi, the owner of the "Voice of Women" network, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that its regional office in Sar-e-Pol Province was back on the air on August 2.

Through these and other efforts, WIMN and WAW are working to empower Afghan women and their advocates to transform the role of media in their lives and create significant change in the way media relate to their community.

If she beats the odds, Paradise Soururi could become one of the first female rappers in Afghanistan. That is her goal, at least. But life hasn't been easy for her since she returned to her ultra-conservative country four months ago. The 28-year-old hip-hop singer came back to Afghanistan after living in neighboring Iran and Tajikistan.

In Gareshk, the rural hometown of Zarmina - the poet who'd set herself alight with heating oil - the hospital parking lot teemed with a parade of men, new mothers, and their swaddled babies on a warm February day in 2012. None of them looked like the teenage girl with whom I was hoping to meet.