Afghanistan has been badly hit by climate change. Not only has the Taliban’s takeover in 2021 and decades of conflict caused devastating impacts on the country's food supply chains, but massive droughts, floods, fires, earthquakes, and one of the coldest winters on record have left millions starving. Additionally, due to the Taliban's oppressive rule, women in Afghanistan are facing some of the strictest gender-based restrictions in the world. Gender roles combined with climate change have left Afghan women at the forefront of climate change disasters.

The purpose of this project is to encourage political discussion around the experiences and opinions of those experiencing the worst effects of climate change. Policy and climate action is centred around upper levels of politics, and primarily considers climate change from a scientific and economic standpoint. These decisions, that directly affect those suffering from the effects of climate change, come from elite politicians that are personally removed from the climate crisis, and those suffering are often ignored.

There are a lot of reasons why this divide exists, but predominantly, it is because those suffering have no platform to express their problems, and share their stories. In Afghanistan, communication with international society is limited, and Afghan stories and experiences become lost in statistics and academia. Further, the stories of Afghan women face near-insurmountable obstacles, and to hear their perspectives means searching, listening,  and advocating for them. 

This project has collated creative, academic, personal, and political works from a range of young women in Afghanistan who are passionate about climate change, particularly from a gendered lens. The project is not limited to written works, but includes artistic contributions, and any other options, at the discretion of all participants. The project aims to address multiple points, most significantly: 

How can international society support and follow women affected by climate change?

These stories, essays, reports, and pieces of art beg for international action focused on education, religious considerations, rural support, and female-led initiatives. They discuss the importance of sensitivity in complicated and nuanced issues that are affected by a myriad of cultural influences, of which are not well-addressed in the political sphere. The project is both informative and instructive to potential policymakers, international donors, researchers, and academics. 

We urge all climate action to take place at the grass roots level and to let the victims of climate change rewrite their stories in their own words. Above all, we ask the international community to listen to the advice of the authors and artists of this book. This advice comes from a very real place of person experience, trauma, tragedy, and hope.