Friends of the American University of Afghanistan

the American University of Afghanistan (auaf) remains a beacon of hope for a generation of young afghans who wrestle with a new set of political and social realities yet remain ambitious and fervent to lead change in their country and society. To be sure, auaf is the only option for many afghan women pursuing higher education in Afghanistan. Since the fall of kabul in august 2021 and through 2023, the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan (fauaf) has continued to support auaf, which operates as a world-class institution in the most adverse circumstances. the mission endures, but the path has been altered. This fiscal year underscored the continued commitment of fauaf to higher education opportunities for afghan students - in Afghanistan and around the world - during a period of significant challenges. Fauaf played a crucial role in facilitating the ongoing operations of auaf, particularly in education city, doha, qatar, where auaf houses in-person operations and teaching, as well as the safety and well-being of auaf students. Fauaf focused on key strategic support categories to advance higher education in Afghanistan. Restrictions to education and employment opportunities for women place a growing urgency on quality online education and access to equitable pathways to higher education for afghan girls. Strategic focus: expanded online education & learning programs: fauaf focused on direct support to programs that: - ensure afghan students receive full-need financial aid for high-quality education. - provide diverse, equitable, and inclusive pathways to higher education in Afghanistan. - restore and preserve the secondary-to-tertiary education pipeline in Afghanistan. - position afghan women as leaders in their community through education and training. - provide safe and equitable learning environments free from harassment, including relocation to University partner campuses. - provide trauma-informed mental health services to afghan students pursuing higher education. Through this strategic lens, fauaf focused programmatic support on innovative online modes of education and training as well as the safety and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. Relocation support: fauaf continued to deploy support for emergency relocation and resettlement of auaf students, faculty, and staff while awaiting visas to travel to various locations worldwide. Support included temporary housing, basic amenity stipends, data packages to enable them to continue online learning, commercial flights, visa costs, and other costs incurred during relocation. Over 500 students, faculty, and staff were relocated to select campuses due to a dynamic combination of generous support from private and corporate donors. Fauaf provided 525,133 usd in support for relocation activities this fiscal year. Program support, education city: separated from the kabul campus in 2021 and striving to sustain its mission, auaf established a hub at education city, doha, qatar. On february 16, 2022, auaf entered into an agreement with the qatar foundation (qf) and qatar fund for development (qffd), stipulating that 19 faculty and staff, along with 200 students, would be hosted at the education city facilities in doha for a period of two years. Safely ensconced in doha, auaf continued face-to-face teaching for a contingent of students in doha as well as online teaching for enrolled students in Afghanistan and around the world. the hub provides a foundation from which auaf can continue to educate students in Afghanistan. At education city, auaf students continue in-person and hybrid lectures and are supported by housing accommodation and living stipends. In addition, students have access to exciting opportunities, such as access to education city facilities, connection and engagement with other us-based universities at education city, including cross-registration with georgetown qatar and vcuarts, in-person career fairs, professional training, and extracurricular activities, including auaf athletics, clubs, and access to qatar-led competitions and events. For many of these opportunities, auaf works to incorporate hybrid and online formats to include participation from auaf students in Afghanistan. Fauaf played an essential role in establishing and sustaining auaf operations in qatar and relocating students, faculty, and staff to the hub. Shortly after auaf began to establish sound residence at education city, payments for student stipends and personnel salaries were delayed due to the complexity of establishing a corporate presence and banking in qatar. Starting december 6, 2022, fauaf disbursed a series of grant advances totaling 591,576 usd to ensure auaf could pay monthly student stipends and personnel salaries between october 2022 and february 2023. After establishing a corporate and banking presence in qatar in the first quarter of 2023, auaf remitted the grant advances to fauaf on march 27, 2023. It is no understatement to say that the emergency grant advances during this fiscal year saved the University and ensured that its over 1,000 enrolled students across Afghanistan, doha, and around the world were able to continue their education uninterrupted. Program support, stem & it bootcamp for afghan girls fauaf completed two of its flagship stem & it bootcamp for afghan girls this fiscal year. High-school-age afghan women in Afghanistan gain hands-on technical it training in math, programming, and web design through intensive month-long bootcamps. the summer 2022 bootcamp enrolled 70 students, a jump from the inaugural bootcamp hosted last fiscal year, which enrolled 46 students. the program saw a remarkable surge in demand in 2023. In just three days after the applications opened for the summer 2023 bootcamp, the program received over 11,000 applications - a fifty-five times increase in the total number of applications in all of 2022. Despite the surge in demand, current capacity and funding could only admit 109 students for the summer 2023 bootcamp. Program support, alumni network the legacy of auaf will live on through its growing number of graduates, excelling in public, private, and academic settings around the world. Over 11% of auaf graduates are fulbright scholars - the highest percentage of graduates of any University in the world. Following august 2021, fauaf began collecting auaf graduate information for accurate communication, location status, and relocation opportunities. From these early relocation endeavors, fauaf launched a comprehensive project to foster the growing network of auaf graduates now disbursed worldwide. In addition to building and maintaining a database of nearly 1,000 alums, fauaf supported localized alum networking events in Washington, d.c., and, in april 2023, sponsored the george Washington University (gw) conference afghan policy, programs, and research: centering student voices, featuring five auaf who relocated to the united states. In late 2022, fauaf hosted an auaf alum gathering of over 40 graduates in the d.c. area. For many, this was the first time they reconnected with their fellow classmates since their days on campus in kabul. In partnership with auaf, fauaf also monitors employment and graduate school opportunities for alums in both the united states and Afghanistan. Program support, ii-art fauaf continued to support auaf's research hub - the international institute for Afghanistan research and teaching (ii-art), hosted at the venice international University. Since its inaugural launch ceremony on february 18, 2022, fauaf has provided restricted support for the program and several projects, including the production of a documentary film, "chronicle of a summer," on the lives of afghans and ukrainians coping with loss and displacement, filmed by auaf students. the institute's purpose is to preserve, study, and maintain awareness of Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage. Fauaf's programmatic support for the documentary film provided auaf students with an opportunity to gain hands- on experience in filmmaking, research, and anthropology. the film also spotlights the many displaced families of afghans who hope for a brighter future. Program support, other outside of the highlighted programs, fauaf provided 421,315 in unrestricted funds to auaf and 404,622 in restricted funds for various programs related to supporting female enrollment in Afghanistan, severance payments to faculty and staff whose employment were impacted after august 2021, and others.