OLD LYME–The Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council (SECWAC) next month hosts entrepreneur and women’s rights advocate Manizha Wafeq at the Old Lyme Country Club for a talk titled “How Supporting Afghan Women Makes America Safer, Stronger, and More Prosperous.”
The event will be held Wednesday, June 18, at 6 p.m.
The council in an event notice said Wafeq will give attendees an inside look at the current reality for women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. She will examine how U.S. policies under the Biden and Trump administrations have shaped the situation on the ground, and how global powers are responding.
“The discussion will highlight the international community’s role in confronting or accommodating the Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls, and what it means for the future of Afghan society,” the council said.
Wafeq has spent over 20 years advancing women’s empowerment in her native country through development projects focused on training, education, and entrepreneurship. She co-authored manuals on gender law and business, trained over 500 government staff, and supported hundreds of businesswomen in Afghanistan through the “Peace Through Business” program.
In 2008, she became a partner at a Kabul consulting firm and later co-founded Wonderland Women, a clothing company.
Wafeq also established a nonprofit organization and online sales portal, madebyafghanwomen.com, to support Afghan businesswomen after the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.
She holds an MBA from the American University of Afghanistan and is the mother of 10-year-old Tasnim.
Registration is free to members or $20 for non-members. Register at this link.
A reception will begin at 5:30.