HAWA

The Humanitarian Assistance for women of Afghanistan (HAWA) Program started in 1994 by providing food packages during the winter for widows. This nutritional assistance was paired with vocational training that enabled widows to gain new skills in different trades. In 1996, CARE initiated the Kabul Widows' Emergency Feeding project for 10,000 widows who had no alternative livelihood options. The emergency food support allowed CARE to develop a long-term strategy to help women graduate from free food onto sustainable livelihoods through the provision of skills training, employment opportunities and establishing links with local markets.

HAWA's focus areas are: widow's emergency feeding livelihood security support through income-generating activities and maternal and newborn health. With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health, HAWA implements a maternal and child health project, Opportunities for Mother and Infant Development (OMID; "hope" in Dari).