Director Message
Justice for All Organization (JFAO) is a non-governmental, nonpolitical and non-profit organization founded in 2008 by a dedicated group of judges, lawyers and prosecutors who have graduated from law and political science faculties. The organization has been officially registered with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Economy. We have chosen to work in human rights and legal areas that are challenging, particularly when tackled by female legal practitioners in Afghanistan. In their work within Afghanistan’s legal system, JFAO’s founders found a clear lack of legal aid for the indigent – particularly women — in a range of family and criminal law cases. They also recognized significant obstacles standing in the way of women interested in the law and politics; they saw Afghan women who dared to run for office insulted, abused, and threatened – often with violence or even death. After these experiences within Afghanistan’s legal and political fields, they decided to start JFAO to help solve some of the problems they witnessed first-hand in their own community. JFAO was created to partner with Afghan lawyers advocating for human rights, and to establish salient cooperation with governmental authorities in the justice sector. JFAO consists of a General Assembly, a Board of Directors, an Executive Board, and other administrative departments. The charter of the organization was prepared and approved by lawyers. Professional judges and lawyers with judicial experience in Afghanistan make up JFAO’s General Assembly, Board of Directors and the Executive Board. JFAO is led by Afghan women; our staff are thus intimately aware of the challenges that Afghan women face and the most effective ways to solve them. What sets JFAO apart is our focus on advocating for women’s rights through the law; this approach serves the dual purpose of rebuilding the justice system, a vital institution that has been decimated by years of war, and also empowering women. The year 2017 was another one of experience and development, challenges and achievements for JFAO. We are happy with struggling through all the challenges in order to achieve the goals and objectives we set for the year 2017 in accordance with our organization’s mission and vision. In the past year our focus was on the provision of services in three main areas: 1) providing legal aid (representation and counseling; 2) Human rights awareness; 3) legal publication and advocacy. Under these categories, JFAO dealt with different projects during the year 2017. As a women-run NGO, JFAO has learned through more than nine years of experience how to work under pressure and how to keep struggling for human and women’s rights while preserving our moral values and professionalism. We would like to thank all direct and indirect supporters of JFAO for their financial, moral and technical support. We also wish to thank JFAO’s Board of directors for their guidance and support. JFAO is also grateful to its current and previous donors,. I would like to also thank our internal program and administrative staffs who often risk their lives to serve our clients, as well as all of our advisors and volunteers; finally, I would like to thank all those community friends, women, men and children who allow us to provide them with services.