Sport Addressing the Crisis in Afghanistan: Our Q&A with Free to Run

April 15, 2022 

As part of our series on highlighting sport for development organizations in our network who are providing vital support, resources and more to those directly affected by crises around the world, today read our Q&A with Free to Run Executive Director, Sarah Murray. . 

Millions of Afghans are facing starvation, the country's economy and health-care system have essentially collapsed and years of conflict and environmental troubles have pushed the nation to the brink. In the immediate aftermath of the Taliban’s 2021 seizure of power, Afghans scrambled to flee the country, leaving 700,000 people newly displaced within the country, and 3.4 million people internally displaced in 2021. Compounded by human rights violations, backtracking on women and girls’ rights and a growing number of refugees, Afghanistan was named the number one humanitarian crisis on the IRC’s Top 10 Emergency Watch List. 

Since 2014, Free to Run has been using adventure and outdoor sports to develop female leaders in areas of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its programs increase opportunities for marginalized women and girls aged 15-25 to engage in public life, using sport as a tool for women empowerment and education. 

Conflict and violence have a devastating impact on societies, but women are disproportionately affected and the ways in which their rights are restricted are often overlooked. Free to Run believes that the free, full and equal participation of all women and girls is key to resolving conflict and promoting peace. 

Sarah Murray spoke to us on the immediate needs in Afghanistan, Free to Run’s efforts, the prospects of resuming sport for development programming within the country and more: 

Your heroic work to evacuate Free to Run team members and female athletes has been amazing. Are there remaining Free to Run family in Afghanistan and if so, how are they doing? 

We appreciate that acknowledgment and the heroines and heroes of this moment are definitely the Afghan people who are surviving this crisis. We worked with thousands of participants and young leaders over the years in Afghanistan. While we were successful in facilitating the evacuation of many of our staff members and female leaders to safer locations, many alumni are still in the country and some are in limbo, outside of the country, but waiting for a more permanent placement.

It’s hard to make a generalization about how people are doing. Everyone experienced complex trauma and many continue to experience it every day, with many separated from their loved ones. The people on our team, especially the young women, are incredibly powerful and resilient and continue to fight for their rights and place in society. 

Read an update on resettled Free to Run's Afghan staff 

With the Taliban stopping higher education for girls and steadily removing them from public life, what do you feel are the immediate needs for women and girls, particularly to help stop them from falling into poverty? 

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan last August, all eyes were on the country. Now, months later when the country is on the brink of total collapse, it seems to be off the radar. The outlook for this year and beyond is grim. Acute food insecurity, active conflict, limited access to cash and severely disrupted basic services have drastically increased the number of people in need – and women and girls are amongst the worst affected. 

We – people invested in the protection of women’s human rights - must not forget about the people of Afghanistan. While other conflicts will circulate in as the top news story (and rightfully so), there are still millions of Afghan girls and women whose lives quite literally depend on the international community staying engaged.

For Free to Run, this means continuing to find ways to creatively work in Afghanistan, within the boundaries of what is currently allowed by the Taliban and with a vision of what may be possible in the future. The only way to do this is by doing what we’ve always done – investing in the leadership of the young women in communities – to create the space for them to access what they want and need. For the moment, this means supporting groups of girls and young women to gather, provide mutual emotional support and train indoors. We are keenly focused on trying to get our local (women’s rights) partners the financial and technical support they need to implement these types of programs. The experience of exercising indoors in a safe space is not the same as running free in the mountains, but it can be transformative for mental and mental physical health – especially in the confines of the current situation. We see hope in that. We know from experience that with a careful and considered approach, modest initiatives can grow into bold adventures. 

In your opinion, what is it about sport that can provide support during humanitarian crises? 

Everyone reading this knows that sport has unique potential to help individuals and communities heal. Sport can’t intercept missiles, derail dictators or drive down oil prices. It can, however, bring humanity and connection back to inhumane circumstances. The global sport and social change community can’t wait until the conflicts subside to step in. We can’t wait until it’s easy. This has been a commitment Free to Run has made from the start – to facilitate sport in places of active conflict, to amplify the leadership of girls and women in these crises. History has shown us, in place like Liberia and Northern Ireland, that the leadership of women is transformative in brokering and maintaining peace. Sport is one way to cultivate and encourage that critical leadership in these types of humanitarian conflicts. 

Do you have a personal message you’d like us to share with our readers? 

The voices that can best share the message of Free to Run are those of the women and girls who have been in our program. This is a quote from a program Alumna in Afghanistan: 

“We are alive. We are still here. We are taking what we learned from Free to Run and we are trying to do our best. Afghan girls need their bodies to be strong so their minds will be strong - physically and mentally. We can support each other – a girl can help a girl - in this country or in another country. We have the power to continue.”

With all that is going on, what are your current plans for adapting your programming and ongoing humanitarian support in Afghanistan you’d like to share? How can people help support you? 

Quite honestly, we lost a USD 1 million government grant as soon as sanctions were placed on the country. This constituted almost our whole Afghanistan budget. What we need now, immediately, is funding to support the training of trainers, equipment and food provision during training. We have partnerships established, young women ready to lead sessions and new models of programming being designed. However, we are running the Afghanistan program support on financial fumes - through our unrestricted budgets. We need an infusion of cash with urgency. Girls and young women need this mental and physical health support, and we need support from caring individuals and partners. Individuals can donate at freetorun.org/donate.  And if any funders or philanthropists want to be strategic partners in our work, they can email me at [email protected].

Click here to read about the other organizations in Afghanistan that are providing vital support, safe relocations equipment and resources to Afghans in need.