HALO is partnering with a crisis-alert mobile app for Afghanistan called Ehtesab, to integrate our API solution developed for women’s safety in mobility in Afghanistan.
Harnessing the Power of Community
Developed by Sara Wahedi for citizens in her native Afghanistan, the Ehtesab app was launched in March 2020 to report incidents happening around them in a timely manner. The app seeks and receives civil information, such as weaponized damage to infrastructure and loss of power or utilities. Ehtesab was a crucial tool in alerting and later helping victims in the June 2022 earthquake that devastated the country.
Data Collection Challenges
Ever-increasing restrictions on the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan — restrictions that go far beyond blocking their right to education — has also blocked foreign aid workers from operating in the country, especially female aid workers who traditionally work to support Afghani women. omen living in domestic violence environments in Afghanistan no longer have help lines to call or shelters to escape to; they are literally living at the mercy of their abusers and have no recourse for safety. Furthermore, aid workers have no way to document abuse or reach victims for incident reporting, surveys or support.
Reaching the Unreachable
By joining forces, HALO and Ehtesab has a unique opportunity to reach the unreachable and provide at least some level of guidance and support through Ehtesab, by adapting HALO for Afghanistan. Our teams have been communicating ways to collect the data that HALO generates that international human rights organizations can use to craft strategies to provide aid to women and girls in Afghanistan — robust data that is not only one of the only sources left for documenting violence against women in Afghanistan but, if that can be implemented in other conflict and crisis zones.