Important Message from the Afghan Women's Fund Board of Directors
We at the Afghan Women’s Fund are extremely concerned and distressed to learn of the unfortunate fate that befell the Afghan Women’s Mission and 200 other organizations that had been using the International Humanities Center (IHC) to manage donations on behalf of their humanitarian and charitable organizations. The IHC served as a "fiscal sponsor” to these smaller organizations by providing them with its own tax-exempt status on a fee-based contractual basis.
Donations to these organizations that had accounts with the IHC were lost or misappropriated by the IHC. It is appalling that the IHC mishandled or stole these monies and that donors who contributed in innocence and generosity were cheated. It is outrageous that the women of Afghanistan, who were the intended beneficiaries of these donations to AWM, will not receive the assistance they so desperately need. We extend our sympathies to the Afghan Women’s Mission and the many other organizations that lost money. AWM does excellent work in Afghanistan, supporting the Revolutionary Women’s Association of Afghanistan (RAWA) and other important causes.
We want all of our friends and supporters to know that we are Afghan Women’s Fund (AWF) and are not in any way affiliated with the Afghan Women’s Mission (AWM) or any of the other organizations that have lost donations due to the incompetence or negligence of the IHC. We, the Afghan Women’s Fund (AWF), are a self-standing organization. We have never employed the IHC to manage our donations. We do not plan to ever involve an outside organization or company in our finances. Our donations are managed by our own Treasurer and we retain oversight of those donations at all times.
We at Afghan Women's Fund count on the support of our friends and we hope that the unfortunate events that befell the Afghan Women’s Mission will in no way deter any of you from continuing to support our life-saving work on behalf of Afghan women.
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