Afghanistan World Foundation

The Afghanistan World Foundation (AWF) origins trace to December 1979 when Sonia Nassery fled to the United States from Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. After establishing herself, Sonia wrote an appeal to President Ronald Reagan, who invited her to the White House to discuss the Afghan-Soviet War. Initially, Sonia’s activism was directed at organizing Congressional testimony resulting in the arming of Commander Ahmad Massoud’s Northern Alliance Freedom Fighters, an indigenous Afghan resistance movement, with Stinger missiles to resist the Soviet invasion. After the Soviet withdrawal in February 1989, Sonia turned to the needs of her devastated country and especially the Afghan refugees, millions of whom were living in crowded camps in the countries bordering Afghanistan. Her efforts resulted in raising millions of dollars to aid to the Afghan refugees and the construction of needed health facilities and services in the camps. In recognition of her charitable work for Afghan refugees, she was awarded a Peace Medal in the early 1990s at the United Nations in New York.