Gozaare received the 2026 Saxon Democracy Award. Representatives of the independent media and cultural initiative accepted it on 5 November during a ceremony at the Kleines Haus of Staatsschauspiel Dresden. The award marked its twentieth anniversary.
The award is supported by several German foundations, including the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, the Freudenberg Foundation, the Sebastian Cobler Foundation, the Dirk Oelbermann Foundation and the Holger Koppe Foundation. The certificate recognised Gozaare’s work to strengthen democratic culture in everyday life, address far-right extremism and discrimination, and protect minorities and human rights.
From exile to civic participation
Gozaare grew out of migration, exile and the experience of starting over in Germany. For many people involved, that journey meant separation from home and uncertainty about the future. It also raised questions about identity, freedom and belonging.
Those experiences led Gozaare to create space for dialogue, writing and civic participation. The initiative connects accounts of Afghanistan’s history and society with questions facing Germany and publishes work by writers, poets, journalists, researchers and cultural practitioners.
For Gozaare, democracy takes shape in how people live together and make room for differences, including whether minorities and marginalised communities can participate in public life. Its work covers freedom of expression, social justice, women’s and children’s rights, peace and pluralism.
Afghanistan and Germany in conversation
Gozaare has organised Nowruz and other cultural events in Bautzen and worked with literary, cultural and academic organisations in Leipzig. Its Persian-German project Between Two Kinds of Homelessness explores the history, traditions and landmarks of different places. Its work on Bigger than Godzilla is part of that effort to connect communities through literature.
Afghanistan remains central to its work. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Gozaare has followed the exclusion of women and girls from education and other rights, restrictions on expression, repression of the media and the experiences of victims of war and violence.
An award for a shared effort
Gozaare thanked the writers, poets, cultural workers, volunteers, families and friends who built and sustained the initiative, and the foundations and organisers that recognised its work. It said the award carried a responsibility to continue, with plans to deepen cooperation with civic, academic and cultural institutions and involve more writers, artists, researchers and young people.
This article is an abridged English edition of Gozaare’s statement of 6 November 2026.