U.S. Commitment to Afghan Women: The U.S.-Afghan Women's Council

Fact Sheet
Office of International Women s Issues
3/17/2004


"Developed and developing countries alike cannot hope to meet
21st century
challenges without the full participation of women in all aspects
of their
national life. And so today, we celebrate the crucial contributions
of women to
international wellbeing. May we also rededicate ourselves to
advancing the
rights and opportunities of women everywhere." [full text]


--Secretary Powell, March 8, 2004 , International Women s Day


After the fall of the Taliban, the United States launched an
historic
initiative to help elevate the status of women in Afghanistan. On
January 28,
2002, President George W. Bush and Afghan Interim Authority
Chairman Hamid
Karzai announced the creation of the U.S.-Afghan Women s Council .
The Council
promotes public-private partnerships between U.S. and Afghan
institutions, and
mobilizes private sector resources to help Afghan women gain the
skills and
education that they were denied under years of Taliban misrule. It
focuses on
concrete actions that help to bring real and practical benefits to
the women of
Afghanistan, enabling them to participate and play leadership roles
in the
political and economic life of their country. To this end, the
Council has made
education and microfinance its top priorities.

Meetings

The Council meets twice a year, alternating between Kabul and
Washington, DC,
to discuss programs and priorities for assisting Afghan women and
to review
progress. Co-Chairs of the Council are Under Secretary of State for
Global
Affairs Paula Dobriansky, Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah
and Afghan
Minister of Women s Affairs Habiba Sarabi. U.S. members include
Karen Hughes,
former Counselor to President George W. Bush; Connie K. Duckworth,
Chair of the
Committee of 200, an organization of women business leaders;
Patricia de Stacy
Harrison, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural
Affairs;
Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Special
Presidential Envoy
to Afghanistan; Pat Mitchell, President and Chief Executive Officer
of the
Public Broadcasting System; Marin Strmecki, Afghanistan Policy
Coordinator in
the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon; Constantine
W. Curris,
President of the American Association of State Colleges and
Universities; and,
Barbara Barrett, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Thunderbird
University.

* Inaugural Meeting. The inaugural meeting took place in
Washington, DC. in
April 2002. As a result of discussions about women s needs and
priorities
and in response to a request from the Afghan side, the Council
later
announced its first initiative would bring Afghan women who
work in
government ministries to the United States for an educational
exchange
program. The program focused on computer training, leadership
and
management training, and other skills vital to their positions.
President
Bush sent a letter of greetings to the inaugural Council
session expressing
his support for the Council.

* January 2003. At the Council s second meeting in Kabul, the
United States
announced that it would provide $2.5 million for women s
resource centers
in 14 of Afghanistan s provinces. The Council also committed $1
million in
education and exchange programs for the centers. Programs at
these centers
will focus on basic education literacy, microfinance and small
business
opportunities, human rights education, and the development and
management
of non-governmental organizations (NGO). The U.S. delegation
visited
several projects for women that the United States and the
U.S.-Afghan Women
s Council supports. One site was the Widow's Bakery, which is
run by the
World Food Program. Widows earn an income by baking bread,
which in turn,
is provided to the poor in Kabul. The Council delegation also
visited a
quilting project that helps widows earn an income while
producing quilts
needed by the poor for the harsh winter. They also visited a
Women's
Resource Center where they saw job skills training and literacy
programs.
Upon their return home, the U.S. delegation met with President
Bush to
brief him on their mission to Afghanistan.

* July 2003. The Council s third meeting in Washington, DC in
July 2003
focused on several key issues for women, including the
educational needs of
women and girls, job skills training and business development.
In the area
of women s political participation, discussions focused on the
status of
women in the constitutional framework and preparing women for
the upcoming
2004 elections. The Delegation met with First Lady Laura Bush
and National
Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice at the White House, and
Secretary of
State Colin Powell hosted a luncheon in their honor. They also
had a chance
to meet with USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios, and other key
figures. The
Afghan delegation then visited Texas, where they were hosted by
Council
member Karen Hughes, and had the opportunity to visit American
sites and
meet with local officials.

* February 2004. The fourth meeting of the Council was held in
Kabul February
24-26 2004. Council members reviewed programs and progress on
implementation of initiatives. Discussions focussed on the new
constitution
and the upcoming elections in 2004. The delegation visited a
Women Center
and met with project managers of programs supported by the U.S.
Government
and by the US-Afghan Women s Council. The Council also agreed
to support a
number of specific initiatives, such as an American School in
Kabul, a
woman s teacher training institute, a $5 million USAID funded
project to
train midwives throughout rural Afghanistan. In addition the
Council
stressed the need to move forward with the construction of 17
Women s
Resource Centers. Private-sector Council members also announced
several new
programs, including a $10,000 Rockefeller Foundation
contribution to a
Department of State funded project to train Afghan women s
judges. Daimler
Chrysler contributed $25,000 to construct another 5 community
banks to
support microfinance loans for women in Heart province. And PBS
gave
$20,000 to AINA, a Kabul-based media training NGO, for
broadcast rights to
the film Afghanistan Unveiled. The Afghanistan Unveiled
film chronicles
an Afghan Women s Oral History project and training of women
journalists
that the State Department/USAID initiated and funded. The
project created
jobs for women in the media and sustaining revenues for AINA to
continue
its work to create a free and independent media in Afghanistan.

Accomplishments

U.S. Leadership Management and Computer Education. The Council s
first major
program, in September and October 2002, was to bring 14 women from
various
Afghan Government ministries to the United States for an
educational exchange
program. During their 4-week stay, they received training in
computer skills,
proposal writing, communications, and leadership management. Each
participant
received a laptop computer for training in the United States and to
take home
to use in Afghanistan. The women met with President George W. Bush
and National
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice at the White House, and with
Secretary of
State Colin L. Powell at a Department reception held in their
honor. They also
had the opportunity to interact with senior policymakers, Members
of Congress,
government agency officials, and representatives of non-governmental
organization. In Austin, Texas, they looked at the interaction
among federal,
state, and local entities. Their program concluded in New York City
where they
met with representatives of the United Nations.

Public-Private Partnerships. The Council s core mission is to
develop and
foster partnerships between the private and public sector:

Microcredit. The Council views microcredit as an important means of
helping
women gain self-sufficiency through starting their own businesses.
Through an
original $10,000 donation to the Council from Daimler-Chrysler, the
Foundation
for International Community Assistance (FINCA), a leading NGO in
microfinance,
will help start two village banks in Herat. Daimler Chrysler
contributed an
additional $25,000 in February 2004 to construct another 5
community banks to
support microfinance loans for women in Heart province. FINCA
expects to assist
more than 30,000 clients in Afghanistan over the next 5 years.

Women s Resource Center. Women executives of AOL/Time Warner have
raised
$60,000 for the Council s Gift Fund to support a provincial women s
resource
center in Afghanistan.

Digital Video Conference. The Council has used digital video
conference (DVC)
technology to connect Kabul, Washington and New York, setting up
links for
discussions and mentoring sessions between women in these cities.
The most
recent DVC, in November 2003, focused on women s political
participation in
Afghanistan s draft constitution and the upcoming elections in
2004. The
previous DVC, in April 2003, focused on the topic of women and
business.

Teacher Training. The Council has initiated a teacher training
exchange that is
bringing 30 Afghan women teachers to Nebraska every 6 months for
training. In
turn, these women will train other teachers in Afghanistan.

Women Journalists. Under the Council s auspices, the Public
Broadcasting
Service (PBS) and the News Hour With Jim Lehrer mentored two Afghan
women
filmmakers in production techniques. PBS provided modern digital
video
production and editing equipment for them to use in Afghanistan and
training
videos for use at AINA, a Kabul-based NGO devoted to media training.

Job Skills Training. The Global Summit of Women (July 2002 in
Barcelona, Spain)
donated approximately $10,000 for job-skills training for women.
Through this
program, Shuhada, a NGO, will train women in weaving skills. At the
conclusion
of the program, the women will receive their own looms to produce
textiles for
market.

Health Initiative. The United States has launched a $5 million
initiative
(REACH) to provide health- related accelerated learning and basic
literacy
training for women in girls. Training will take place in the Women
s Centers
supported by the Council and will target provinces with the highest
maternal
mortality rates such as Ghazni, Baghlan, and Badakhshan. The first
class of
village midwives from Jalabad will graduate in April 2004, having
completed an
18-month long program. This pilot program is being replicated across
Afghanistan. For each new midwife the U.S. is supporting a life
time of lives
saved.

Current and Future Initiatives

Educational Programs. The Council s next big initiative will focus
on
educational programs and exchanges for U.S. NGOs to develop with
Afghan
partnering organizations for the provincial Women s Resource
Centers. The
United States will fund programs in job skills training, literacy,
and
political participation. These projects are scheduled to begin in
late Spring
2004.

Individual Initiatives. In addition to the Council s general
activities,
members are actively working to start their own projects. For
example, the
project Arzu (which means hope in Dari) is underway, and in early
2004
produced its first numbered carpet for export. The Arzu project,
not only
creates jobs and a cottage industry through the production and
marketing of
quality tribal carpets and other handicrafts, but also
recirculates some of
its profits to support microcredit initiatives and additional
training for
women. Another project is an adopt-a-school program where church
communities in
Texas are providing their adopted school with school supplies,
textbooks, and
training.


+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

| During these years of great suffering, the women of Afghanistan
have been the |
|backbone of Afghan society. It is in large measure thanks to their
endurance, |
|their ingenuity, and their courage that their country has
survived. The |
|recovery of Afghanistan must entail the restoration of the rights
of Afghan |
|women. Indeed, it will not be possible without them. The rights of
the women of |
|Afghanistan will not be negotiable. [full text]
|
|
|
| -- Secretary of State
Colin L. Powell |
|
November 19, 2001 |

U.S. Commitment to Women in Afghanistan

Fact Sheet
Office of International Women s Issues
Washington, DC
March 24, 2004

Since overthrowing the Taliban in 2001, the United States has
implemented more
than 175 projects for Afghan women to increase women s political
participation,
build civil society, create economic opportunities, support the
education of
girls and women, and increase access to health care. As
beneficiaries, Afghan
women have achieved notable political milestones:

Constitutional Loya Jirga. An Afghan Constitutional Loya Jirga, or
Council,
approved a new Constitution on January 5, 2004 in Kabul. The new
constitution
affords all citizens of Afghanistan men and women equal rights
and duties
before the law. The new Constitution also reserves 25% of its seats
in the
lower house and 17% in the upper house of Parliament for women. Two
of the nine
members of the Constitutional Drafting Committee, and seven of the
35 members
of the Constitutional Review Commission were women. Afghan women
will have the
right to vote and run for office in the Summer 2004 elections. More
than 200
women participated in the 2002 Emergency Loya Jirga that
established the
current government.

Women Leadership. The Cabinet includes two women ministers the
Minister of
Women s Affairs and Minister of Health. A woman heads the Afghan
Independent
Human Rights Commission. Many more women serve in the public and
private
sectors.

Programs for Women. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has created an
Office of
Human Rights, Health and Women s Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to
monitor women s programs. The Ministry of Commerce set up a
department to help
women establish their own businesses.

Political Participation and Civil Society

Women s Resource Centers. The United States has allocated $2.5
million for the
construction of Women's Resource Centers in 14 provinces throughout
Afghanistan, and is building three other provincial centers. The
Centers will
provide educational and health programs, job skills training and
political
participation training to women. Through the U.S.-Afghan Women s
Council, the
United States is providing $1 million in educational training at
the Centers.
The United States supports the establishment of 10
neighborhood-based women s
centers in Kabul and nearby towns. Women executives of AOL/Time
Warner have
raised $60,000 for the Council s Gift Fund to support a provincial
women s
resource center in Afghanistan.

Electoral Assistance. The United States is providing $15 million
for voter
registration, and $8.86 million for elections in Afghanistan,
including civic
and voter education, focus group research, training for political
parties and
civic activists. The United States also provided training in
political advocacy
for women delegates to the Constitutional Loya Jirga in December
2003.

Legal Rights and Information. The United States is providing $3.5
million for
private sector development for women and to secure women s property
rights. The
latter is being done by helping to educate women about their
property rights in
Islam and assisting women in accessing sensitively delivered legal
assistance
to use new, more transparent administrative and judicial processes.

Human Rights, Advocacy, and Leadership Training: The United States
provided
$750,000 to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

Media Training. The United States has provided more than $500,000
to train
women journalists and filmmakers, some of whom produced
Afghanistan Unveiled,
a film documentary about abuses against women by the Taliban.

Economic Opportunities

Microcredit Projects. Microcredit helps women gain self-sufficiency
by starting
their own businesses. Through a $10,000 donation to the U.S.-Afghan
Women s
Council from Daimler-Chrysler, the Foundation for International
Community
Assistance (FINCA), a non-governmental organization, will establish
two village
banks in Herat. FINCA expects to assist more than 30,000 clients in
Afghanistan
over the next 5 years. Other projects provide skills and literacy
training for
widows and female heads of household; teach women in animal
husbandry; train
women in tailoring; and teach women to preserve produce and dairy
products for
local sale; provide technical support to women s carpet and textile
projects;
and fund bakeries that employ widows and provide subsidized bread
to hundreds
of thousands of urban poor.

Afghan Conservation Corps. The United States contributed $1 million
to the
Afghan Conservation Corps (ACC) to rehabilitate the environment.
The ACC
employs several hundred women to make nets to protect newly planted
tree
seedlings.

Education

Back-to-School. Nearly 4 million Afghan children are enrolled in
school,
including more than 1 million girls, many more than at any point in
Afghanistan
s history. Since 2001, the United States has dedicated $60.5
million for
primary education, to construct schools, to train teachers and to
provide books
and supplies.

Literacy Programs. The United States is supporting a host of
literacy programs
for women in Dari, Pashto, English and mathematics. Nine public
libraries in
eight provinces are participating in a campaign for women s
literacy.

Teacher Training. Since March 2002, the United States, through
partners such as
the University of Nebraska, has provided 25.6 million textbooks and
30,000
teacher-training kits for primary education, and trained 3,107
teachers in four
provinces. Also included are literacy programs and water supply and
sanitation,
benefiting 50,000 women and 56,500 children and youth.

Health Care

The United States has financed health care programs in Afghanistan
totaling
more than $58 million, with $50 million forthcoming over the next 2
years.
These programs include the construction of women s wings in
hospitals and
dormitories for women medical students; curriculum development for
health care
workers; and maternal and child health, family planning, and
nutrition. The
United States has rebuilt 140 health clinics and facilities, and
will rebuild
400 more over the next 3 years. We have provided basic health
services to more
than 2.5 million people in 21 provinces; 90% of the recipients are
women and
children.


+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

| There can be no justice in the world unless every woman has equal
rights. |
|
|
| -- First
Lady Laura Bush |
| October 10, 2003 at the Conference for the National
Association of Women |
| Judges,
Washington, D.C. |