USAID photo exhibit showcases new women's roles in Afghan society

By Stephen Kaufman
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Recently returned from a visit to Afghanistan, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky said, "I can tell you firsthand that life in Afghanistan is improving."

Dobriansky spoke at the March 11 opening of a U.S. Agency for International Development Agency (USAID) photo exhibit in Washington depicting ways in which Afghan women are improving their nation, communities, families and personal lives in the aftermath of Taliban rule.

Entitled, "Out of the Shadows: Women in the New Afghan Society," the exhibit showcases Afghan women pursuing renewed access to education, helping to combat maternal and child mortality rates in their communities, working as entrepreneurs, doctors and teachers, and pursuing leadership roles in their local and national government.

The under secretary said the photos "show that Afghan women are emerging to take their rightful place."

The exhibit coincided with National Women's History Month in the United States. USAID Deputy Director Frederick Schieck said the "Out of the Shadows" exhibit "represents the new role Afghan women are providing" in their government, economy, communities, schools and homes.

Afghan Minister of Education Yonus Qanooni said the Afghan women of today are not the same people who lived under Taliban oppression three years earlier.

With new rights, they are "trying to open a new era," he said. He added that his ministry is instituting an "education revolution" to ensure gender equality in his country.

Qanooni told the guests at the exhibit, including Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States, Said Tayeb Jawad, that 130,000 women were now employed in the Education Ministry.

However, the minister said, "We did not get there alone. We have the support of the international community, especially the United States."

Dobriansky said U.S. assistance programs to Afghanistan include, among other things, a $2.5 million project to construct Women's Resource Centers in 14 provinces throughout the country, educational and health programs, job skills training, and political participation training for Afghan women.

She said that through the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council, the United States is providing $1 million in educational training at the women's centers. For Afghanistan's national elections, scheduled for summer 2004, the United States is giving $15 million to fund voter registration efforts and $8.86 million that will "fund civic and voter education, focus group research, and training for political parties and civic activists," she said.

Echoing President Bush's comment from his 2004 State of the Union address, Dobriansky said, "America is honored to be Afghanistan's friend."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)