Afghanistan and UNIFEM Pledge To Improve Status Of Women
By Rustem Ertegun, for the Chronicle
 | | Afghan women lining up for food during the Taliban regime. (UNHCR Photo)
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The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Ministry of Women's Affairs of Afghanistan (MOWA) signed a capacity-building agreement that intends to restore and improve the legal, political and social status of Afghan women and girls. A $1.4-million budget has been approved by UNIFEM to assist the ministry in strengthening coalitions among women, women's groups and non-governmental organizations.
The newly appointed Minister of Women's Affairs, Habiba Sarobi, formally initiated the agreement between UNIFEM and MOWA at the 26 July signing ceremony at UNIFEM headquarters in New York. A former intern at the World Health Organization, Mrs. Sarobi spoke strongly about establishing centres that will provide unprecedented services for women. The centres will offer literacy programmes, maternal health services, psycho-social counselling and vocational training for Afghan women. UNIFEM is currently supporting the establishment of four women's centres in Kandahar, Herat, Ghazni and Mazar-e-Sharif. Aside from the tangible benefits that these centres will bring to women, they will also double as a space where women can come together and find a voice in a society that has traditionally imposed silence.
At the signing ceremony, Mrs. Sarobi spoke of the plight of women under the Taliban and emphasized that, much to her satisfaction, progress was already being made. For example, she has already set up a programme where 260 women make school uniforms and receive a steady income. Also, there are over 250 people currently working at the women's centres. Mrs. Sarobi is intent on bringing women out of isolation and into the workforce. Economic empowerment is a crucial step in the struggle to raise the status of women.
The UNIFEM partnership with MOWA, which will run from August 2002 through August 2004, supports gender mainstreaming efforts that underline the need for a far more inclusive Afghan society. Such efforts are expected to enhance the participation of women in economic and political realms and help them play an active role in the country's new democracy.
Links:
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
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