Coordinated response needed for women's advancement ANYWHERE
08:10, 13 March 2009
.. Posted in Development, Relief and Advocacy Efforts.. Link
As I've blogged about in May of last year, one of my online mentoring experiences recently has been assisting an Afghan colleague I worked with onsite back in 2007 with her Master's Degree project. She is writing about the lack of women leaders in Afghanistan: why that is, why the lack of leaders hurts the entire country, and what might be done to address it.
No, I did NOT choose her topic.
One of the things her research paper will note is that there are no incentives for government agencies to mainstream gender in their activities, and no immediate, public consequences if they don't. Everyone expects the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs alone to address women's issues. It's a model that is failing women -- and all of Afghanistan.
These and other findings in her research have been heavy on my mind for the last three months. So it was with great interest that I read a March 2009 press release from the White House, noting that USA President Obama has announced a new White House Council on Women and Girls. The council will ensure that agencies across the USA federal government, not just a few offices, take into account the particular needs and concerns of women and girls. The Council will begin its work by asking each agency to analyze their current status and ensure that they are focused internally and externally on women.
It's sad that there is even a need for such a council in the USA -- but there is. And I don't want Afghanistan to be just like the USA, but I hope that they follow the lead of the USA and do something similar for their ministries.
