Women MUST at least be MENTIONED re: Afghanistan
08:16, 21 June 2010
.. Posted in Development, Relief and Advocacy Efforts.. Link
Here's a tip for the news media and various bloggers regarding Afghanistan:
if you do an interview with a supposed expert regarding Afghanistan, and that expert never once mentions the importance of women in ensuring the country's prosperity and security, then that's no expert.
I was reminded of this once again while listening to yet another interview with Rory Stewart, this time with NPR, talking about "the way forward in Afghanistan." Not once did he mention women. NOT ONCE. And don't say, "Well, maybe the reporter didn't ask about the women." If the interviewer was asking what will work in Afghanistan to make it more stable, then any real expert regarding the country would always -- ALWAYS -- at least mention WOMEN.
Most every time a US military leader or politician, including the current President of the USA, is interviewed regarding Afghanistan, they never mention women. Can you imagine these same people talking about South Africa in the 1980s and never mentioning apartheid, or saying that the racial discrimination in the country wasn't the key factor in the country's problems at that time?
The condition of females in Afghanistan must be a part of every conversation regarding peace, development and security in that country, because Afghanistan will never improve without women's empowerment. Empowering women everywhere is essential to development success.
By empowerment, I mean:
- primary and secondary education
- vocational training
- access to basic health services
- equal rights to men (property ownership, wages, leadership roles, etc.)
- safety to engage in all of the above activities
Journalist Sally Armstrong has been talking for many years about the fundamental importance of women in a country's recovery regarding both Afghanistan and Democratic Republic of Congo, as has the International Finance Corporation in its publication Rebuilding Nations: Women Entrepreneurs in Post-Conflict Societies. I'm continually compiling a list of other resources that explain this importance as well (and welcome additional sources). The evidence is not only over-whelming, it's something that every development agency, large and small, has embraced.
And it's something every so-called expert regarding Afghanistan should at least mention in every interview about how to help the country be prosperous and peaceful.
If YOU want to hear from a variety of Afghan women about what's happening in Afghanistan and their own views about the situation there, join the Afghan Women's Rights Facebook page; Vic Getz regularly links to material produced by, or about, Afghan women.
