PRT/SHARANA - WOMEN'S TRAINING BEGINS IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001674

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
RELEASABLE TO NATO/AUST/NZ/ISAF

STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS, SCA/PAB, S/CT,
EUR/RPM
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD

E.O. 12958 N/A
TAGS: PGOV SOCI EAID AF
SUBJECT: PRT/SHARANA - WOMEN'S TRAINING BEGINS IN
PAKTIKA

KABUL 00001674 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary: In the months of March and April,
PRT Sharana funded and conducted Paktika's first
women's sewing skills and literacy training
activities. These activities trained a total of 38
women from Sharana, Paktika's capital, and Orgun-e,
the province's largest population center. The women
were trained on the basics of sewing with Chinese-
made hand-operated sewing machines provided by the
PRT as well as in basic Pashto literacy skills. At
the completion of the ten-day training program each
of the women received a new sewing machine and the
materials that they had used during the classes.
These were some of the first efforts to reach out
directly to women in the remote and strongly
traditional province of Paktika. Key to this
successful effort was the work of two female
American soldiers assigned to PRT Sharana, who were
able to bridge the gender gap with the local women
and convince them to attend the classes. All of the
women trained in Sharana were ethnically Pashtun and
all of the women trained in Orgun-e were Tajiks.
While Paktika is predominately Pashtun, a
significant minority of Tajiks live and do business
in Orgun-e. End summary.

Literacy and Sewing for Paktika's Women
--------------


2. (SBU) Two American Civil Affairs women soldiers
from PRT Sharana have spearheaded a program to bring
basic education and sewing skills to women in one of
Afghanistan's most remote and undeveloped provinces.
Using the U.S. military's Commander's Emergency
Relief Program (CERP) funds, PRT Sharana has moved
past basic construction and humanitarian assistance
missions to an active program of human resource
development. The first programs under this
initiative were designed to address the critical
skill shortages among Afghan women in Paktika
province. Beginning in March and continued into
April thirty eight of Paktika's women, both Pashtun
and Tajik, have been trained in basic Pashto
literacy and sewing skills under these programs.

American Women Go Where No Man Can Go
--------------


3. (SBU) Undaunted by the difficulties of addressing
women's issues in a traditionally male-dominated
social order, the PRT's women soldiers worked
closely with Paktika's Director of Women's Affairs
to get these programs off the ground. Persevering
when the director found excuses not to proceed, the
PRT soldiers initially shouldered much of the burden
of organizing the events while encouraging the
director to become more engaged. Obtaining
instructors from Kabul and procuring locally
available sewing machines and material, the PRT
soldiers also strictly monitored the finances made
available to the Director of Women's affairs to
ensure that the money was allocated appropriately.
After receiving guidance and assistance from the
PRT, the Director of Women's Affairs was able to set
up and successfully run another such event in
Paktika's largest town of Orgun-e with only minimum

KABUL 00001674 002.2 OF 002


guidance from the PRT. Critical to this success was
the ability of the PRT's women soldiers to talk
directly and frankly to the Director of Women's
Affairs and the women participating in the training
events, something that would have been impossible
for a man, especially an outsider, to do.

Comment
--------------


4. (SBU) Paktika desperately needs more human
development programs. The women taking the literacy
and sewing classes were all illiterate and nearly
all are widows with little or no means of making a
living. They claimed to have no fear of reprisals
from Taliban or other anti-government elements due
to their participation in the programs and requested
that more such programs take place throughout
Paktika. These programs have proven popular, and
the PRT has received multiple requests from women
for training on other skills and in other areas of
the province. Paktika has moved forward remarkably
in the last year with security, road, district
center, and communications infrastructure
construction. The military now has begun the softer
human development work so desperately needed in
Paktika. This important work should be expanded
along with the more traditional infrastructure
projects in order to reach individuals who may not
benefit directly from the larger building and
construction projects.

NORLAND