AFGHAN WOMEN LEADERS ASK CODEL DAVIS FOR MORE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001231 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM AF OREP SUBJECT: AFGHAN WOMEN LEADERS ASK CODEL DAVIS FOR MORE SUPPORT ¶1. SUMMARY: On May 9, Afghan women leaders told Codel Davis that they have high hopes for a greater engagement on women's issues under the Obama administration. The Afghan participants urged the U.S. to focus on an array of issues affecting women, including political rights and economic development. The group expressed deep dissatisfaction with President Karzai's lackluster record on women's rights, in particular his failing to appoint women to high-ranking government positions and his signing of the Shia Family Law. Introduction -------------- ¶2. Codel Davis, comprised of Reps. Davis, DeGette, Biggert, Edwards, Kirkpatrick, and Shey-Porter, met with a group of nine Afghan women leaders, including two Members of Parliament (MPs),a microfinance expert (50 percent of microfinance clients in Afghanistan are women),an Afghan Army general, several women's rights activists, and a business owner. Deputy Ambassador Ricciardone chaired the discussion. The Problem: Policies Do Not Prioritize Women's Rights -------------- ¶3. Voice of Women NGO Director and Department of State Woman of Courage Awardee Suraya Pakzad thanked the delegation for U.S. long-term support to Afghan women. She urged the U.S. to support more capacity building programs for Afghan women. Increased training and education are essential in developing a new generation of Afghan women leaders, she said. ¶4. MP Fawzia Koofi (Badakhshan, Tajik) interjected that she cannot accept the Afghan government arguing that women lack capacity to justify not appointing women to high ranking positions. The government regularly makes excuses for the dearth of women ministers, such as alleging that women cannot travel. Men run every ministry (except the Ministry of Women's Affairs) with zero results and 100 percent corruption. In contrast, women make up 27 percent of Parliament, and "no woman MP is illiterate, no woman MP is a warlord, and no woman MP is a drug dealer. There is no woman MP who has damaged our country." ¶5. MP Shinkai Karokhail (Kabul, Pashtun) sharply criticized the failure of the international community and the Afghan government to promote women's rights, stating that neither made women's rights a priority. For example, she claimed women are never included in Embassy meetings with high-level Afghans. President Karzai's signing of the discriminatory Shia Family law is only one example of his failure to support women, she added. The Solution: More Pressure on the Afghan Government to Increase Women's Representation -------------- ¶6. MP Koofi did not expect this year's presidential election to be competitive. Therefore, the international community should focus on improving the rest of the government by pressuring Karzai to nominate women for key ministerial positions and by working with national partners to identify and support women candidates for next year's parliamentary elections. Karzai should appoint women to government positions based on relevant qualifications, not on family ties. ¶7. USAID Senior Rule of Law Coordinator Belquis Ahmady thought women were losing rather than gaining political power. Several years ago there were three women Ministers: MOWA, Health, and Martyrs and Disabled. Currently, Minister of Women's Affairs Ghazanfar is the only female Cabinet member. Ahmady agreed support to MOWA should continue. Equally important, however, is that every Ministry and government office work to promote women's issues. For example, the Ministry of Justice and the President's Office should have an advisor who evaluates every piece of proposed legislation in terms of human rights and women's rights, Ahmady said. ¶8. UNIFEM Gender Justice Coordinator Najia Zewari said Afghan women expected a big change in U.S. policy toward women's rights under the Obama Administration. She urged the Codel to consider the female 50 percent of the Afghan population when making any commitment to the Afghan government or advancing any policy. Political negotiations should always include women, she added. ¶9. Responding to Rep. Shey-Porter's question about women judges, UNIFEM's Zewari said the Afghan Supreme Court had KABUL 00001231 002 OF 002 disbanded the Afghan Association of Women Judges, on the grounds that women should not have a separate organization. Zewari claimed that women judges are not given the same capacity building or development opportunities as male judges, and that both men and women judges face significant security concerns. Legislation -------------- ¶10. UNIFEM's Zewari urged the international community to support the draft Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) bill. MOJ recently completed the draft and will soon submit it to the Cabinet. Assuming the Cabinet approves the bill, it will next go before Parliament's Lower House. USAID Rule of Law Program's Ahmady seconded Zewari's request. Some MPs may challenge the EVAW bill, and international support through engagement with Parliament's leadership will be crucial to ensuring a fair and thorough parliamentary review. Ahmady also sharply criticized Karzai for signing the Shia Family Law which she said, among many areas of concern, contains six provisions allowing for child marriage. Economic Development: More Coordination Needed -------------- ¶11. Katrin Fakiri, Managing Director, Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA),characterized foreign aid efforts as uncoordinated. Responding to Rep. Davis' request for a specific example, Fakiri explained her organization has worked to create a culture of credit over the past seven years. Afghans' repayment rates are now relatively good, and 50 percent of microcredit clients are women, she noted. However, when internationals give out grants, neighboring villagers with loans question why they too are not receiving grants. Fakiri suggested the international community, in a coordinated manner, focus its assistance on infrastructure, such as irrigation systems. Then MISFA and other microcredit programs could lend money to Afghans to start up agriculture-related businesses. Fakiri also urged aid organizations to gear their projects toward sustainable solutions, rather than quickly infusing cash and having unrealistic expectations for equally quick results. Comment -------------- ¶12. The Embassy prioritizes assistance to Afghan women, but our efforts could be magnified with additional political and financial support. Politically, we will urge the Afghan government to increase women's representation in government posts at the ministerial and deputy ministerial level, and throughout the provinces as governors and mayors. We will make the case that any reconciliation effort should include women as negotiators. Karzai's signing of the highly discriminatory Shia Family Law underscores that continued international and national pressure will be necessary to ensure that the Afghan government holds to its commitments to promote women's rights. ¶13. On the issue of increasing financial support, the political section, which has the Embassy lead on human rights and women's rights advocacy, has no budget. Targeting financial support to specific women's rights and human rights issues would advance our mission's political goals. For example, the political section recently organized a series of radio public service announcements (PSAs),in which religious leaders encouraged women to register to vote and to run as candidates in the provincial council elections. The Embassy Public Diplomacy section provided a 2500 dollar grant to pay for very limited air time (two minute PSAs played eight times on five stations over two days) on small budget radio stations. The Afghan Independent Election Commission told us it thought the PSAs were important in raising female voter registration in some of the more conservative southern provinces. ¶14. The political section will work with the rest of the Embassy and the front office to present to Washington its ideas on program initiatives in the near future. EIKENBERRY