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Cox supports cspan is a blic service along with these other Television Providers give you a frontrow seat to democracy. Former undersecretary of state for Global AffairsPaula Dobriansky discussed afghan womens rights at the Wilson Center and said afghan women suffered very draconian measures relating to education, civil liberties, healthcare and work since the taliban has taken over in august 2021. This is about an hour ten minutes. Good afternoon, everyone. I am Faria Nasruddin and associate for the middle east program here at the Wilson Center. I am pleased to welcome you todays fifth annual forum for discussion on womens rights in afghanistan. To introduce todays speaker i am pleased to welcome ambassador mark green, director, president and ceo of the Wilson Center. Great, faria. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to this marvelous forum. Im grateful that even though ii couldnt be at the center today, Technology Still makes it possible for me to join you. Not only is essman if you know she holds a very special place in the hearts of all of us you at the Wilson Center. She is a founding director of our middle east program and she led that team for many making through 2015. This series on her commitment to promoting womens empowerment and womens rights globally, but particularly in the inner region. Madeleine albright inaugurated the series in 2017. Since then its featured senator chris van hollen, undersecretary general an executive secretary ofec the u. N. And social commission for the western hemisphere, and ambassador for a come as a of the georgia Kennan Institute for women, peace and security writer in washington, d. C. The Wilson Center is unique institution in Foreign Policy. We are congressionally chartered, where scholarship trivet and were would fiery nonpartisan and independent. I always say that special status brings with it certain obligations. Do not duplicate what others are doing but instead to prioritize the most important issues and opportunities, and to try to do so in ways we can add value and make a difference. Issues topic, advocacy for afghan womens rights on the global stage, is critical to our work here in the center, and to the policy community at large, and is very much something that is among the most important priorities that we have. Women represent a powerful locus of change, whether at the helm in government, so society or the private sector, women play a Critical Role init preventing conflict, building peace and sustaining prosperity. The situation of gender discrimination in afghanistan is abysmal. And its worsening by the day. The taliban further restricts womens ability to work, travel, access basic healthcare services. Moreover, millions of afghans are facing food and water insecurity and the risk of disease. With womenen and girls bearing e brunt of these effects. What can be done to alleviate their plight . How can the International Community uphold womens rights . To discuss these questions and more im delighted to produce our speaker and a a longtime friend, ambassador Paula Dobriansky. She is currently a senior fellow at Harvard UniversityBelfer Center and, of course, formally under secretary of state for Global Affairs during the bush administration. She is the founding chair of the u. S. Afghan Womens Council, an organization aiming to reach out to afghan women and provide an opportunity for them to advance their priorities, including education, health, economic empowerment, and rule of law. During her time ago but she supported the creation of the American University of afghanistan which give countless girls and women the chance to receive an education at the high school and university level. Ambassador umansky helped usher in an increase in afghan Women Leaders in Civil Society, the public sector, and in business. In short, she helped to provide hope to afghan women. Thank you for youre leadershipn these critical efforts. It is great to see you even if its through through a w without further ado i turned the floor over to merissa khurma. Over to you. Thank you. Thank you, ambassador green. Thank you very much, ambassador green and, of course, thank you also for all the support that you link to the middle east program, take a middle eastern womens initiative. Ambassador we has o become welce which can and also like to welcome our online audience. And reminded before we kick off this conversation that youan alo emhave the opportunity to leave comments or questions that willl be collecting for the q and a session. So lets start our conversation as ambassador ambasss is a critical topic. Its no longer in headlines. Theres a lotot going on around the world, particularly in the middle east and north africa region. But we really wanted to shed light on whats happening in afghanistan. Because since the taliban takeover almost two and half years ago now, we have seen the rights of afghan girls and women regress. So many restrictions and a limitations on your movement and their presence in the public sphere. You have done so much work as ambassador mentioned to ensure that equal access to education. So where are we today . And how does this bode for the future of the country . Well first, merissa, if i may i do want to thank ambassador green, mark green, i do want to thank you and Wilson Center for inviting me. In fact, when i received their invitation and they said its the forum, i said when can i be signed up . So its a privilege and an honor to be part of this forum. And if i may pay tribute to you, paula, because youre someone who has stood so staunchly for the rights of all, but not only for the all, the women also in particular. Iranian women, afghan women, others whove been repressed across the globe, so may i take a moment . Of like a first applaud you. [applause] is. Just thank you because ambassador green mention in his words in his opening hope. And hope, those role models of paved the way and had courage in standing up to tyranny and repression, its so important and you certainly are one of those individuals. So thank you for all you have done. Merissa, to answer your question, tragically the situation is very bad. There have been very draconian measures, abusive measures taken against afghan women. And instead of witnessing any kind of improvement its the opposite. I mean to say a few words about whats going on and a few of the recent report also. In terms of education, think about where afghan women were before in terms of o the level f well beyond 13k and the high school and then university. Now girls only can attend school up to age 12. All are repressed andnd cannot. So education is severely cut and denied. I want to make a bet. Very significantly there been reports of arbitrary detention and our mess, and a lot of them are founded on the socalled that the job, whether its appropriate or its not appropriately on an individual i the job. Thats why use the word arbitrary, arrest and detention because there been many young women and even age 16 of them pulled aside and beaten and detained and threatened because of socalled there were not wearing their hijab properly. Thirdly, its very striking in terms of healthcare. If you are married and you have a male accompany you, you might very well make it to a healthcare facility. But on the other hand, if you are unmarried and there been a number of reports that are very much subjected to again arbitrary detention and great brutality, and you mayu never make it actually to a healthcare facility. So in that sector as well we had witnessed what is been cast as Mental Health issues. This brings up also about women, women in the workforce, because of those that have to really be confined at home and they cant get out into the outside at all. So the red been very substantial number of cases of Mental Health key issues because of being unfairly confined and not having any exposure really to the outside world and life. And in that sense thats a very, very serious and quite detrimental. And by the way, think about it. Its very detrimental to actually future of afghanistan because of our workforce you cant only have as we know men. In fact, there was i believe years ago and arab human error report that basically talked about the middle east and talked country that the private half of its citizenry from being integrated in the workforce would not survive. That there is economy would not be able to floors. And we witness the egregious impact here not only on women in afghanistan, also of the economy. It is gender apartheid, that it is been cast as. And let me just also in this regard mention issued a report come to talk about the unmarried women, they talked about the cases of Mental Health cases, and did talk about also the kind of draconian repressive measures that have been very widespread and really impacting any kind of substantial growth before in terms of educational and the educational ranks. So what does this for bode for the future of afghanistan . I would say even right now not very good in terms of the wellbeing of citizenss at larg, in terms of a desire to be part of an economy and by the way i should mention when they were reporting on are there y sectors where women surface . The one sector is a little bit in the economy that its that is qualified. Women can actually be engaged in ifen you will small this is from the homes in terms of embroidery, in terms of any kind of contribution that may be a small, if you will, cast it as self generated business, selling, embroidery, like that, and might be b contributing a bt to the economy. As far as ngo involvement, the record shows know, that theres repression and no, you cannot be engaged. In terms of some to military efforts, yes to some extent a little bit where women are also working in Healthcare Facilities but yet the irony that others cannot even make it to t Healthcare Facilities and that access. So what is it forbode to let me answer that question . As i said not, its not good, its that good for the of the facility again for the society. Type of Economic Growth and by the way, in terms of what the taliban itself said and professed at the very outset, it really flieses totally against some of the statements he made about trying to be more open, more intricate do. We havent witness that at all. Its been the opposite. Not a good. And as you also mention, this is been already defined as gender apartheid. One of our afghan photos actually wrote a a piece about that. I thinknk he is here with us today. But were talking more and more about who are at the helm of various levels of government and also with the use afghan Womens Council to ensure that women are not only protected u. S. Afghan but have equal access to education, the workforce. We see a lot of role models, a lot of them of course had to be evacuated. So there has been so much progress, right, before the withdrawal of u. S. Troops. So howun can the United States d other allies who invested so much in these efforts ensure that these programs continue with all these restrictions in place . This is an important question at a really relish youre asking me that question. You have to give me a moment, my answer would be a little bit longer on this one because i really want to give a a full d robust answer. It is a key one. First it would aboutu. Use afghn Womens Council. It was born at the outset, thinking about the seizure of mazaresharif and when the was an attempt to help afghanistan. And we all witnessed seeing deathly on tv women in burqas, what the record was doing the previous period of the taliban, and then if you will a liberation. And the opportunity for growth and afghanistan. From that standpoint the u. S. Afghan Womens Councilt ws born at that time, and to be you mentioned it but i but i o underscore it. Afghan women were very decisive. They for this council said we know what we want. We want education, number one is at issue. Work us on growing that access to education for young boys but especially for young girls, and at all levels, not just a younger level. Secondly, the issue of healthcare. The Maternal Mortality rate was so high, and hear the was tremendous progress in that area. Third was entrepreneurship. I remember my first visit to afghanistan and actually we only met a few women who actually were in mazaresharif. And actually were starting this micro lending. The second visit i made their we met with over 100 women at our embassy who came in. They had all kinds of businesses. It showed if given the opportunity, women will seize it and they willrt go forth, and ty did indeed actually. And then also the was the issue of im going to put it in its Civil Society but its governance, rule of law. I was shown a picture of women judges. There were many women who werey women judges before, and women wanted to be back into law. They wanted to be in the parliament. They wanted to have a stake in the future and decisionmaking of afghanistan. So that was the fourth. And then later also came work and collaboration on youth by the way as part of this. So the u. S. Afghan council was very focused on that. Its been very engaged. So one, i want to see why an organization like that matters. It matters because it brings together a lot of organizations both aboutut the united , abroad, and even some that are still working internally in afghanistan, as best as they can. Can. And in this sense i do want to recognize if youll just raise your hand. She is executive director u. S. Afghane Womens Council at Georgetown University. Our honorary chairs are former first ladies laura bush and hillary clinton. And then we have the president Georgetown University jack to joy. We also have phyllis magro who is a type of if you will arm to arm with jack to joya and also weth have in the state departmet which is important, the International Womens office, to make sure i got reda oh, by the way is also a cochair. All important and a reference that because that actually keeps the focus of programs, what are we doing going move things forward . Is not only at home but also abroad. Second, there are also some official positions that i think are absolutely key. What is in the state department in addition to the ambassador and head of the International Womens office, there is a special representative who is give you with afghanistan completely, completely. And this is rima. In many of you know her. She was in doha with us. Very important position. Shes not only working with afghans. S. Shes worked with americas cup working with others and shes also in the middle east, also pounding the pavement. She was there at the doha forum trying to bring this issue forward. I also want to recognize and mention the u. N. The u. N. Secretary general also pointed a woman who i knew years ago who was foreign minister of uzbekistan, rosa, was the representative and she, too, she just spoke in a very targeted way about the stigma and Mental Health at how we should be tackling it. What are these people important . Because they tried to do the best in keeping the issue in the spotlight. And as you pointed out its hard. But many, as for the extra time. I actually brought the list. You cant imagineu how many are still working in afghanistan. And i want to share this. I mention that our u. S. Afghan women c