This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000595 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SA/FO (AMB MQUINN), SA/A, S/CR, SA/PAB, 
S/CT, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND 
OSD FOR BREZINSKI 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD 
REL NATO/AUST/NZ/ISAF 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER SNAR AF
SUBJECT: PRT/HELMAND  HELMAND WOMEN PROVINCIAL 
COUNCIL MEMBERS SPEAK OUT 
 
1.(SBU) SUMMARY: Helmands four women Provincial 
Council members are taking on a substantial role. 
e. 
Helmands recently installed Governor Daoud meets 
with the Council regularly; the women members views 
are considered.  The Council, women included, meets 
daily with citizens.  The women members are hearing 
many complaints about the lack of rights and 
opportunities for women, and corruption.  They are 
serving as a conduit for womens issues, bringing 
them to the attention of the Governor.  Citizens are 
also concerned about opium cultivation, but the 
general views are, if there will be eradication, it 
needs to be done fairly and farmers need 
compensation.  PRT officials told the Council 
members that the Governors eradication plan is 
taking this into account.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.(SBU) The four women Provincial Council 
members, Raazia Baluch, Shirina Barakzai, Reza Gul, 
and Salima Sharifi, met with PRTOFF and PRT 
Commander on February 1.  As a whole, the women 
members are well educated.  All have finished at 
least 12 years of school.  By contrast, only about 
five male members are educated. 
 
ed. 
 
3.(SBU) IN THE MIX: The four Council members are 
relatively satisfied with their role since the 
Council organized in November.  Overall, their views 
as a group or individuals are considered.  They 
participate fully in the weekly meeting with 
Governor Daoud and they noted that the Governor 
solicits their opinions on a number of issues. 
 
4.(SBU) WOMENS RIGHTS  A LONG WAY TO GO: Reza 
Gul spoke about the lack of opportunities and rights 
for women.  Women desperately need more educational 
and health services.  In many cases, women are 
unable to utilize the services that are available 
because their families do not allow them to leave 
the house.  Reza said that, as Helmand develops, she 
hoped this situation would improve, but Afghanistan 
took many steps backward during the 25 years of war; 
the situation for women may improve, but it will be 
a long and slow process. 
 
5.(SBU) CORRUPTION, CORRUPTION, CORRUPTION: While 
not specifically a gender issue, the complaint that 
 that 
the Council is hearing the most is public sector 
corruption.  According the women members, people 
have no faith that the provincial government is 
interested in helping them or bringing services to 
them.  People are convinced that officials main 
concern is personal enrichment.  The Council has 
discussed this with the Governor.  He has asked all 
the Council members to visit some provincial offices 
and report back to him with their impressions on how 
well the offices are functioning, with an emphasis 
on looking out for obvious corruption. 
 
6.(SBU) Concerning corruption, Reza cited an 
example to illustrate the women members engagement. 
A woman came to the Council to complain about being 
unable to reclaim her land near Gereshk, despite 
having all her documents in order.  Reza brought the 
issue to the attention to the Governor, who ordered 
the district chief to ensure that the woman received 
her land.  However, corruption again played a 
negative role.  According to Reza, the district 
ct 
chief is involved in the land issue; the Governor 
has said that he will follow up to reach closure on 
this case.  Shirina added that this demonstrated 
perfectly why ordinary citizens had no faith in 
their local officials. 
 
7.(SBU) OPIUM POPPY  ERADICATION, BUT NOT 
WITHOUT COMPENSATION: The women members said that 
opium is not one of the top subjects among the 
constituents who come to see them, although they 
personally believe that Helmands poppy should be 
eradicated.  The women stipulated, however, that the 
eradication be done fairly and the poor farmers 
receive compensation.  They recounted how the last 
eradication effort was rife with corruption, with 
police taking money meant for farmers and extorting 
more from other farmers to avoid eradication.  The 
PRT commander explained that the Governor has a plan 
that takes these issues into account, including 
components to implement cash for work and/or food 
for work programs to prevent impoverishing the 
countryside. 
 
. 
 
8.(SBU) COMMENT: The women members of the Helmand 
Provincial Council appear to be holding their own. 
They are engaged with local citizens, with a natural 
focus on womens issues.  That the Governor is 
considering their opinions is encouraging; using 
them to investigate provincial offices could provide 
valuable information.  At the very least, it gives 
the women members an opportunity to become engaged 
in governance. END COMMENT. 
 
9.(U) Dushanbe minimize considered. 
 
NEUMANN