VZCZCXRO0701
RR RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHPW RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #1903 1610432
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100432Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8592
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 4152
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS KABUL 001903 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/A 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
STATE PASS TO U/S PAULA DOBRIANKSY 
NSC FOR HARRIMAN 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82 POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE, SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM AF
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF WOMEN'S AFFAIRS OUTLINES CURRENT PRIORITIES 
WITH AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: A) KABUL 800, B) KABUL 4409 
 
¶1.  (SBU) During a June 2 meeting with the Ambassador, Minister of 
Women's Affairs Hussn Ghazanfar highlighted her main priorities as 
fostering women's and girl's education, bolstering Afghanistan's 
fledgling women's handicrafts industry, and establishing mental 
health centers for women.  She announced the completion of the 
Ministry's 10-year plan, which she anticipates will be approved by 
the Cabinet within the next month.  She also mentioned plans to 
lobby the international community to fund more activities outside of 
Kabul, where she says most programming for women is currently 
concentrated.  Ambassador Wood and Minister Ghazanfar also discussed 
the effectiveness and security of the Ministry's provincial 
Departments of Women's Affairs (DOWA's). 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Among the priorities mentioned, Minister Ghazanfar seemed 
most enthusiastic about her desire to establish mental health 
clinics tailored towards women's needs both in Kabul and throughout 
the provinces.  Decades of conflict coupled with the relative 
invisibility of women outside the home and social customs such as 
forced marriages, honor killings, and the bartering of women to 
settle disputes have taken a particular toll on the mental state of 
many Afghan women, who often feel they have nowhere to turn. 
Ghazanfar noted her plans to lobby USAID and other donor countries 
for funding of these clinics in the near future. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ambassador Wood raised security concerns at the Ministry's 
provincial Departments of Women's Affairs, or DOWA's.  In late 2006 
USAID and its German equivalent, GTZ, proposed conducting a security 
assessment of DOWA offices as a result of last year's heightened 
threats to several DOWA directors throughout the southern and 
eastern provinces (reftel A) and the murder of DOWA Director Safia 
Amajan in Kandahar on September 25, 2006 (reftel B).  At that time, 
Minister Ghazanfar said she needed to seek broader GOA approval, 
particularly from the Interior Ministry, to do the assessment.  When 
asked whether she had raised her security concerns in the Cabinet, 
Ghazanfar simply mentioned that the MOWA had recently completed its 
own assessment of the effectiveness of DOWA offices (she did not yet 
have a summary of results), but did not mention security as a 
concern.  Minister Ghazanfar stated that in the provinces she has 
been focused on establishing women's shuras, using traditional 
mechanisms to discuss and propose solutions to the problems faced by 
women.  Ambassador Wood indicated an interest in making meetings 
with local women's shuras a regular feature of his visits to the 
provinces.