VZCZCXRO5919
PP RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0279/01 0400259
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 090259Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7187
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000279 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS 
CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICCENT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PGOV AF
SUBJECT: WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS REACH OUT TO SECRETARY 
CLINTON 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  Afghan women Parliamentarians are asking to 
work with the new U.S. Administration to continue 
developmental assistance programs and to protect gains made 
by female politicians over the past seven years.  PolOffs 
have spoken with several women MPs since Secretary Clinton 
took office to discuss their priorities in 2009.  There is 
significant agreement among women MPs that U.S. assistance to 
Afghan women should focus on education, health, and providing 
economic opportunities for women.  MPs also seek U.S. support 
on promoting the role of women in the government and 
protecting rights enshrined in the Constitution.  Letters 
sent from MPs to Sec. Clinton are included in paragraphs 8-10. 
 
Status of Women in Parliament 
---------- 
 
¶2.     In 2005, voters elected 68 women to the Lower House, 
some 27 percent of the total seats.  In the 102-seat Upper 
House, for which seats are appointed, President Karzai and 
the provincial councils selected another 23 women.  About a 
half-dozen women received enough votes to win their seats 
without the benefit of the constitutional quota system.  Many 
candidates entered Parliament after heroic fights against 
Taliban oppression:  Dr. Fatima Aziz (Kunduz) once 
legendarily stared down a Taliban soldier who had entered her 
emergency room to tell her to don a burqa while she was 
performing surgery.  Insurgent attacks against Hawa Alam 
Nuristani (Nuristan) and two subsequent surgeries could not 
prevent her triumphant return to Parliament in 2006. 
 
¶3.     A number of women MPs participate vigorously in 
parliamentary debates and sit alongside male colleagues, but 
few hold leadership positions despite several strong 
personalities.  Some have formed support groups to discuss 
issues of common interest, but they then usually vote along 
ethnic, not gender, lines.  In contrast to many male MPs who 
entered office with prior political or military backgrounds, 
most women worked in health or education before joining 
Parliament.  Many Afghans, therefore, perceive women MPs to 
be more honest and less corrupt than male MPs.  International 
donors have been generous with foreign study trips and 
international conferences for women MPs, although those perks 
have sparked male MPs' jealousy. 
 
¶4.     Both men and women MPs have struggled to make a 
legislative impact in a young Parliament that has not yet 
found its role alongside a stronger executive branch. 
Instead, MPs have turned to using their positions as bully 
pulpits to draw media attention to issues they care about. 
Women MPs have historically concentrated on social issues, 
but more are beginning to speak out on foreign policy as 
civilian casualty incidents and deteriorating security draw 
more attention.  Most women MPs suspect President Karzai 
would sacrifice hard-fought gains on women,s rights in his 
pursuit of reconciliation talks with the Taliban.  MPs like 
Fawzia Koofi (Badakhshan) and Shukria Barakzai (Kabul) have 
demanded a seat at the negotiating table. 
 
Priorities for 2009 
---------- 
 
¶5.     In several recent conversations with PolOffs, women 
MPs have expressed uncertainty over the international 
community,s long-term commitment in Afghanistan and what 
that will mean for their place in the government.  They fear 
fundamentalists will scale back the progress made over the 
past seven years without strong advocacy from the West and 
more commitment from the Afghan government.  As women speak 
out more, MPs assess that violent incidents against women 
increase and conservatives are quicker to retaliate against 
strong women.  Deteriorating security and personal threats 
against female politicians may also reduce the number of 
women interested in voting in elections and running for 
elected office. 
 
¶6.     MP Parween Mohmand Talwas (Kuchi representative) said 
women legislators are looking to March 8 (International 
Women's Day) to rally support for women's rights in 
Afghanistan.  Women MPs hope to draw U.S. and other donor 
support to a number of causes, including health clinic 
construction in remote areas to improve maternal and 
pediatric care, literacy programs for widows, and efforts to 
promote handicraft businesses run by women entrepreneurs and 
artisans.  Several legislators are also working with the 
Ministry of Women's Affairs and civil society groups to pass 
a law increasing penalties for domestic violence against 
women. 
Letters to Sec. Clinton 
---------- 
 
KABUL 00000279  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶7.     We received the following three letters from MPs in 
the past week.  Many more MPs have asked us to pass verbal 
messages of congratulations and support to Sec. Clinton.  Two 
MPs told us they looked forward to working with a strong 
woman who had experience serving in a male-dominated 
legislature. 
 
¶8. Letter from MP Fawzia Raoufi, Faryab Province: 
 
Dear Secretary Clinton, 
 
Congratulations on your appointment to be Secretary of State 
of the United States of America. The issue to women,s rights 
is one of the most important issues in Afghanistan. All 
Afghan women are hopeful the United States will continue to 
help our government develop Afghanistan socially, 
economically and politically. 
 
I believe our country is on the right track toward peace, 
prosperity, development and democracy. As an Afghan woman and 
member of the Afghan Parliament, I would like to thank the 
whole world in general, and particularly the people, 
government and military forces of the United States for 
sacrificing their lives to help our nation live in peace 
among themselves and in the region.  We are seeing that every 
day some positive changes are taking place in the lives of 
all Afghans, especially women who in the past had been 
oppressed and had no rights at all in the last 28 years. 
 
Reshaping, rebuilding, and democratizing Afghanistan is hard 
work and will take an even longer time without the help and 
participation of Afghan women. We know that we have a long 
journey to reach our goal. It is a tough, bumpy road ahead of 
us but we will reach there with the help of our international 
friends and especially the United States. 
 
Despite recent past successes, Afghan women still need help 
in different aspects of their life, specifically: 
 
A: Preventing violence against women 
B: Developing women,s literacy courses 
C: Promoting Afghan women,s involvement in the private sector 
D: Building more women,s health clinics 
E: Offering health education courses on child care, the 
environment, and other issues 
F: Encouraging greater participation in elections and holding 
elected office in the Parliament and other elected bodies 
G: Helping women produce high-quality handicrafts for 
domestic and foreign markets. 
 
Women in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan are in great 
need and they are unsure of their future. We are hopeful the 
United States and international community will pay attention 
to the above suggestions and continue to support us. 
 
Congratulations again on your appointment and thank you for 
your interest in Afghanistan,s women. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
Fawzia Raoufi 
Member of the Afghan Parliament 
Faryab Province 
 
¶9.     Letter from Rahima Jami, Herat Province: 
 
Dear Secretary Clinton, 
 
I am Rahima Jami, a Parliamentarian of Afghanistan,s 
Parliament, member of the International Affairs Committee of 
the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House), and am in charge of the 
Afghanistan-American Friendship Committee.  On behalf of 
Afghanistan,s women, I congratulate the victory of the 
Democratic Party in your presidential election. Please pass 
my congratulations and best wishes to all Democrats, 
President Obama, and to the people of the United States, who 
are the symbol of freedom to the world. 
 
We are happy to hear of your appointment to lead the 
Department of State in Washington, D.C. and we are sure you 
will manage it well.  We are hopeful that you will pay 
attention to the people of Afghanistan, especially to women 
who face many challenges. 
 
After the Taliban regime was overthrown by the help of the 
Coalition forces, there was considerable development in the 
role of women in the country and in the government, but we 
still need to work hard to improve the rights of Afghan 
 
KABUL 00000279  003 OF 003 
 
 
women. I appreciate the United States for its political, 
economic and military aid to Afghanistan, and we expect the 
United States to continue to help us fight against women,s 
discrimination throughout Afghanistan. 
 
The best way to improve the women,s situation in Afghanistan 
is to: build more schools for women and girls, construct 
health clinics for women, and create more jobs in the 
handicraft industry. In addition, we must support the 
presence of women in government and legal positions, as those 
positions will help protect women,s rights and allow more 
women to pursue private sector opportunities. 
 
I am praying for the success of the United States and 
Afghanistan, and wish you much success. 
 
Best Regards, 
 
Rahima Jami 
Member of the Afghan Parliament 
Herat Province 
 
¶10.  Letter from Shukria Paikan Ahmady, Kunduz Province: 
 
Dear Secretary Clinton, 
 
I want to congratulate the peace-loving nation of the United 
States on the election of its new administration under the 
leadership of President Barack Obama. 
 
I am very happy that President Obama has appointed a very 
respected and decent woman as Secretary of State, and I want 
to congratulate you for the important position you now 
occupy. I wish you great success and am hopeful that, if 
possible, we may meet some day. 
 
I know that since your first days in office you have been 
thinking about the people of Afghanistan, and Afghan women in 
particular. Afghan women have enormous problems and I hope to 
be able to inform you about the problems first-hand and 
suggest solutions. Your support for Afghan women is crucial 
to our efforts. 
 
In conclusion, I wish you the greatest success and hope for 
many achievements for your administration. I also wish you 
good health and thank you in advance for your assistance. 
 
Regards, 
 
Shukria Paikan Ahmady 
Member of the Afghan Parliament 
Kunduz Province 
 
WOOD