VZCZCXRO4680
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1231/01 1341702
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141702Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8894
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 0055

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