VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBUL #1797/01 1900947
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 090947Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0055
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 0122

UNCLAS KABUL 001797 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AF KDEM
SUBJECT: VERVEER PRESSES FOR JUSTICE FOR AFGHAN WOMEN 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: In June 24-26 meetings visiting 
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer 
affirmed the strong U.S. commitment to Afghan women and 
pressed government officials and other leaders to address the 
extreme challenges confronting women.  President Karzai 
defended his record on women's issues but admitted there were 
still problems and promised improvements if re-elected. 
Opposition candidates told Verveer they would prioritize 
increasing women's political participation and educational 
and economic opportunities.  During a trip to Badghis 
province, the provincial governor and local women's affairs 
office director prioritized women's needs there as education 
and literacy training, economic opportunities, and health 
care.  Women provincial council candidates cited security 
concerns but expressed determination to mount vigorous 
campaigns.  Verveer also toured a women's prison, a domestic 
violence shelter, and met with women journalists and male and 
female Parliamentarians.  Verveer and the Ambassador 
announced a 27 million dollar fund of small grants targeted 
to empower Afghan NGOs working on women's issues. Media 
coverage of the entire trip was positive. 
 
Karzai: Defends his record, Promises to increase support to 
women if re-elected 
------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Verveer pressed Karzai on the plight of Afghan women 
urging him to do more.  She noted that during her visit to 
Badghis province women were discouraged and pleaded with her 
to weigh in for them with Karzai.  Verveer acknowledged there 
had been some improvements, but that in some ways it seemed 
women's rights were regressing. She cited Karzai's signing of 
the original Shia Family Law and the delays in his Cabinet's 
consideration of the draft domestic violence law.  Verveer 
also observed that Karzai regularly meets with groups of men 
with barely any women present or engaged on important issues. 
 Karzai agreed that many women were still not benefiting from 
his government's initiatives.  He guaranteed, however, that 
the U.S. will be "surprised" at how much he will do for women 
if re-elected. Karzai claimed concern about the small number 
of women employed in professional civil service positions. 
He said he would explore an affirmative action program for 
women in order to increase the numbers. 
 
MOJ: Shia Law re-draft will protect women's rights, but under 
pressure from religious conservatives 
---- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Verveer told Minister Danish that a revised Shia 
Family Law in line with constitutional guarantees of gender 
equality and a strong domestic violence law were priority 
issues for the U.S.  Danish reported the Ministry had almost 
completed its revision of the Shia Family Law.  The Ministry 
had reviewed hundreds of pages of suggested amendments 
including those submitted by civil society.  Danish had 
shared some of these changes with civil society leaders 
several days prior and described the leaders as 100 percent 
satisfied.  Danish also said religious groups were pressuring 
him and President Karzai to enact the original version of the 
Shia Family Law.  MOJ had met four or five times with the 
Ulema Council.  Danish expressed contempt for the women who 
had protested against the original version of the law.  "If a 
doctor protested about a legal issue, the doctor's criticism 
would not be considered, because she does not have legal 
training.  Thus, the women protesting the Shia law should not 
have spoken up."  "There was no need for protests, and civil 
society's objections rather than the actual law caused all 
the problems,8  he added. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Verveer pressed the Minister several times to share 
the complete revision with national and international 
stakeholders prior to finalizing it.  Danish would only 
commit to meeting again with Afghan women and civil society 
representatives. He specifically declined to share the 
amendments with internationals, citing concerns about 
provoking another public uproar.  Danish said the draft 
Elimination of Violence against Women bill was with the 
Cabinet, and he expected the Cabinet would approve it. 
 
 
Abdullah: Women's vigorous participation in the electoral 
process gives him hope 
---------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah 
acknowledged that Karzai's government had presented 
opportunities for women's advancement, but said Afghanistan 
was still far behind where he had hoped it would be.  Women's 
enthusiasm for the electoral process was giving Abdullah and 
others hope for the future.  Women were demanding progress in 
human rights issues such as domestic violence and increased 
representation at every level of government.  If elected, 
Abdullah plans to allocate 30 percent of cabinet posts and 
civil service positions to women.  He would give the Ministry 
of Women's Affairs (MOWA) additional authority to implement 
its programs and insist that other ministries implement their 
parts of MOWA's programs. 
 
 
Ghani: Economic empowerment crucial for women; advocates 
decentralized government 
-------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The greatest threat to Afghanistan comes from its 
current government, opposition candidate Ashraf Ghani told 
Verveer.  Narcotics and the insurgency are only by-products 
of the government's weakness.  Discussing his campaign 
platform, he advocated election of most local officials, 
transfer of 50 percent of the national budget to local 
governmental units, and clarification of property rights 
within municipalities.  Many municipalities lost 
opportunities for business and market sites due to confusion 
over land titles.  Increasing economic opportunities is the 
key to empowering women.  Ghani advocated a "made by Afghan 
women" label as a marketing strategy.  He also urged 
development of women's industries in the areas of jewelry 
production, fashion and embroidery, and animal husbandry. 
 
Minister of Public Health: Significant progress; concrete 
plan for addressing women's health challenges 
---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Minister of Public Health Sayed Amin Fatimie said it 
will take a concerted and coordinated effort for different 
ministries and sectors to appropriately address women's 
health and mentioned partnering with the Ministries of 
Women's Affairs, Agriculture, and Religious Affairs as 
crucial.  His ministry's main strategies and interventions 
for reducing maternal mortality include expanding coverage of 
quality health services, expanding community midwifery 
training, strengthening community-based services through 
community health workers (volunteers), and reinforcing 
community mobilization and behavior change to increase 
utilization of quality health services. 
 
Badghis: Remote and poor but standing up for women 
--------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Badghis Governor Delbar Arman, who accompanied the 
delegation to all Badghis meetings, told Verveer he was 
working hard to bring justice to all citizens, men and women. 
 Improved security is the most important requirement for 
improving girls' access to education, the first step in 
combating the traditional marginalization of women.  Arman 
listed increased investment in the agriculture sector and 
establishing a source of potable water as two other 
priorities. He asked for machinery and irrigation technology 
in order to increase the province's wheat yield.  Verveer 
emphasized the U.S. commitment to working with both men and 
women to improve women's social indicators.  "If you don't 
work with men, you don't work with women," Arman agreed. 
 
Badghis IEC: 11 out 47 provincial council candidates are women 
---------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Eleven of the 47 candidates for the Badghis 
provincial council are women, the provincial Independent 
Election Commission (IEC) gender coordinator, Najima, told 
the delegation and an assembled crowd of local leaders.  The 
IEC has two mobile voter registration teams-one registering 
men and one registering women.  The province has 163 polling 
centers and 500 polling stations, of which 50 percent are for 
women and 50 percent for men.  Forty-six percent of 
registered voters in Badghis province are women.  Female 
provincial candidate Sherzad welcomed the delegation and 
identified the province's biggest challenges as insecurity 
and a weak economy.  Another female candidate, Yaseema, asked 
Ambassador Verveer what her plan is for helping to bring a 
better future for Afghan women.  "The best investment a 
family can make is to send their daughters to school," 
Verveer said.  "The reason for our trip is to better 
understand how we can most effectively partner with Afghans 
to grow economic opportunities, improve access to health 
care, and reduce societal violence against women," she added. 
 She also told the women that they needed to press the 
presidential candidates on their plans for women and their 
families. 
 
Badghis Department of Women's Affairs: priorities are 
education, economic opportunities, and health; U.S. should 
turn attention to rural areas 
---------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Badghis Department of Women's Affairs Director 
Halima Rahpyma identified the main problems facing Badghis 
women as forced marriages, lack of access to health care, 
insecurity, and poverty.  Her office has conducted projects 
to address these problems including vocational and literacy 
training.  Ambassador Verveer told the assembled women that 
Afghanistan cannot go forward if its women are left behind. 
"You are the key to our success," she added. Rahpyma 
identified priorities for international assistance to Badghis 
women as literacy and civics training for adults and 
increased access to education for girls, increasing 
employment opportunities, and health care.  Several attendees 
emphasized that women in villages face many more challenges 
than women in the provincial capital and asked that the U.S. 
focus assistance efforts on rural areas. 
 
Women's rights activist: Constitution is just a paper until 
the government puts it into action 
--------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Women's rights activist Orzala Ashruf and Member of 
Parliament Fawzia Koofi highlighted an evening discussion of 
the way forward for Afghan women, chaired by UNAMA Deputy 
Special Representative of the Secretary General Peter 
Galbraith.  "The Constitution gives equal rights to men and 
women, but it is only a piece of paper until the government 
puts it into action," Ashruf said.  The government hires 
educated women to be secretaries and other low-level 
employees, she noted.  Ashruf also urged the Afghan 
government and its international partners to do more to 
support women at the district and village level in remote 
areas.  She also urged that the government give MOWA the 
authority and funding to implement its programs, rather than 
just make policy.  MP Koofi urged the government to include 
women in any potential peace talks and noted the need to 
implement UN Resolution 1325 in that regard. 
 
Domestic Violence Shelter and Women's Prison: two well-run 
organizations assisting victims of societal ills 
---------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) During Verveer's tour of the U.S. NGO Women for 
Afghan Women-run domestic violence shelter, several clients 
described fleeing forced marriages to much older men.  A 
17-year-old girl's family had forced her to marry when she 
was 11.  Inmates at the U.S.-supported Kabul Women's Prison 
told Verveer they were satisfied with prison conditions and 
their treatment by prison officials.  The inmates, serving 
three to five year sentences for adultery, seven years for 
narcotics, and 10-20 years for homicide explained that the 
prison offered literacy, computer, sewing, and beadwork 
instruction.  In both venues, Verveer emphasized the strong 
U.S. commitment to addressing poverty and lack of access to 
education, factors which caused some women to end up in 
either a shelter or prison. 
 
Media Coverage 
---------- 
 
¶13. (U) Media outlets reported widely and positively on the 
visit.  The reports focused on Verveer's demand for increased 
women's participation and leadership in the next government 
and her re-affirmation of the USG's neutrality in the August 
election. 
EIKENBERRY