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DE RUEHBUL #0509/01 0410625
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100625Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5509
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000509 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KWMN AF
SUBJECT: DEPARTING WOMEN'S AFFAIRS MINISTER GHAZANFAR SUGGESTS 
PRIORITIES FOR HER SUCCESSOR 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Departing Women's Affairs Minister Hussan Ban 
Ghazanfar told Coordinating Director for Development and Economic 
Affairs Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne on January 5 that her 
successor's priorities as Minister should include:  building 
inter-ministerial coordination on women's issues (including the 
establishment of women's/gender affairs offices in each GIRoA 
ministry); obtaining the resources to expand Ministry of Women's 
Affairs (MOWA) programs from the current ten to all 34 Afghan 
provinces; expanding vocational training and literacy programs for 
women; and encouraging women's political participation, including 
the appointment of more Q said, thepanding issue and a specialllon saQnational 
 
day, Belgium 
and the EU will evaluate the situation.  If violence occurs, 
they will certainly react appropriately, he said. 
 
GUTMAN 
. 
 
KABUL 00000509  002 OF 002 
 
 
frustrating that rather than recognize her accomplishments, 
Parliament had voted her down due based on the ethnic composition of 
the proposed cabinet.  She urged the U.S. to continue supporting the 
Ministry. 
 
¶8.  Ambassador Wayne noted that the day's event would mark an 
expansion of U.S. support for MOWA, specifically for the Legal 
Rights Division.  INL's Justice Sector Support Program would hand 
over office and training equipment (valued at $40,000 USD) to help 
the office run more efficiently, as well as recognize the efforts of 
an Afghan (national) Legal Consultant who the INL/JSSP program had 
placed at the Legal Rights Division two months earlier.  Ghazanfar 
expressed appreciation for the support for the Legal Rights 
Division; she had looked at the equipment being provided and it was 
all sorely needed. 
 
¶9.  Immediately following this meeting, Minister Ghazanfar and 
Ambassador Wayne presided over a handover ceremony for the equipment 
being provided to the Legal Rights Division.  Ghazanfar expressed 
her thanks for the United States' continued support for the 
Ministry.  She praised the efforts of INL/JSSP mentor Gullalai 
Karimi, noting that mentors made a huge difference at the Ministry 
and the Ministry would welcome even more.  The equipment being 
provided to the Legal Rights Division (all arrayed behind Ghazanfar 
and Wayne) were "not just boxes" but important tools that would help 
bring real change to the women of Afghanistan.  Ambassador Wayne 
commended the hard work of the 14 employees of the Ministry's Legal 
Rights Division, which for many women was their first point of 
contact with the Ministry.  The $40,000 worth of equipment donated 
included computers to keep records, video cameras for training, 
office furniture, and other supplies and equipment like printers, a 
copy machine, and paper.  This followed seven million that the U.S. 
had already given MOWA, and reflected that we continued to support 
the Ministry and look for ways to help it perform its vital 
mission. 
 
¶10.  The handover event was subsequently reported on several Afghan 
television and radio news programs. 
 
EIKENBERRY