28 November 2001

Measure Urges Afghan Women's Participation in Reconstruction

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a resolution November 28 calling for the participation of women from all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups in the rebuilding of that country.

Senator Christopher Dodd (Democrat of Connecticut) submitted Senate Concurrent Resolution 86 (S. Con. Res. 86) with eight co-sponsors.

The proposed resolution says Afghan women "from all ethnic groups in Afghanistan should be permitted to participate in the economic and political reconstruction of Afghanistan."

S. Con. Res. 86 goes on to say that "any constitution or legal structure of a reconstructed Afghanistan should guarantee the human and political rights of Afghan women."

Dodd, in introducing the proposed resolution, noted that as the United States is now in the midst of military action against the Taliban regime "in response to the horrific attacks on American civilians on September 11, we have the opportunity to help restore to the Afghani women the basic freedoms and opportunities which should be available to all citizens of the world."

Long-term stability in Afghanistan "is contingent upon a full and expeditious renewal of these rights," he added.

The people of Afghanistan, Dodd continued, "believe overwhelmingly that there is a place for Afghani women in Islamic society that affords them opportunities for meaningful professional and political roles in the rebuilding of their country."

Following are the texts of S. Con. Res. 86 and the speech by Senator Christopher Dodd introducing the resolution from the Congressional Record:

Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. Kerry, Mr. McCain, Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Snowe, Ms. Mikulski, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Hutchison, and Mrs. Boxer) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

Whereas until 1996 women in Afghanistan enjoyed the right to be educated, work, vote, and hold elective office;

Whereas women served on the committee that drafted the Constitution of Afghanistan in 1964;

Whereas during the 1970s women were appointed to the Afghan ministries of education, health, and law;

Whereas in 1977 women comprised more than 15 percent of the Loya Jirga, the Afghan national legislative assembly;

Whereas during the war with the Soviet Union as many as 70 percent of the teachers, nurses, doctors, and small business owners in Afghanistan were women;

Whereas in 1996 the Taliban stripped the women of Afghanistan of their most basic human and political rights;

Whereas under Taliban rule women have become one of the most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan, accounting for 75 percent or more of all Afghan refugees;

Whereas a study conducted by Physicians for Human Rights and released in May 2001 indicates that more than 90 percent of Afghan men and women believe that women should have the right to receive an education, work, freely express themselves, enjoy legal protections, and participate in the government; and

Whereas restoring the human and political rights that were once enjoyed by Afghan women is essential to the long-term stability of a reconstructed Afghanistan: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--

• a portion of the humanitarian assistance provided to Afghanistan should be targeted to Afghan women and their organizations;

• Afghan women from all ethnic groups in Afghanistan should be permitted to participate in the economic and political reconstruction of Afghanistan; and

• any constitution or legal structure of a reconstructed Afghanistan should guarantee the human and political rights of Afghan women.

Mr. DODD. Madam President, I rise today, along with my colleagues Senators Kerry, McCain, Clinton, Cantwell, Snowe, Mikulski, Boxer, and HUTCHISON to submit a resolution expressing the sense of Senate that women from all ethnic groups should participate in the economic and political reconstruction of Afghanistan. This is an issue we feel strongly about, and it is my hope that the Senate will soon take up this important issue. Let me also thank Congresswoman CONNIE MORELLA for her work on this matter and for introducing companion legislation in House.

As you know, since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 1996, women and girls living under this regime have been subjected daily to an array of human rights violations, from lack of access to education and health care to outright violence. They have been denied equal protection under the law, and have struggled to survive without the same professional or financial opportunities afforded the men in their country.

Certainly, even before the rise of the Taliban, Afghanistan was in many respects a country in crisis, facing drought, ethnic conflict, and uncertain leadership. It was the women and children of this troubled country that bore the brunt of this suffering. However, despite these many hardships, the women of Afghanistan persevered, and played a large and meaningful role in Afghani society. Prior to the rule of the Taliban, women had the right to vote, served as cabinet ministers, enjoyed rich professional careers, and indeed constituted a majority of country's lawyers, doctors, teachers, and business owners. Women participated in every aspect of Afghani life, and were fully integrated into its cultural, political, and economic fabric. However, since the Taliban regime came to power, conditions for women and children have worsened drastically. Stripped of their basic human rights and freedoms, they have fought hard to provide for themselves and their families, and to weather the many abuses suffered at the hands of the oppressive fundamentalist regime. Many women studied and taught in secret, determined to retain something of the life they knew before they were forced to retreat behind the burka.

In response to this humanitarian crisis, United States policy in Afghanistan has been guided, in part, by overwhelming concerns about these and other gross human rights violations. Now that we are in midst of military action against the Taliban in response to the horrific attacks on American civilians on September 11, we have the opportunity to help restore to the Afghani women the basic freedoms and opportunities which should be available to all citizens of the world. In addition, I believe that long-term stability in Afghanistan is contingent upon a full and expeditious renewal of these rights. The people of Afghanistan, both men and women, believe overwhelmingly that there is a place for Afghani women in Islamic society that affords them opportunities for meaningful professional and political roles in the rebuilding of their country. The reconstruction of Afghanistan, both politically and culturally, will require the insight and dedication of all of the people of Afghanistan, and women must not be excluded from this vital process. They must be included as equal partners as this nation begins to recover and rebuild.

In many ways September 11 has become a turning point for the United States. It has been one of sorrow, and it has been a wake-up call that we need to guard our rights and our way of life. But it also an opportunity for the yoke of oppression to be once and for all lifted from the Afghani people, particularly the women and children who have suffered so much over the last decade. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.