HER EXCELLENCY MRS. HABIBA SARABI
MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS
ISLAMIC TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT OF AFGHANISTAN

To Women for Afghan Women
On the occasion of your second annual conference

"Afghan Women Report: Achievements and Challenges One Year After Bonn"

It was a great pleasure to have been invited to attend Women for Women of Afghanistan conference in New York. Unfortunately, I am not able to be here with you today to share my feelings about the women of Afghanistan but my heart is with you and I hope that this conference is a success.

However, I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to express my feelings about the realities of social and civil life of Afghan women. The women and girls of Afghanistan were deprived of their identity and were subjugated like an object under the Taliban regime. Women lost their identity along with their rights and freedom was only a memory of their past.

As you know women were exposed to and suffered from hunger, poverty, deprivation, and from the loss of all their social rights. Women were locked in their homes and attacked because they were educated, because they wanted their rights back and because they wanted their children to be educated. The complete silence of women was the gradual death of the Afghan society.

Today, I don’t know how to express my sense of joy because of the freedom that women are experiencing. The time when women were invisible is ending, new opportunities are being provided and once again women are entering into the country’s social life and school doors are open to our young girls.

I am proud and fortunate to be a participant in this time of change and progress. For the first time in our history, a Ministry of Women’s Affairs has been established in Afghanistan to work for women’s rights and advancement. I am pleased to say that the importance of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs has been clearly recognized by both our own people and the international community. And, especially non-governmental organizations that are present in this conference have always support the women of Afghanistan through thick and thin. I thank you for that and the women of Afghanistan would like to thank for giving them a chance to live freely.

However, despite all of these efforts, I must say that the situation of women in Afghanistan is still one of the worst in the world. Afghanistan should be rebuilt with the central concern of restoring the rights of women and girls and addressing their needs, since they have been the prime victims of conflict and oppression. Women’s rights issues should be fully reflected in the reconstruction processes, to which the non-governmental organizations, to my knowledge and pleasure have expressed its commitment.

Finally, I would like to say that my Ministry will continue to work for women and girls in distress as well as promote women’s right into all the policies and programs of my government and civil society so that women can really enjoy equal rights and status, with due respect to our culture and religion. We have just begun, and still a long and challenging way is waiting ahead of us. But I know that this time you (the NGOs), and the international community will be with us, and we will not cease to strive for the betterment of women and girls to make a truly humanitarian world, living together in peace. I believe that if we can work together, through our combined efforts we can expect a bright future for our nation with your help.

Thank you all and I wish each one of you all the best in this conference.