Afghan Women Report:
Achievements and Challenges One Year After Bonn

Women for Afghan Women's Second Annual Conference

WAW held its second annual Afghan women’s conference on October 19, 2002, at Barnard College. The conference was entitled, "Afghan Women Report: Achievements and Challenges One Year After Bonn" and featured keynote speaker – Sima Samar, Human Rights Commissioner of Afghanistan and Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women’s Affair
Riffat Hassan and Eve Ensler participating in the Human Rights and Human Security panel Panelist Eleanor Smeal and Keynote Speaker, Sima Samar, Human Rights Commissioner

A year after the historic meetings in Bonn, Germany, which led to the Interim Government in Afghanistan, diverse religious and secular Afghan women who have been in Afghanistan, rebuilding the nation while ensuring that women are included in every aspect of reconstruction, gave reports on their work, their successes and the challenges. Key non-Afghan women were also present.

Panels were held on health and education, human rights and human security, and an economy and governance structure which supports women's rights and wellbeing. The hope was that the conference would allow dialogue and debate on the complex issues that Afghan women are wrestling with as they participate in reconstruction and fight for their right to do so, such as: religious versus secular viewpoints; world support of NGOs versus the State; and the role of Western women’s movements in supporting Afghan women.

Above: Panelist Hassina Sherjan
Right: Orzala Ashraf and Fatima Gailani, Panelists

Click here to see Conference Program

Click names below to see letter of support from:
Habiba Sarabi, Minister of Women's Affairs
Barbara Lee, Congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney, Member of Congress
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator

All photos by Lina Pallotta

Many thanks to:
The Barnard Center for Research on Women and The Global Fund for Women for supporting WAW's Second Annual Conference.

We are grateful to The Sister Fund, Third Wave Foundationm, Hunt Alternatives Fund, New York Women's Foundation and North Star Fund for their invaluable support since our inception in April 2001.

Lastly, we thank every WAW member, individual , and organization that has helped make this conference possible through their commitment and sheer hard work.