Press Release



	For Immediate Release September 19, 2003 Press Contact: Masuda Sultan, Program Director, Women for Afghan Women masudasultan@aol.com (RSVPs appreciated) (212) 868-9360; (917) 554-1130 Critical Moment for Afghan Women: Largest Resurgence of Violence Since the Fall of Taliban as Afghan Women Prepare for National Debate on the Constitution. Women for Afghan Women announces a press conference upon the successful completion of its third annual conference, Women and the Constitution: Kandahar 2003 which took place Sept. 2-5, 2003 and presents the Afghan Women's Bill of Rights crafted by women from all over Afghanistan. We will provide updates on the status of women in Afghanistan, the constitution, security, and aid to the country. Masuda Sultan, WAW Program Director and Sunita Mehta, WAW co-founder, will speak about our pioneering conference which took rural and uneducated women from all over Afghanistan to Kandahar, despite security threats. Guest speaker Mariam Nawabi, an Afghan American litigation attorney who has written key papers on Muslim women's rights, will speak about her work with the Constitutional Commission. Location: Open Society Institute 400 West 59th Street, Third Floor, Room 3B Time/Date: 9 am, Tuesday, September 23, 2003 Afghans are now seeing the worst violence since the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001, especially in the South. The US and international community have failed to meet the promises made to Afghan women. Only 1% of aid requested by the Bush Administration for Iraq and Afghanistan is for Afghan reconstruction. The draft constitution is about to be released to the public women's rights will be a key area of debate. *********************************************************************** Women for Afghan Women is a New York-based women's organization founded in April 2001, and comprising volunteer members who are Afghan and non-Afghan women. In the three years since our inception we have held three annual women's rights conferences and published a collection of essays, Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future (Palgrave Macmillan, October 2002). We have launched a women's program in Queens and raised over $100,000 in the United States to donate to women's NGOs in Afghanistan. We are a small community-based organization in New York with a huge heart and vision. We exist to create platforms for Afghan women to speak to the world in their own voices, and to be true sisters to the women in Afghanistan. This conference was organized in partnership with Afghans for Civil Society, Afghan Women's Network, and AOHREP. The conference was funded by the Global Fund for Women, Open Society Institute, The Asia Foundation, Afghan Women Leaders Connect, Center on International Cooperation, The Sister Fund, and supported by Peacekeeper Cosmetics and United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan. Women for Afghan Women PO Box 152, Midtown Station New York, NY 10018 (212) 868-9360 www.womenforafghanwomen.org