|
November 25, 2001 Letter to the UN Envoys at Bonn
Dear Mr. Brahimi, Mr. Vendrell: I am a Canadian woman who has worked on Afghan women's issues independently in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. A synthesis of my work and projects is available at http://afghanistan.unitycode.org. I am dismayed that the Bonn meeting excludes Afghan women: only Zahir Shah's delegation will bring female representation, and they are residents of the US and Germany - hardly representative of the women whose strength and commitment will be needed in forging the future of Afghanistan. I strongly urge you comply with Resolution 1325, which explicitly advocates Afghan women's involvement in all of the implementation mechanisms of conflict resolution, and was unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council. From UN press release SC/6942: "The Security Council this afternoon called on all actors involved in negotiating and implementing peace agreements to adopt a gender perspective that included the special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction. Such a gender perspective would also include measures that supported local women's peace initiatives and indigenous processes for conflict resolution, and that involved women in all the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements, as well as measures to ensure the human rights of women and girls, particularly as they related to the constitution, the electoral system, the police and the judiciary. The Council took that action when it unanimously adopted Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), by which it also expressed willingness to ensure that Security Council missions take into account gender considerations and the rights of women, including through consultation with local and international women's groups." Excluding women from participating in the Bonn meeting will only continue the history of institutionalizing the disempowerment of Afghan women that was denounced under the Taliban regime. This could hardly be an auspicious beginning to the future broad-based multi-ethnic government of Afghanistan. There are many local and international women's groups that would be appropriate representatives at the Bonn meeting. An obvious choice would be RAWA for its strong presence and network in and around Afghanistan. Have they been invited? I request that you kindly reply to this letter. I am available at this email address. Regards, Sarah Kamal |