<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR="#80ffff">AFGHANISTAN: Women Meet to Demand Role in Reconstruction By Nadeem Iqbal, Inter Press Service ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 (IPS) - The first-ever gathering of more than 700 Afghan women in a traditional 'jirga' (assembly of leaders) in Pakistan on Thursday underscores rising calls that the newly-installed interim government in Afghanistan ensure equal representation for women under a future constitution. Deliberating on every issue confronting their country, including the withdrawal of foreign troops and deployment of U.N. peacekeepers, the women who met in Peshawar in Pakistan, near the Afghan border, set the precedent for the holding similar women's 'jirga' in the Afghan capital Kabul - and future assemblies as well. Calling it a unique event in Afghanistan's history, Dr Malali Salimi of Afghan Women Council explained the objectives of the 'jirga': ''We are here to voice our grievances and seek a better place in the future set- up of the country, which has been ravaged by the 23-year war and interference by the external powers.'' Following the pattern of the Bonn agreement which stipulated the organisation of 'loya jirga' (grand assembly) under the aegis of former King Zaher Shah, the women 'jirga' was presided over by Shafiqa Siraj, sister of another former Afghan monarch, Amanullah Khan. The 'jirga' was organised by Afghan refugee women in Pakistan, in collaboration with the International Law Group and Aurat Foundation, a Pakistani women's activist group. Apart from those from the Afghan Women's Council, participants came from the from Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) and other small groups from refugees of Quetta, Islamabad and Peshawar. Reflecting upon the history of 'loya jirga' in Afghanistan, activist Saira Sharif said that never ever were women given any role in running the affairs of the state in the past. And even if they were allowed to participate, it was but a nominal role as only two women had attended the 'loya jirga' convened in 1977. At the 'jirga', Fatana Gilani of RAWA welcomed the fact that the different international meetings held in Bonn, Belgium and Tokyo spoke at length on the protection of human rights. Now is the need to implement them in letter and spirit, she added. Nikhat Saeed, a Pakistani activist, expressed sorrow over the treatment of Afghan people at the hands of successive Pakistani governments that did not allow them to rule their country themselves, and hoped that Afghan women would play an effective role in the reconstruction of their country. During the discussion on the future agenda for Afghanistan, many of the 'jirga' participants criticised growing factionalism in the war-ravaged country, saying that the ethnic, lingual and regional sentiments prevailing in their country were ''dangerous'' for its existence. They said all ethnic communities of Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and other lingual groups were an integral part of Afghan nation and their equal well-being was necessary for the development of the country. They unanimously condemned the foreign interference and shipment of weapons to different factions, and urged foreign countries to take notice of it. A resolution issued after the 'jirga' welcomed the stay of multinational peacekeeping forces to maintain security peace in the country, but demanded the immediate pullout of the U.S. fighting forces from Afghanistan. The resolution said the U.S. fighting forces had no role after the rout of Taliban to stay in their country. Earlier, the interim head of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai had called for troops to remain until ''all terrorists'' are flushed out. Almost half of an estimated 25 million population of Afghanistan is female. But their socio-economic statistics are miserable. The female literacy rate is less than 15 percent and the primary school enrolment of girls is merely 3 percent, reflecting the sidelinining of women under the Taliban's strict, oppressive rule and the toll of decades of conflict. Experts say the poor human development figures mean that every 30 minutes an Afghan woman dies -- an estimated 15,000 women every year - of pregnancy-related causes. The estimated maternal mortality rate is 7,000 per 100,000 live births. In recent months, many international meetings related to reconstruction in Afghanistan held in different world capitals like Bonn, Islamabad, Tokyo, Brussels, Washington have stressed the need for women to be represented in any future Afghan political dispensation for social and economic reconstruction. Many NGO meetings have since occurred in different Pakistani cities, discussions that for the first time witnessed a substantial number of women participants. The Bonn agreement on Dec 5, between different Afghan parties, had named two women to become part of 29-member interim authority headed by Karzai. Thus, Suhaila Sidiq, minister of health and Sima Samar, appointed as deputy leader and minister of women's affairs, become the first women ministers since the fall of Afghanistan's communist regime in 1992. While providing for the future establishment of Special Independent Commission (SIC) to convene grand assembly to decide upon the constitution and hold elections, the agreement added: ''The SIC will ensure that due attention is paid to the representation in the Emergency Loya Jirga of a significant number of womenà'' Indeed, the end of the Taliban era, along with increased focus on women's participation that has long been absent, has given birth to new initiatives involving women's groups. For instance, 'Seerat' (Attitude) weekly magazine was recently launched from Kabul by three Afghan women. Its mission statement: ''We call on women to claim back their rights and to express themselves on an artistic level or by writing,'' said Mari, one of the editors.</HTML>