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Afghanistan: The Women Left Behind
September 13, 2023 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Centennial Series Strategic Issues Forum
The World Affairs Council is thrilled to launch its Centennial Series under the theme 100 Years of Global Issues – Looking Back and Look Forward – History Repeating Itself with this important strategic issues forum.
Event co-sponsored by World Affairs Council, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights
Event Details:
**Please click here for general registration.
**Teachers and students are FREE to attend. Please register by clicking here.
You are invited to a candid conversation with Belquis Ahmadi, Senior Program Officer with the U.S. Institute of Peace and a head nurse and administrator in Kabul during the Soviet withdrawal and through the rise of the Taliban. Since 2001, she has spent years on the ground in Afghanistan leading efforts by USAID, the Red Cross and other organizations to strengthen women’s rights, civil society, the rule of law and democracy, all to fill the information gap.
The 22nd Anniversary of 9/11 has passed. The US withdrawal of combat forces from Afghanistan in 2021, our nation’s longest war, took a massive toll in human lives and resources. Those events continue to have a lasting impact for the world and on foreign policy.
Come with us as we take a look at some of the struggles and successes of nations as they try to rebuild after devastating wars. Belquis will discuss the effects on people’s everyday lives, women and human rights issues, and what needs to be done inside Afghanistan to build a case against the Taliban. What is the outlook for Afghanistan, as the Taliban leadership makes decisions? What will happen to the gains made in education, women’s rights, healthcare and infrastructure? How do future foreign policy and relationships in the Middle East look? How does the struggle for democracy play out? In 1923 our predecessor organization had a debate about the Middle East and human rights between Palestine and Turkey. History will repeat itself as we discuss this topic again one hundred years later.
**Space is limited. Register early.**
Belquis Ahmadi, U.S. Institute of Peace Biography:
Belquis Ahmadi has over 20 years of experience working in Afghanistan on issues related to gender, human rights, civil society development, rule of law, governance and democracy. Ahmadi’s extensive experience includes senior management positions under large USAID programs in Afghanistan, evaluation of USAID gender and democracy and governance programming, and analysis and design of gender and human rights programming, and training and mentoring Afghan civil society and government candidates. She has also published extensively on democracy, governance and women’s rights in Afghanistan.
From November 2010 to March 2014, Ahmadi worked on the USAID-funded Regional Afghan Municipalities Program for Urban Populations Regional Command East (RAMP UP), implemented in 14 provinces. In this role, Ahmadi managed the technical work of the program to ensure high quality results and deliverables. In addition, she developed core skills training modules to integrate and mainstream gender in all aspects of governance, service delivery, and leadership to over 200 municipal officials in fourteen provinces.
From 2006 to 2009, Ahmadi served as senior human rights advisor in Afghanistan. In this role, she provided leadership and management oversight of resources, including budget, planning, and program monitoring; designed and implemented activities promoting women’s rights through the use of religious arguments, providing analysis of the Shiite Personal Status Law, as well as providing advice and guidance in drafting of the Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women; and oversaw the preparation of training materials for programs.
From 2000 to 2004, Ahmadi served as program coordinator for Global Rights Partners for Justice in Washington D.C., managing their Afghanistan program. From 1987 to 1999, Ahmadi worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross, CARE International, and the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) in Afghanistan. Ahmadi earned her LLM in International Human Rights Law from Georgetown University Law Center and her LLB of Law from Kabul University.
Photo featured above:
When Afghan women step out of their homes, everywhere they look they see a range of Taliban restrictions affecting all aspects of society and their lives — from education and employment to public services and access to justice. This interactive graphic depicts what they see through their burqas — the breadth of the Taliban’s gender apartheid — and serves as a portal to learning more about Taliban restrictions on women’s social and political life. Along with a description of the types of restrictions the Taliban have imposed, clicking on an “X” links to USIP’s documentation of the relevant decrees, orders and edicts issued by the Taliban since they took power in August 2021.
