By Isobel Coleman and Gayle Tzemach Lemmon As we head into the key Bonn Conference on December 5, which will discuss the future of Afghanistan, Ms. has published in its new issue a report on progress being made for Afghan women in reducing maternal mortality and improving women’s health. It shows that when resources are [...]
I first traveled to Afghanistan in December 2005 to report on a new phenomenon: A young generation of Afghan women entrepreneurs who had emerged in the years following the Taliban’s fall. Many people told me these women did not exist. Women worked in microfinance, they told me, not small business. And at first I grew [...]
Women’s shelters in Afghanistan, long under fire from conservatives in the country, now face their toughest battle yet for survival. A government proposal now being considered would bar non-governmental organizations from running private safe houses and bring the 14 women’s shelters opened over the last decade under the direct control and supervision of the Ministry [...]
Less than a year before President Obama’s stated date for the beginning of military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the blizzard of bad news confronting the country’s women feels endless and unstoppable. But there is another, far less reported reality worthy of attention: Against a daunting constellation of obstacles and dangers, Afghan women are making progress, often [...]
