Afghan Women Hope Bonn Talks will Lead to Political Change at Last
Tuesday November 27, 2001

ISLAMABAD - When talks aimed at forming a post-Taliban government begin Tuesday there will be about 30 delegates at the table in Bonn. Three will be women, two in the delegation representing the exiled king and one from the Northern Alliance, which is now in control of much of the country.

In Afghanistan, most women are illiterate. The Taliban prohibited them from going to school. Women could not even leave their homes without a man as an escort.

But one women's group managed to defy the authorities and the odds and become an underground revolutionary movement. And it wants to see women play a role in any future government in Afghanistan.

The school principal is an Afghan refugee herself. She goes by the name of Abida. "There are a lot of camps here around us," she says. "This is the only school for girls learning the modern studies."

Abida works for RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. It was started in 1977 by Afghan intellectuals fighting for human rights for women and children, as well as wanting a larger role for Afghan women in social and political life. Its members have been killed, its leader assassinated, and its movement has been driven underground.

Abida says the refugee camp feels safe. "The security of camp is perfect, so we're comfortable here."

Once the girls leave class, the worn wooden desks and the beaten old blackboard are taken over by women who are finally learning to read and write.

Sharifah is in her 40s. She's thrilled to be a student. "If we can't read and write we are like blind people."

RAWA also runs an orphanage and handicraft classes in the camp. Any sewing and handiwork the women do is sold to foreigners. It's one of RAWA's only sources of income.

A woman who calls herself Shekaiba says RAWA is considered too political to get funding like other aid organizations. "Our main work," says Shekaiba, "is to change society. So any NGO (non-governmental organization) is not helping because they say that you are a political organization and we do not help political organizations."

RAWA has an impressive underground network and a savvy group of women who raise funds around the world. But it is unlikely it is ready to come out of hiding and turn itself into a political party.

Shekaiba says that might happen in the future, but only if the UN is involved and there is a peacekeeping force on the ground in Afghanistan. "We think in that case we will have a role in such (a) government. And our supporters throughout the world, like for example the U.S.A., are forcing (any future Afghan) government to accept RAWA as an organization that should have a role in that government."

It won't be easy, but a leading Pakistani activist says it's time. "It's really time for us as neighbours, sisters, Muslims to tell them that women should have a major portion in everything that is done now in Afghanistan. Unless they are sitting there in government, unless in high offices, they will not be able to do anything," says Nilofer Bakhtiar.

Bakhtiar runs the women's wing of the Pakistan Muslim League. She says RAWA may have a controversial reputation, but it's the only organization that is even close to being ready for a political role.

No one is expecting a largely illiterate, male-dominated country to suddenly welcome a revolutionary women's party. But RAWA's work on the ground over the past 25 years is paying off. Its popularity and influence is growing, one student at a time.

Written by CBC News Online staff