For women in Afghanistan there is much to be thankful for since the fall of the Taliban. But, five years later there is still much to be done and the challenges are not getting any easier. Afghanistan’s Minister for Women’s Affairs, Hussn Banu Ghazanfar, describes these challenges and the programs she is working on to strengthen her ministry in an article by Alisa Tang in the Washington Post.
During an interview with The Associated Press Minister Ghazanfar stated, “We’ve had three decades of war in Afghanistan, which have had very bad consequences for women. It takes time to solve these problems.”
She explains that the most pressing issues facing Afghan women are violence and their low levels of education, especially for women in rural areas.
“The elimination of violence against women does not work if we just conduct seminars and workshops. If we create specific laws to protect women from violence, women will have more confidence,” continues Ghazanfar.