The Bush Administration's fundamental view that a “shock and awe” invasion of Afghanistan would somehow compel the Taliban into compliance has failed. Instead the soft power of grass root initiatives are slowly taking shape. It is hard to believe that any progress for gender equality could be made in Afghanistan.
An article in today's International Herald Tribune caught my attention. It speaks of the often ignored and neglected power of women to bring about change. Women who dedicate their lives in the face of all adversaries and somehow through perseverance and sheer determination manage to make lives bearable in the most extreme conditions.
Baiman is a unique region in Afghanistan where women can at the very least drive and work. For the past few years the resurgence of the Taliban and the failure of President Hamid Karzai's government has been a scourge for women. Eighty percent of Afghan women are illiterate and have a lower life expectancy than men. But three years ago Karzai appointed Baiman a progressive female governor.
Her name is Habiba Sarabi and she ran clandestine education schools for girls when the Taliban dominated the area. Local initiatives and development programs run by women in these territories are making positive changes. The steps are small but fundamental. Women are enrolled in non-governmental education programs. Sarabi says one of the pivotal moments came when men finally accepted the role of women.
Hopefully these changes are permanent and will spread to other areas of Afghanistan. I also hope it's true. The reports I’ve read coming out of Afghanistan are depressing. Ultra-conservative judges with religious fundamentalist views are apparently taking over Afghanistan's judiciary system. If this is indeed the case then movements like Sarabi's will have to deal with yet another hurdle.
