PAKTIKA, KHOST PROVINCES — Standing just over five and a half feet tall, Gulandama Dina, wears a black hijab, or traditional headscarf, though many find her words about the rights of women far from traditional.
When the Afghan congress convened for the first time in 30 years during 2005, 68 of the 269 reps in the lower house were women. This compares favorably to the 1964 Loya Jirga which established Afghanistan as a constitutional monarchy under Zahir Shah. Then, only 6 of 452 participants were female.
Six years after the passage of the new constitution, the GOA and partnering members of NATO’s ISAF are struggling to fulfill its promises. There are few places this struggle is more difficult than in the region comprising the Paktika, Paktia and Khost provinces. UNICEF rates all 3 among the bottom 10 of Afghanistan’s 32 provinces in terms of girls’ primary school education. Two of the 3 provs., Paktika and Khost, are also below the Afghan average for maternal health, though Paktya fares better in that regard.
Many people working closely with women’s affairs issues have said progress has been slow to take root. For instance, Army Lt. Col. Clayton Morgan, who is in charge of civil affairs for PRT, described the traditional Pashtu-dominated culture in the region, and Paktika in particular, as “repressive beyond anything you can imagine.” He cited the practice of giving young girls to older men for marriage in reparations to avert inter-tribal conflict.
However, others, such as Genevieve Libonati, a State Dept rep for Gardez PRT in Paktya prov., are beginning to see flickers of hope, especially in education. “There’s an ever increasing demand both from men and women… to learn more about their rights,” Libonati said. “That's been a surprise and a success.”
This demand has been growing ever since ISAF began implementing civics training courses in the summer of 2009. The courses, which are funded through the U.S. military’s Cmdr’s ERP, train village elders and tribal leaders in the basics of law, human rights, and the prevention of corruption. Those who complete the 6-day course are encouraged to spread the info to those in their villages who do not have direct access to civil education.
The civics training has been successful in Paktia prov., said Staff Sgt. Quitze Garcia, a civil affairs NCO who specializes in women’s affairs for the Paktia PRT. “Women have been calling the radio disc jokeys and asking for the civics training,” Garcia said. “Even more remarkable, men have been calling the DJs and asking where they can send their wives and daughters to training.”
In addition to the civics training, a number of construction projects in Paktya prov. are beginning to show promise. One of the more important of these is a women’s detention center in Gardez, which is in the 2nd phase of construction and should be completed by the middle of 2010. Seven female corrections officers have been trained for that facility.
The detention facility may not seem like great news for women, but under the Taliban, no women’s prisons existed because women were put to death for any infraction, Garcia said. “Whenever we do anything, whenever we implement anything, the girls are really excited about it,” Garcia said.
ISAF has distributed hundreds of thousands of hand crank radios to Afghans, hoping to boost education. They've also encouraged govt-friendly voices to broadcast their views.
Dina has long sought to establish a weekly show that would discuss women’s hygiene and rights issues. This wish may soon by realized. On Jan. 3, several ISAF troops showed her a new 300 watt “radio in a box” that has the power to broadcast to everyone in the eastern half of the prov. The broadcasting system is not far from the gov.’s compound where she often comes on official business, and the Afghan DJs there said they were happy to give her some time.
Khost province boasts a number of recent successes with regard to women’s affairs. A number of female journalists are broadcasting in Khost, though they need body guards much of the time. Khost City, the capital of the prov., has a girls’ school with a female teacher. Eighteen graduates of this school are expected to be the 1st female students at Khost University (also known as Shaik Zayed University) once living quarters can be built, said AF Capt. Angela Webb, a public affairs officer for Khost PRT.
Garcia said she believes that her service in Afghanistan is already changing the minds of Afghans. With her mixed Puerto Rican and Guatemalan ancestry, Garcia is the same complexion as the women here and locals take notice, she said. On a humanitarian aid mission, Afghan children pointed to her and shouted something in Pashtu, which the interpreter conveyed as “Woman soldier! Woman soldier!”
On a separate mission to a women's clinic, the Afghan women tried talking to her through pantomime. Garcia, who was suited up in her body armor, realized what they were saying was 'you’re strong!' “You’re strong, too,” she said. “You don’t even know how strong you are.”
