Think democracy?
An
Afghan women’s rights campaigner has flown 4,500 miles from her home in
Kabul to protest at the lack of female delegates at the Nato summit in
Wales.
Samira
Hamidi held a ‘Talk to me – not about me’ sign outside Celtic Manor to
draw attention to the fact that despite Nato commitments to discuss the
potential plight of women when allied troops move out of Afghanistan,
there is not a single female representative in either the British or
Afghan delegations at the discussion.
How can we be expected to be taken seriously at home when we are being sidelined in the very places where we should be championed?
- Samira Hamidi, AWN
Hamidi’s protest, representing the Afghan Women’s Network and a coalition of NGOs involving Amnesty International and Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS)
called ‘No Women, No Peace’, also serves to highlight the fact that of
all the international peace agreements signed in the last 30 years, just
one in 40 of the signatories have been women.
Speaking to i100 , Champa Patel, the Head of Campaigns and Individuals at Risk for Amnesty International , expressed fear that women could be at risk when allied forces eventually withdraw from Afghanistan later this year.
There is a risk that without a well thought out transition in the country, a vacuum could be created that would allow the resurgence of the Taliban or another similar Islamist group.We need to learn from history, from modern history. Just look at other areas of the Middle East at the moment.This protest was to make the point that women need to be meaningfully included in this discussion. A discussion is taking place yet 50% of people are not represented in that discussion.
- Champa Patel, Amnesty International
Remind you of anything?
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