4 AUGUST 2013 | BADGHIS, AFGHANISTAN

 

Bibi Gol emerged from the two-day workshop in Baghdis, northwestern Afghanistan, a changed woman. “Before, I did not know about women’s right to education or my right to participate in elections,” she explained, describing the subjects discussed at the workshop on women’s rights in Islam.

 

“In future, I will actively support sending my daughters to school and I will also try to exercise my right to vote.”

 

This was exactly the promise the workshop organizer wanted to hear. When the Movement of Afghan Sisters Association lobbied the governor of Baghdis for support, he dipped into funding provided by USAID for such initiatives.

 

Monasa Jan, the province’s Director of Women’s Affairs, says such workshops can have a dramatic impact on the lives of rural women. “Often, it will be the first time that many of the participants, who come from villages where their rights are not upheld, will have had the opportunity to learn about and discuss their rights based on the teaching of Islam,” she points out.