AFGHANISTAN: First Photo Exhibition of Female Photographers
|
Thursday's exhibition was the first of its kind in Afghanistan |
KABUL, 29 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - In a further bid to boost the
capacity of women, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women Affairs (MOWA) for the first
time on Thursday inaugurated a photographic exhibition of 40 newly trained
female photographers in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Funded by the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the 10-day course in photography and small
businesses development was implemented by the Pamir Training Centre and
Rehabilitation Organisation (PTCRO), a local NGO, in four provinces; Badakhshan,
Balkh, Bamyan and Logar.
“This is the first photo exhibition of female
photographers in the history of the country,” Noria Banwal, director of Women’s
Economic Empowerment at the women’s ministry, maintained, calling on the
international community to boost cooperation with impoverished women in the
post-conflict country.
“Around 2.5 million widows and impoverished women
who do not have breadwinners for their families are in dire need of economical
assistance,” Banwal noted, adding they were planning to extend the programme to
other parts of the country.
During nearly three decades of civil war in
Afghanistan women were hit hardest. In Kabul alone, 30,000 were widowed and
became the only earning members of their families. Women were also killed, raped
and abused by various warlord-led militias.
“These programmes give
skills and sustainable income, increase the self-esteem of women and
automatically raise their status in Afghan society,“ Paul Greening, project and
staff development officer for UNFPA, said.
In theory, Afghanistan’s
constitution guarantees women political and economic rights, eradicating the
legacy of Taliban rule, which reduced their status virtually to that of
non-persons. But implementing those guarantees has proven difficult four years
after the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
“These courses
are creating women role models that demonstrate what Afghan women can do if
given the opportunity,” Greening asserted, adding educated women with skills
were essential for the development of the country.
In the northeastern
province of Badakhshan alone, two trained female photographers have earned
around US $200 through the skills they have gained since early December,
according to officials at the women’s ministry.
According to a survey
conducted by a local rights body, Rabia Balkhi Advocacy and Skill Building
Agency (RASA) in early December, in three northern provinces: Balkh; Kunduz; and
Jawzjan, thousands of women and girls toil in appalling conditions to make
Afghan carpets for export while being treated as unpaid slaves and suffering
from routine exhaustion, long hours and health problems.
Today
Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Some
70 pregnant women die every day, often during childbirth. About 20 percent of
Afghan children die before the age of five, according to the United Nation’s
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Afghanistan office.
_________________________________________________________________________________