January 31, 2002
 

medica mondiale relief organisation criticizes lacking support for Afghan Minister of Women's Affairs Sima Samar

Cologne/Germany. The strengthening of Afghan women and the adherence to women's rights are indispensable to a successful reconstruction process in Afghanistan. This has also been emphasized by representatives of all governments and written down in the concluding texts of several conferences on Afghanistan. An important step in this direction was the establishing of a Ministry of Women's Affairs.

But reality looks different: The Ministry of Women's Affairs only recently set up is simply not able to perform its duties. They lack everything required to even start working: funding, rooms, staff and technical equipment like personal computers and means of communication. Not to mention political support - on the contrary: We know from reliable sources that the work of the Minister of Women's Affairs has rather been made more difficult than it has been supported.

Dr Monika Hauser, Director and founder of medica mondiale, asks: "How shall a Minister improve the situation of Afghan women if she hasn't even got a telephone at work?"

The Minister of Women's Affairs has only got 6 months time to set up functioning structures. Therefore medica mondiale urges the Federal Government of Germany and all international financial supporters to keep their promises and to ensure that the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs can start doing its work immediately and in a adequate way.

medica mondiale will present projects for women in Afghanistan and discuss their current situation on Friday, 1 February at 8.00 pm at the Chocolate Museum in Cologne. The event has been organised by "malalai - Women for Women in Afghanistan".

medica mondiale's Executive Director Anna Biermann will meet the Minister of Women's Affairs Sima Samar in Kabul. Upon her return to the office she will be available for interviews. On Wednesday, 13. February 2002, Anna Biermann can be contacted by mobile phone +49/171/8978982 (from 12.00 hrs onwards), on Thursday, 14. February 2002, (from 14.00 hrs onwards) she can be contacted in the office, phone +49/221/931898-0.

For further details or requests for interviews please contact
Beate Ziegler, Tel: +49/221/931898-29.

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