Meeting of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council; Kabul, Afghanistan, January 8, 2003

U.S.-Afghan Women's Council meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan, January 8, 2003. Center Group: Co-Chairs of the Council from left: Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah, Afghan Minister of Women's Affairs Sarabi and Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky. Also attending the head table at far left, Counselor to President Bush Karen Hughes, and far right, Ambassador to Afghanistan Robert Finn. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of State.

Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula J. Dobriansky led a delegation of high-level U.S. government officials and private sector representatives to Kabul on January 8 and 9 where she convened the second meeting of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, the first to be held in Afghanistan. The delegation focused on projects to assist Afghan women in areas such as women’s development centers, literacy, political participation, job skills training and small business development. Members of the delegation met with representatives of international and Afghan non-governmental organizations and made a number of site visits. During the visit, Under Secretary Dobriansky announced that the United States Government (USAID) would contriburte $2.5 million in support of the creation of Women Resource Centers in 14 provinces in Afghanistan, and that the Council would issue $1 million in grants to support educational programs at these Centers.

The Under Secretary also met with Afghan officials to discuss trafficking in persons, counternarcotics activities, police and justice reform, and the needs of displaced persons and refugees. She also consulted with officials of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and discussed U.S. assistance in efforts to develop an Afghan Conservation Corps. In all her meetings she underscored the continued U.S. commitment to the government and people of Afghanistan.