U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the U.S.-Afghanistan Bilateral Commission with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on October 2, 2012. A text transcript can be found at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/10/198601.htm.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in New York, New York on September 24, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
September 24, 2012

The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) announced a five-year, $7.2 million grant to Stanford Law School to expand an innovative legal education program in Afghanistan on September 24. The Afghanistan Legal Education Project (ALEP) will build on its existing partnership American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) to develop a full, five-year integrated Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degree program at AUAF’s campus in Kabul, Afghanistan. This new degree program trains Afghan students to become professional lawyers who can provide much-needed legal representation services, help enforce Afghanistan’s constitution, help stabilize the country through rule of law, and become legal educators to teach Afghanistan’s next generation of lawyers.

The new degree-granting program is the latest in a series of efforts by Stanford Law School faculty and students to enhance legal education in Afghanistan. They launched ALEP in 2007 as a project to develop legal textbooks for AUAF. In 2010, INL partnered with Stanford to support the project. Most recently, Stanford and AUAF developed a certificate in Legal Studies, available as a supplemental credential to AUAF graduates who complete seven law courses. The first certificates were awarded last spring and the program is popular with students. This semester, ALEP classes have more than 260 students registered, and approximately 20 percent are female.

The new bachelor degree program will build on this existing certificate program. ALEP will continue to use and develop textbooks written by Stanford Law students and rigorously vetted by Stanford faculty, AUAF law faculty, and senior judges, officials, and lawyers in Afghanistan. The curriculum will emphasize practical skills, professional responsibility, and substantive instruction in criminal, commercial, comparative, Islamic, and international law. A number of courses will be practice-oriented and geared to experiential learning.

Law is an undergraduate discipline in Afghanistan; students will first enroll in two years of AUAF’s general liberal arts education, followed by three years of legal studies instruction. The first class of this new law degree-granting program will graduate in 2015.

About the Author: Melanne Verveer serves as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.

During my first trip to Afghanistan as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, I was struck by something one woman said to me during a meeting with a group of female civil society actors in Kabul. She said, “Stop looking at us as victims, but rather as the leaders that we are.”

That thought always comes to mind when I meet other Afghan women — as I often do — who have defied the odds, made sacrifices, and have emerged as leaders, activists and advocates in so many areas, working to advance not just the rights of women and girls, but the future of their country. This week, I once again had the privilege of speaking with a group of dynamic and dedicated Afghan women, this time from Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, via a video teleconference arranged by U.S. diplomats and military, including members of the U.S. Army’s Female Engagement Teams, serving… more »

About the Author: Anna Mussman serves as a Public Diplomacy Officer with Task Force Mountain Warrior in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

It is no secret that when women and girls have the opportunity to pursue an education, they directly improve their communities and help entire societies grow. And sometimes, the goodwill and dedication of individual Americans, connected virtually through sites like Facebook, help girls in a rural district of Afghanistan realize their dreams of education and a better future.

As DipNote reported a few months ago, U.S. Embassy Kabul supports the “Teen Teach” program, where Afghan teenagers are trained and then have the chance to teach in classrooms of younger students.

In Chaparhar, a city in Nangarhar district, about 23 kilometers south of Jalalabad close to the eastern border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Shulani School participated in the “Teen Teach”… more »

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake, Jr. Delivers Remarks at a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) discussion on “The Role of Central Asia in Afghanistan” on July 12, 2012. [Go to http://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]

About the Author: Major General Walter D. “Waldo” Givhan, United States Air Force, currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Plans, Programs and Operations in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

I recently had the privilege of visiting James Madison University to attend the closing ceremony for the 2012 Senior Managers’ Course in Explosive Remnants of War and Mine Action, where I met a select group of individuals serving on the front lines of humanitarian crises and post-conflict environments around the world.

This year, the 17 participants represented 13 different countries, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uganda, and Vietnam. These “Senior Managers” are each leaders in their respective national mine action and ERW programs. This diversity the students bring in terms of background and experience is one of the main reasons… more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton participates in a meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul, left, and Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, right, on the sidelines of the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo, Japan, on July 8, 2012. [State Department photo by William Ng/ Public Domain]

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the July 8 Conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo, Japan, where she reaffirmed our enduring commitment to the Afghan people, met with Afghan civil society leaders, and joined the international community in supporting Afghanistan’s development needs. 

Building on the decisions made in Bonn and Chicago, as well as the U.S.-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement, the United… more »

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On July 7, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, where she met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. During remarks with President Karzai, Secretary Clinton said:

“It’s wonderful being back in Afghanistan and to hear the birds, who are singing about the beautiful day here in Kabul. And I thank you so much for hosting me today and for your leadership and your vision for the future of your country and your people. It is certainly worth thinking for a moment about all of the positive changes that have…more »