NYCLA Forum to Examine U.S. Efforts Toward Equality for Afghani Women on April 19

 

NYCLA Forum to Examine U.S. Efforts Toward Equality for Afghani Women on April 19

 

April 8, 2010 – New York, NY – The New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) will host a free public forum, “A Local and International Perspective on Afghanistan – U.S. Efforts Toward Equality for Afghani Women,” on Monday, April 19 at 6:00 PM at the NYCLA Home of Law, 14 Vesey Street. Panelists will examine how the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan has improved the socio-economic position of Afghan women.

 

Forum speakers are: Tamara Klajn, governance and communications advisor, U.S. Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and former member, U.S. General Stanley McChrystal’s Strategic Advisory Group in Kabul, Afghanistan; Andeisha Farid, founder and executive director, Afghan Child Education and Care Organization and 2010 recipient of the Global Leadership Award in Entrepreneurial Achievement from Vital Voices Global Partnership, a leading international NGO dedicated to supporting emerging women leaders; and Sunita Viswanath, co-founder, Women for Afghan Women and editor, Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future.

 

The brutal oppression of women and girls under the Taliban regime was cited as one of the justifications for the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 and the promotion of women’s rights was integral to the overall U.S. strategy and key programs. Since 2001, 91 women have been elected to the Afghani Parliament. What has been accomplished and what remains to be done?

 

Panelists will also discuss the experience of Afghan women living in the U.S. in terms of their exposure to gender- based violence, access to education and/or vocational training and inclusion in the political process.

 

The forum is co-sponsored by NYCLA’s Women’s Rights and Foreign & International Law Committees and Justice Center.

 

The New York County Lawyers’ Association (www.nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual identity. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

 

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