First photo exhibition of female photographers

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.