Dallas, TX – Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) Director Michelle Bekkering and Barb Broomell, Deputy Director of Middle East and North Africa programs at the International Republican Institute (IRI) attended the conference Building Afghanistan’s Future: Promoting Women’s Freedom and Advancing Their Economic Opportunity hosted by the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas. 

The conference, hosted by the Bush Institute in partnership with the U.S. – Afghan Women’s Council, brought together business leaders, entrepreneurs and policymakers including Afghan President Hamid Karzai; Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and Co-Chair of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council Melanne Verveer; Director General of Human Rights and International Women’s Affairs in the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Asila Wardak Jamal; and President of the World Bank Group Ambassador Robert Zoellick. 

Former President George W. Bush and Former First Lady Laura Bush, who leads the Bush Institute’s efforts to promote women’s rights in the Middle East, reiterated their commitment to support democratic development and the rights of women in Afghanistan.  President Bushopened the conference by stating he “Strongly believes women will lead the freedom movement around the world in those societies where there is conflict.” 

These remarks provided an introduction to the opening panel entitled Promoting Women’s Freedom.  This panel, moderated by the Executive Director of the Bush Institute, James K. Glassman, advocated for the protection of women’s rights in Afghanistan during the Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process.  The following day, President Karzai addressed conference participants and responded to the concerns highlighted in the panel, stating, “The gains made by Afghan women will be maintained.”

Panels on the second day of the conference focused on women’s economic empowerment as an avenue to empower women in all spheres of life.  According to former First Lady LauraBush, “When a woman makes money, 90 percent will be invested back directly into her family and community.” 

Her opening remarks were followed by a series of panels focusing on advancing women’s economic opportunities in Afghanistan through fostering women entrepreneurs and U.S. corporate investments and policy initiatives.  Both panels included business entrepreneurs who reference studies evidencing that when women are included in the economy, countries are more stable and prosperous.  According to Dr. Terry Neese, founder of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, “When you educate a woman, you ultimately educate her family, her village and her nation.”

A highlight of the conference was hearing from Afghan women who were small business owners including: Fatema Akbari, owner of the Gulistan Sadaqat Company, featuring wooden toys and accessories; Shahla Akbari, owner of the Afghan Women Initiative Shoe Manufacturing Company, featuring handmade shoes; and Mina Sherzoy, founder of the Afghanistan World Wide Shopping Online Mall featuring jewelry, silk scarves and accessories.

Both WDN and IRI are working closely with women in Afghanistan; most recently co-conducting a democratic governance training for newly-elected female parliamentarians.  WDN and IRI also held a strategy session with the Board of Directors for the Movement of Afghan Sisters (MAS), a civil society organization of politically-independent women dedicated to advancing women’s rights in Afghanistan through democratic processes.  MAS has a membership of 30,000 women in 30 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. 

Through programs such as WDN and the Arab Women’s Leadership Institute, IRI is partnering with the Bush Institute on women’s initiatives in the Middle East.