[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 17, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10789-S10790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SITUATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN AFGHANISTAN

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I would like to take a brief moment to draw 
my colleagues' attention to the horrific situation facing women and 
children in Afghanistan. As we heard at a Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee

[[Page S10790]]

hearing last week on the Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan, 
Afghanistan is a country that has been in crisis for years. Indeed, 
there was concern even as far back as 1997, when I sponsored a 
resolution that passed the Senate, but was not acted upon in the House, 
that condemned the Taliban for its treatment of women and children and 
urged the President to be vigilant in monitoring this situation.
  When a country faces such hardships as severe drought, military 
action, and oppresive leadership, women and children are always the 
first to suffer. Save the Children, the international relief 
organization headquartered in my home State of Connecticut, has been 
working to improve conditions in Afghanistan for years, and has 
identified several important ways in which we can help Afghanistan 
rebuild. I have said before that we need to increase mutual 
understanding between the Afghan and American people, and a recent Save 
the Children op-ed seems to agree. Nilgun Ogun, the deputy director of 
Save the Children Programs in Afghanistan and Pakistan, writes that the 
education of young girls is key to reducing anti-American sentiment in 
the region, and I tend to agree. As we struggle to determine the best 
way to help the Afghan people rebuild, we should be mindful of the 
important contributions of organizations such as Save the Children, and 
we should listen to their experienced voices. I urge my colleagues to 
read the following article, and to begin to think about the important 
task of rebuilding civil society in war-ravaged Afghanistan. I ask 
unanimous consent that the Op-ed from Save the Children be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Hartford Courant, Oct. 14, 2001]

                 To Save Afghanistan, Educate the Girls

                            (By Nilgun Ogun)

       I have recently returned from a four-year post as deputy 
     director in Pakistan and Afghanistan for Save the Children, 
     which has been working in the area for almost 20 years. Where 
     some people see devastation and despair, I see hope. I see it 
     in the children who, if given education and health care, may 
     restore economic and social stability to the Afghan people.
       It will not be easy. Afghanistan is one of the world's 
     poorest countries, ranking 169th out of 175 countries on a 
     list of socioeconomic indicators reported by the United 
     Nations.
       Here are some grim facts: One out of every four children 
     doesn't live past the age 5; more than 40 percent of children 
     die of preventable causes; school enrollment is desperately 
     low; and in addition to being at war for the past two 
     decades, the country is suffering through one of the worst 
     droughts in memory.
       The Bush administration is to be commended for allocating 
     emergency funding and humanitarian assistance to the 
     beleaguered citizens of Afghanistan, who are in need of 
     immediate and substantial food aid and medical supplies. 
     However, the real hope for the Afghan people lies with 
     investment in long-term development to help them rebuild 
     their society.
       Nowhere is this investment more critical than in education 
     and, in particular, the education of young Afghan girls and 
     women.
       Why is educating girls so important? It produces the most 
     consistent and dramatic results. An educated girl is more 
     likely to postpone marriage and childbirth, which in turn 
     leads to improved child survival and well-being. She will 
     provide better health care and nutrition for herself and her 
     family. And she will encourage education for her children. 
     Educated women are also better prepared to help financially 
     support their families.
       In 1995, when Save the Children first began its education 
     program at the refugee camps in Balochistan near the Afghan 
     border, the population was approximately 120,000, mostly 
     women and children. Only 5,000 children were enrolled in any 
     kind of schooling and, of these, barely 600 were girls.
       Nevertheless, in cooperation with U.N. agencies and other 
     non-governmental organizations, we managed to train a staff 
     of teachers and establish several primary schools. Enrollment 
     is up now by 400 percent, and includes nearly 8,000 girls.
       To reach older girls who had not yet received any education 
     and who, by tradition, are not permitted to travel any 
     distance alone, Save the Children initiated home-based 
     schools. There, in the homes of the children's parents or 
     teachers--which are nothing more than mud huts--we teach 
     older girls how to read and do math and how to improve health 
     and nutrition practices.
       These children, who barely have a roof over their heads and 
     still wonder daily where their next meal will come from, now 
     have hope for the future. They want to be doctors, teachers 
     and engineers. They have role models of caring community 
     leaders. They have the incentive and the ability to take care 
     of their health needs, which will ensure that their children 
     have a better chance for survival and healthy, productive 
     lives.
       Although these days are filled with anxiety, it is 
     important to remain focused on the future and how we can work 
     to make it more peaceful and secure. Now, more than ever, is 
     the time for the government and private citizens to increase 
     their investment in long-term development, including 
     education programs, to help rebuild a stable society in 
     Afghanistan, as well as throughout the developing world.

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