Conference on the restoration of women's and children's rights in Afghanistan
"By ousting the Taliban, women's rights will be restored and they will have the right to work and vote." - Afghan President, Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Tashkent, Nov 15,2001 IRNA -- A one-day conference on restoration of Afghan women's and children's rights and the role of governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was held here Thursday at Iran's embassy with the message of the Afghan president. At the conference which was attended by female Afghan personalities, women representing various international assemblies in Tashkent and a number of Iranian woman authorities, various aspects of the human disaster occurred in Afghanistan during the recent crisis were discussed with the aim of calling upon the international assemblies.

According to IRNA, President Burhanuddin Rabbani, hailing Taliban's defeat, underlined in his message: "By ousting the Taliban, women's rights will be restored and they will have the right to work and vote."

The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tashkent, Sharlot Altenhoner, addressing the conference referred to the nine-year performance of UNHCR office in Tashkent and said, "Fifty percent of the Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan are women, who are faced with the problem of survival and support of their children." Altenhoner added, "The significant commitment of UNHCR representative office here is to support the Afghan refugees specially women and children." She concluded his speech by appreciating the Islamic Republic of Iran for contributing to solve the existing problems in this respect.

The head of Muslim Women's Council representing the women of northern Afghanistan, Shafiqeh Yareqin, referred to Iran as the country hosting over two million Afghan refugees and said that all oppressed and intellectual women should contribute to diminish the dimensions of human disaster in Afghanistan. A number of women authorities including Aliyeh Qaradash, Golchehreh Matkarimova from Uzbekistan and a few others from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan presented their articles in this respect.

The secretary of the conference, Zahra Naraqian, noted that the conference was mainly aimed at delivering the message of the oppressed Afghan women and children to all international institutions, Islamic states and NGOs worldwide. Naraqian urged the officials and relief workers to consider the great significance of the necessity to provide the Afghan women and children with education, health and humanitarian relief aid. She also appreciated Uzbekistan Republic for its contribution to hold the conference and its supply of relief aid to 'Afghan immigrants', 'Islamic government' and 'the United Front of Afghanistan (Northern Alliance)'.

The conference was formerly slated for October 8, but it was postponed due to the recent critical situation in Afghanistan. In the statement issued here at the conclusion of the conference, the participants called for stopping any type of terrorism, killing of innocent civilians and the support of the global community for a broad-based government in Afghanistan.

The statement reads, "The share of Afghan women should be considered at any type of councils, groups, national and international conferences aimed at solving Afghanistan's crisis and deciding upon the structure of the future Afghanistan government."

Also the statement referred to the need for the direct support of Afghan women and children outside Afghanistan and extending health and education to them by the UNHCR representative offices as well as the dispatch of a delegation to Tehran to be briefed on the expertise of Iran's NGOs in women's affairs