Afghanistan

"Hope is dying in Afghanistan."

Girls' education in Afghanistan, one of the biggest gains for women since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban, is at risk because of insecurity, lack of funds and equipment and poor teacher-training, aid groups said on Thursday.

Women's education was banned under the government of the hardline Islamist group, now leading a growing insurgency, with only an estimated 5,000 girls in school.

After decades of conflict in Afghanistan, there are almost two million widows leading secluded, poverty-stricken lives. But now all-female army units are going into remote villages in an effort to integrate these women into wider society.

In a small village on the edge of the Bolan desert, near Laskhar Gah, a group of women sit huddled together on a sunny terrace. Some are girls, barely out of their teens.

After several months of controversy and delays in the certification of election results, 249 members have now taken their seats in Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga or lower house of parliament. Among them are Farida Hamidi and Frishta Amini, two women who make up the entire delegation from Nimroz province in the far southwest corner of the country.

Sitting cross-legged on blue velour cushions on the living room floor, the women of the self-help brigade sip green tea, nibble on sugar cookies and report the week's news from the neighbourhood.

Afghan women's leaders announced at a press conference this morning in Kabul that they will fight the proposed regulation and any attempt of the government to take over battered women and girls shelters, currently run by non-profit women's organizations.

This morning, leading women's rights activists reiterated their position that the Afghan government's impending takeover of women's shelters will be a human rights disaster and stressed the need for international solidarity and diplomatic support for their cause. UN Dispatch was there.

The activists' main points:

Human rights has been a hot topic in Afghanistan since the Taliban's near-medieval treatment of Afghan girls and women became known. Now that Afghanistan is working toward a more modern society and government, the rights of the nation's female population are moving front and center for those in charge of NATO Training Mission Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan.

Two years ago, a small team of female Marines -- drivers, engineers, cooks and other specialists -- began conducting "female engagement" initiatives with women in southern Afghanistan.