Washington, DC, January 17, 2008

At the tenth meeting of the U.S. Afghan Women's Council (USAWC) at Georgetown University on January 17, 2008, First Lady Laura Bush, an honorary Council member, highlighted the progress Afghanistan had made since 2001, particularly in the areas of education, health care and road infrastructure.  She pointed out that almost 2 million girls were now in school.  Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky reviewed the history of the Council's establishment and looked forward to its upcoming move to Georgetown University.   Representing his government, Afghan Ambassador Said Jawad thanked the American side for its support for Afghan women and highlighted the progress women had made and the challenges remaining.  The Ambassador identified education as especially important to improving the lives of Afghans.  Follow-on Council discussion focused on four key areas identified by Afghan women as priorities: education, economic participation, access to health care and legal/judicial issues/ political participation.  The Council’s special children’s initiative, Ayenda, now a 501(c) (3) registered charity, was also discussed.  Council Members and guest speakers provided information on their initiatives to empower Afghan women and children and outlined the progress their efforts had made.