 Good morning. My name is Nancy Lindborg. I'm the president and CEO here at the U.S. Institute of Peace And I'm delighted to welcome everybody here for an important discussion on how to protect women's rights in Afghanistan and to build a consensus for peace in a country that has experienced conflict for more than 40 years We're honored to be partnering today with the Embassy of Afghanistan Afghanistan to host First Lady Rulaqani who is last year in 2017. Thank you for joining us again First Lady, it's we're delighted to welcome you back and I'd like to add a special welcome to ambassador Roya Rahmani Who so ably represents her country? Here's the first woman ambassador from Afghanistan and Ambassador Rahmani Rahmani was also just included in the time 100 next list I Command all of you to take a look at that. It's a list of rising stars shaping the future of their fields congratulations It's also my pleasure to welcome Our U.S. Institute of Peace new country director who's visiting us from Afghanistan Isan Zia. He's here with us today on his first official visit to Washington Wonderful timing and he joins our truly remarkable team Here at USIP working on Afghanistan led by our vice president Andrew Wilder Who brings to this work not only many many years of experience, but a lot of heart so thank you to our whole USIP Afghanistan team and Welcome to everybody who's tuning in online. I encourage all of you to follow the conversation on Twitter At USIP with today's hashtag Afghan peace Today's discussion is very very close to our work and to our hearts here at US Institute of Peace As many of you know, we were founded 35 years ago by Congress as an independent nonpartisan National Institute Charged with the very vital mission of working with partners around the world to prevent and resolve violence conflict and we have worked with partners across Afghanistan For the past 17 years to build peace both from the top down and from the bottom up We've helped students take very concrete steps to build peace in their communities We support partners to improve access to justice and to convene community dialogues That foster grassroots commitment to building peace We have worked to support the Afghan peace process with the conviction that for peace to be sustainable It must be inclusive this past September. We hosted a workshop in Istanbul with senior Afghan women leaders Including some who had joined the first dialogue with the Taliban and Doha and I was able to meet many of these women in Kabul where I was just a few weeks ago and In my conversations with them as well as with many meetings during my visit with civil society Both provincial and national level government leaders civil society tribal leaders I heard more loudly than in any of my visits over the past two decades That across society Afghans stands are actively Calling for peace and working for peace One woman leader told me that she has never seen a broader political consensus on the need to end the war Or as a student from the American University of Afghanistan put it peace is what we are so thirsty for and Not only are they thirsty for it. They are actively working for it at every level of society From good governance reform to a groundswell of activism springing up at the grass roots And many of the women I met Made it clear that they don't just want to protect the gains that they've made over the last 18 years They want to expand them. I Can think of no one more qualified to lead this important conversation today than the first lady of Afghanistan Mrs. Ghani assumed the role of the first lady of Afghanistan just over five years ago But in that very short time She has already been a champion for women and all the people of Afghanistan as we saw in her in the video her office worked with women's organizations to survey 15,000 women about their views on peace a six month project that culminated in the grand Conference of Afghan women's national consensus on peace and if that weren't impressive enough she holds two master's degrees one in political science and the other in journalism and in 2015 Time magazine also recognized her as one of the 100 most influential people Around the world. So we're delighted that she could be here with us to share more about her ongoing work With the Afghan women's national consensus for peace and the important role that women in Afghanistan are playing to build peace after her keynote Remarks will have a moderated Q&A with audience questions And for those watching on the live stream, you're also welcome to tweet your Questions again at the hashtag Afghan peace to have your questions answered as well. So with that Please join me in welcoming the first lady of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan her excellency Rula Ghani Thank You Nancy for a lovely introduction. It's good to be back at us IP I've been here. Maybe this is my third time or my fourth time. I can't seem to remember but It is an institution that works for peace and Because of that, it is an institution that I respect tremendously Peace the right of people to live in peace all over the world is a very important right and I hope that together we'll be able to bring peace to Afghanistan also, I want to say that My visit to the States this time has two goals One is that in the media I Hear a lot of despondency that Afghanistan is not doing well. It's about to crumble This is very bad news for people Soldiers American soldiers and other soldiers who have given their lives who have maybe suffered handicaps Brain injuries PTSD It's as if you're telling them that their effort was for nothing and this is not true I'm here to say that Afghanistan is progressing. Oh, I'm sure there's a lot that still needs to be done but it is progressing in the right direction and eventually it will it will become a good place to live and Because of that, I want to tell everybody who has has sacrificed for Afghanistan that their effort was not in vain my second message is That the reason I can make this assertion that Afghanistan is on the right way is that there are more and more initiatives on the ground That are Afran led Afran owned in many different Sectors economic sector financial sector social sector Legal sector and yes in peace that are progressing in The right way and are making Afghans more and more capable of standing on their own two feet and This is how I consider this Experiment that we did this concept a series of consultation in 34 provinces The consultation with 15,000 women that was an Afran led Afran owned not one penny from anywhere our own shoestring budget and We managed to consult with 15,000 women and to bring together their opinions and I'm here to let you share With the news share the news and share with their opinions find out what they had said So I'll start with my quick speech In the name of God the merciful the compassionate members and affiliates of the US Institute for Peace Distinguished audience. I come to you in peace a salamu alaikum. I Would like to start by thanking you the US Institute for Peace to for providing me with a public venue To bear witness on the role of Afghan women in the peace process. I Cannot think of any other venue that could be more appropriate Peace for Afghanistan is a concept that has been brandished by well very many by many Well-meaning international actors ever since present Ghani announced in February 2008 2018 the willingness of the Afghan national unity government to enter in negotiations with the Taliban and Other insurgent groups Many of our foreign partners joined in the effort with a flurry of activities and initiatives A recurrent theme was and still is the necessity of our Afghan women to be part of the process Many discussions centered on whether women should sit at the negotiating table or whether they should sacrifice the recent achievements for the higher goal of achieving peace Personally in my daily interactions with my fellow Afghans. I often heard them yearning for peace and security I mentioned it in various speeches and in May 2017 My office organized a three-day symposium entitled off run women messengers of peace in Other words achieving peace has always been a concern of mine and my goal was to routinize social peace as a precursor to political peace Here I would like to say for those who want more details you can always visit my office website First lady one word Dot gov dot af In early August 2018, I was approached by a member of the high peace council To organize a two-hour conference for some 200 women at the conclusion of which you would declare a consensus of off run women on peace. I Disagree to the concept that 200 women hastily gathered for a couple of hours should issue a consensus But the idea of consulting off run women appealed to me a Few days later with a group of women members of high peace council civil society the Ministry of Women's Affair and the Ministry of Information and Culture We sat around the table and discussed how to go about consulting off run women about peace As a trial we first convened a gathering in Kabul We had no problem gathering almost 2,000 women from all corners of Kabul and from all walks of life And we successfully put the put to the test a framework for consultation a Short introduction Explaining the purpose of the gathering a 15-minute panel discussion on peace Followed by an open discussion on three questions What is peace for you? What are the obstacles for peace? How can we bring about peace? The open discussion went on for a couple of hours with some women standing up and stating their opinion others sending their written statements and Still others writing down their message and having it collected at the end of the session We did encourage Educated women to take dictation from their non-literate sisters because literacy is a problem in Afghanistan still Once the open discussion completed We were joined by some officials mostly men and a draft declaration Summing up the opinions expressed by the women participants was read and ratified by acclamation This was on August 15 2018 so more than a year ago We were so encouraged by the enthusiasm of the participants that the next day We decided to take our consultation framework to the 33 remaining provinces of Afghanistan We constituted ourselves into a steering committee We didn't consider ourselves like Managing directors. No just facilitator to prepare for a grassroot movement Over the next five to six months relying on our own resources We went to each of the provinces in group of seven to eight people We listened to what the women had to say and kept a careful record of their opinions They were eager to talk and in many instances They remarked that this was the first time anyone had asked for their opinion Their remarks were pertinent and revealed in depth and breadth. We were not expecting to find in far-flung areas So again, if you go to the website of my office, you'll find all the details under a phone woman for peace And you can download a PDF record of all the declaration and statement issued in each of the provinces So if you have details detailed question as to what the women said how it differed from one province to the other You should you'll have to do your own homework Once the provincial events completed the steering committee now counting 21 members That was the last picture in the video Set up to organize a national gathering of around 3,000 women Which took place on February 28 2019 in the loyge a hole in Kabul The seven minute video you watch at the beginning of today's talk is a quick summary of the four hour event Longer videos can be found at the office website again It is worth noting that the day before the final event was dedicated to finalize To finalizing the text of a national declaration is summing up of all the statements Collected at the conclusion of each provincial consultation The discussion involves 700 provincial delegates as well as 100 Kabul delegates They discussed article by article bringing amendments here and there and even adding one article They then opposed their signature on three white sheets that were then hung on the balcony of the loyge a hole the next day That's the official national declaration represents the consensus of the 15,000 women from all over Afghanistan that were consulted Consulted during that six months process in Dari. We refer to it as is my Mildi as you will Know all of you reestablishing peace in a post-conflict country is a long process And the Ishmari Mili is only one step among many on the road to peace Still it is an important step One the Consultation indicated that Afghan women no matter where they live are well aware of the need for peace There is a national consensus that we need peace. We've had enough of conflict and war The open discussion process encouraged them to speak up and to realize That they're not alone in Their opinions and that they can already reach an agreement among themselves It also helped them identify what role they can play in their own environment to facilitate conflict resolution and mediation to Haven't taken part in the Ishmari Mili some of the women have become more outspoken in discussing peace and in Identifying what may be their red lines Quite a few of them have taken part in TV round tables and have expressed their opinion with clarity and firmness Some of them even sat at the same time as the same table as Taliban spokesman Yes, we have freedom of speech in Afghanistan We have Taliban coming to the round tables in TV and Where they were able to engage them and rebut their misogynist statements three in the National Consultative Peace Lloyd Gerga that took place on April 29 2019 and that was a Gerga that was organized by the government and had elected Elected participants from all over the country Thirty percent of the participants were women of which one hundred had taken part in the Ishmari Mili The participants were distributed over 50 committees 13 of these committees elected women as their chairperson and 26 chose a woman as their secretary The head of the Lloyd Gerga had five deputies two of which were women five secret five Yeah, five deputies and then five secretaries were again two of which were women and The one spokesperson was a woman so women Have earned their space among of our society for The doha talks talks started in March 2019 and were shrouded in secrecy It is a well-known fact that Afghan women were among the most vociferous voices Demanding to be part of the talks Eventually Through German efforts a 60 member Afghan delegation nine of whom were women Met for two days with the doha Taliban team It was an opportunity for both sides to take the measure of each other One of the most revealing instances happened when a Talib member decided to quote a verse from the Koran He was immediately faced by several Afran Islamic Olimah quoting competing verses Two of these Olimah were women These few examples show that Afghan women have forged their pace their space in the national process for peace and At this point, I would like to listen to your comments and questions. Thank you. Sorry. I'm slow Thank you so much again for joining us and for bringing your Experiences and your observations to share with us particularly your opening observations I think those are heartening and important to hear and so I'd like to start really with with a Very basic question and that is you you've talked about and others have as well about the remarkable gains That we can't lose sight of The way that women have made these important gains over the past 18 years How how how do you characterize those gains where and how do you think women have made the most important gains? As you look at the landscape of Afghanistan Well, thank you for having me and I'm sorry my scarf keeps falling. This is the story of my life. Anyway Women are now visible in Afghanistan That maybe is the main the most important observation I can make and They are in all spaces They are in some government spaces, you know that we have quite a few Deputy ministers at one point we had 15 of them Out of 24 ministries We have women judges women prosecutors women Legal defenders we have of course lots of women that are teachers We have women doctors So basically We are progressing To a point where women will be fully engaged in society Of course, there is still a little bit of a difference between provinces and urban areas, but even there The difference is getting smaller People are moving a lot They are They're coming to the urban centers and people from urban centers are going to the rural areas and There are initiatives like the Ismaili that you saw that has gone to all the provinces and have Connected with these women and I think The most important thing is that women are gaining respect and I think that's very important and as I mentioned in my comments during my recent visit I was really struck by both This full-throated cry for peace demand for peace but also Request that we not talk about preserving the gains that women have made but rather We need to continue to advance the gains. So you've just identified a number of areas in which there have been important gains and progress What what's next? What do you what do you see as if we focus on advancing the gains? What does that look like? What our own women need is more professional training They now have the courage to be out in the public spheres They have the courage to speak up They need to be trained in specific skills So that they can earn the respect of other people around them because they are good at what they're doing Not just because they're women. I Think really we have reached the point where we need to put the emphasis on providing opportunities for women to refine their skills and it's from everything it encompasses the fact that we still have very many women that are illiterate and they need to learn how to read and write To the point that people some women who have MA's or even PhD's have no idea how to manage an office and so they need to learn the skills of you know, how to Conduct meetings how to call for a consensus how to Make reports things of the sort so that their influence is really very hard-hitting and and that They really get results So you've Given us a wonderful view of this Process you've been very involved with on the Afghan women's national consensus for peace all 34 provinces Participated and you just mentioned that you think the rural urban differences are narrowing but Are there did you see differences based on? the north and the south or the degree of Continued instability that is in some versus the other of the provinces. What was the variance of views that you heard during that process? There definitely were some differences from province to province but It was remarkable How the main goals were all the same? We need Peace there is one thing that they say one saying is that If we don't have peace you may be alive, but we don't have a life They want life. They want to be able to have a good life with their families Be able to provide their children with opportunities to grow to become somebody Also, they want to be in an environment that is a pleasant environment not an environment where every morning wonder Is there going to be a bomb on the road? While I'm going to work or to school it's It's just common sense. It's not Different, but we had some differences for example some of the provinces that are in the center like by Bamiyan and Daikondi when you ask them What is peace for you? For them it was more development more opportunities for development because they are relatively peaceful but in other areas where a lot of the families are Have their sons Involved either in the government army or with the Taliban They say we are tired of seeing the coffins come every day with our sons in them So the priorities are slightly different, but the overall idea that we want peace Everybody wants peace. Everybody wants to come out of this Situation that is really oppressive and to be able to live a normal life I want to build on that a little bit because we were talking earlier And you made the comment which really resonates with what I heard when I was there recently, which is People sometimes have something different in mind when they say they want peace You know, what does peace mean? Is it just the absence of conflict or is it something more? And do you think that this national dialogue this national consensus process? helped people arrive at a more common definition of peace and Is that shared more broadly across the Afghan population? I mean, this is really a core issue about what what do we mean when we think of peace So yes, indeed at first Even myself when I would say I want peace for me. It was the absence of war. Okay but fortunately and is my really was just one initiative that Encouraged discussion on peace we've had a lot of discussions in the past past few months almost a year Peace has become a topic that everybody discusses Every week one embassy or the other would have a Program about peace and women and what should we do? social Civil society and NGOs would have programs also conferences What is the role of women in peace? There would be if ever something happened that Annoyed the women they would gather and they would have big Discussions, what should we do? What kind of declaration should we write? This has been ongoing maybe now for I don't know 10 11 months and and It's unbelievable How refined the discussion has become because each time you dig a little deeper and you find out What does peace really mean to you? what is peace for you and What are the impediments to peace and what are the protectors of peace and one thing for that last Point what protects the rights of people to live in peace? I've run people women and man have slowly slowly started reading their Constitution and have found out that the Constitution is an official document that protects their rights That protects their access to education to health to legal services That protects the free economy. It was really very interested Interesting to see businessman and merchants Saying oh no, we have to hang on to this Constitution because it states that it's free It's a free market economy. We don't want to go back to planned economy. So The Afghans have realized that they have Something that protects them was before, you know, very few had read it I had skimmed through it. I had gone to certain articles. I knew were important But once you sit down and read it you find out you have that and they've become very protective of their Constitution so you'll often find people saying in shorthand a Red line is a Constitution and you think it's just an empty slogan But no it is the result of months of discussion Months of saying well, what happens if and what happened if this happens and that happens so it's really All these months of Uncertainty and not knowing how the peace process is going to evolve have allowed the Afghans to have a much better idea of what their demands are Which is encouraging very much so do you get a sense that in addition to the national Consensus that you've been working with for women. Is there something similar happening for the broader population? Should there be maybe I Think it was very clear for women that if they didn't have the Constitution to protect their rights There was no other Document or institution that will stand for them So very early on you have heard about women standing up talking even those who went to Moscow were very outspoken they give interviews on international Outlets like the BBC CNN and they say you know We wore it and we're not about to let go of what we have achieved and what we can still achieve further so Yes, women have been a little more More Here quick. Yeah more quick to react and more was first because they had they felt maybe that they had more to lose It's only gradually that the man came to realize that actually they had also things to lose by By saying okay, we can do with the Constitution we can have another Constitution So President Ghani recently released his seven-point peace plan How do you see this national consensus dialogue? fitting into that You're going to love but I don't follow exactly what my husband does because he's very very busy and I have to confess that I have not yet read the seven-point peace plan, okay? I'm sure it's great and I fully condone it but I Think peace is going to be a very long process Whoever thinks that peace is just around the corner is going to happen in one month If ever we have that kind of peace It will be just a piece of paper that in two three months will be discarded and we will be back fighting each other So it's not that I will not treat the peace the seven-point piece, but I don't sit on the negotiation. I don't know who's discussing what with whom and but basically I Meet people I talk with people and I discuss with them and I always felt the need to give them the Feeling that they themselves also can do peace They have don't have to wait for Negotiations to happen or not we can start in our families We can start in our villages in our neighborhoods. We can start by the way we educate our children We can start by our attitude towards early marriage you know early marriage is often the source of conflicts down the road because early marriage don't are not often successful and it creates rifts between two families to extended families and that drift can immediately Turn into something bigger and then you forget what the reason was and you're at war There are a lot of things that People have realized that they need to change their modus operandi how they interact with each other and That is I think that is the role of my office is to help people get out from the mentality of violence That four decades of war have ingrained in our society and come back to a more natural society where we have disagreement, but we have ways of Resolving this that disagreement in a more peaceful way You know, thank you for underscoring that because that's such an important part of really building a sustained peace And that's that bottom-up part that doesn't come from elite peace processes or diplomats Speaking at the table. I was really struck in my visit and conversations, particularly with students at their Coming to that realization that they had a role to play in their daily lives and I Think this is such an important point to underscore Can you say just a little more about why in the context of Afghanistan this? this is such an important piece of the longer-term peace puzzle of people taking responsibility in families communities To do things more peacefully In 2018 we my office organized a symposium on responsible citizenship And I discovered I love my job because I keep discovering things I keep learning new things And I discovered when you think about the history of Afghanistan Let's say from King Amanullah till today. We've had monarchs We've had a republic of a cousin of the king We've had a succession of party Dictatorship there were three four of them five. I don't know and then we've had the mujahideens that Didn't have a regime really, but we're kind of Autocratic and then we have the theocracy of the Taliban all these in all these regimes People were treated as subjects. That means the top decides and Whether you like it or not You have to agree you have to go by the rules that they have decided What is different now? since 2001, but especially since the constitution which was Adopted in 2004 what is different now is now we have a regime that affords every citizen every person every affront to be a citizen They have rights. They have obligations and It is a long process again there to learn What is what it means to be a citizen and this is why we were doing that symposium about responsible citizenship? But I think people have realized that this is the regime that allows them to speak up freedom of speech is a real reality in Afghanistan and it allows them the To voice their concerns to voice their beliefs We have Lots of discussion going on in social medias on TV programs There are all sorts of the ideas that are Going back and forth and all that But also they are also Realizing that they have a role to play they have Responsibilities and I think the young people are the ones that are grasping the most and I'm not surprised at a University student would tell you I really know now that I have to do my bit so that peace comes to Afghanistan and just one more question and then I'm going to go to the audience so Be ready and we'll have mic runners But you know this is the year of people power around the globe as we've seen I say you know from oh, yes cartoon to Venezuela, Algeria and we Have seen the people's peace movement those very courageous marchers who went from Helmand to Kabul and have met Yeah with Taliban in all their communities and said, you know, we really need To stop being violent with you and that was a movement that was started by women Yes, it was a woman who had lost all her Sons for sons in one event. It was a sport event where the Taliban had put a bomb and she lost She lost her her children and she said She was adamant. She was going to go and throw her chudder at the Taliban, which is a Kind of sign of defiance and asking them to apologize They refused so she set up a tent in the middle I think it was Kandahar or Lashkar guy. I don't remember. It's Kandahar Lashkar guy. I don't know. Anyway, it was one of these Traditional provinces she set up a tent. She was soon Visited by a lot of women but also a lot of men and eventually they decided a walk to Kabul and They're not many women took part in the walk because for obvious reasons they have Families and children to tend to and they cannot take off for a hundred-day journey and Also, it's it's not an easy. It's not an easy trek But it is it was a woman started and I understand it's continuing It's taking root in other of the provinces. It's it's a people's movement. It's a people's movement Let me go to the audience and let's start with this woman right here with the yellow and then Uh We'll go right here Yeah, please go ahead and please identify yourself. Good morning. My name is Najiba. Salam. I'm with voice of america afghan service Miss ghani, thank you so much for taking my question and I do appreciate what you're doing for the afghan women women of your country My question is regarding peace talks of course peace talks between Taliban and afghan government if it happens As you know that women of afghanistan are concerned They want to be to have an active role in the peace talks Uh, they want their voices to be heard. They want to raise their concern And if the peace comes they want to know to what cost would they lose their rights? Would they lose their accomplishments? So, uh, the delegation the question is the delegation that is chosen To talk to them if it happens again Are you aware of it as a first lady that whether there are women there that they can have Actual role active role not a symbolic role Are you concerned? Do you share their concern? Are you aware that? There are there first are there women in that delegation if they are how? Um Satisfied are you with them? So, thank you. We'll take a few questions to get a couple out here. So over here Good morning, mrs. Ghani. Thank you so much for for being with us today My name is madison scochilla and i'm a graduate student at the national defense university here in dc I also spent last year in afghanistan And so I just marked my one year return home last week And so i'm actually writing my master's thesis on the role of women in peace building And so i've been doing a lot of my studies in In afghanistan. I was a logistics advisor. So I actually worked with supplying the the women's police forces with Everything when I was there So so my question for you is um in my studies. I've been reading a lot about the I was going to try to say it to you and darry, but i'm a little nervous in front of all of these people so The revolutionary association of the women in afghanistan and i've been doing a lot of reading Cheryl bernard wrote a really interesting book about them and i'm very curious as if the This peace initiative that's women led and and women organizes grassroots movement is incorporating any of the the organizations that the feminist Organizations that were functioning kind of during the taliban. So just curious to hear about your thoughts on that Thank you, ma'am We'll take one more right here in the aisle Welcome to dc. My name is fatima and i'm a graduate student part-time at mighty mount and as well I work for the government at fdac um I raised in afghanistan and during the war I went to iran. So I have like mixed Culture in me. So while I was raised you were talking about peace. What is peace mean to you? I just want to say peace mean to me As an afghan woman To remain silent don't say anything don't raise your voice if Something happened to you just forget and forgive because that's peace as an afghan woman I raised with this mentality So what is the most? a specific program a peace program for to change this culture in afghanistan which is wrong and People a mother a mother tell the child a daughter that remains silent You were raised you wouldn't rape by your father, but remain silent. That's peace for you And a son was raped by a man on Outside it's a peace to just remain silent. So how you change the culture? in as well like at the mosque Mullah the leader of the religious leader says you a man allowed to have five or four woman marriage It's a it's a transferring of disease. What is the program to change this culture to change Wrong interpretation of religion to people. Thank you I might start by answering this last question Is that it sounds to me like A visit to afghanistan For you In the near future is very important so that you can see for yourself how much it has changed It's a change of mentality And maybe it is more present among the young people people of your generation but um, I think uh, um And there might be still some families that are still going by the By the norms that you have mentioned But it's becoming challenge day after day and it's no I mean the process of doing without these Habits that are not a human Has already started and is underway. So I hope eventually we will not have these things anymore um For voice of america Your question was about, uh, the role of women in peace Basically, and whether the women are going to lose their rights or not Is that what was your question? Yeah As I said in my, uh, my, uh presentation Women have woken up And women are no longer afraid to speak up and I think that They have reached a point where nobody can now disregard Their importance and their presence Whether or not they are at the Table my understanding again, I'm telling you I don't really know exactly what the government is doing but now we have a ministry for peace and um I was asked to uh, if ever I knew of women that were good for negotiation So they are looking for women who would be good at interacting Uh with the other party and be able to uh Talk in the name of all the women And uh One of the reasons of the ishmael melee was to get a document That had been discussed throughout Afghanistan by the women of Afghanistan and to see What those women have said Because whoever you are you are sitting at the negotiated table and you have that document You are bound by that document To follow The prescriptions of that document so So Nothing is perfect in life. I'm not quite sure how it's going to happen. It's still not clear The process of peace how it's going to evolve Um I definitely agree with you that the peace has to be in afran peace afran process Afran owned afran led There's now this new uh term intra afran, which means nothing It has it is afran owned afran led, but they don't want to use afran owned afran led. Okay, that's fine. It's just a word but um uh I know that the government is very serious about reaching peace But as I said earlier peace is going to take a long time and a lot of preparation And ishmael melee is one of the kind of preparation we have Because now we have groups of women in all the provinces That feel that they have had their say and that they can continue to have their say And i'm sure that that in their own environment They are taking decisions. They are arguing. They are pushing For things that will bring more peace in their society Uh for the lady who was asking me about trawa uh By the time I became first lady, which was like five years ago Nobody came to me and said i'm rawa Okay so I cannot I cannot give you a um An estimate of whether they are still active or not I have not read their um Their publications if they had publications. I know that they were very active Maybe 20 years ago But uh If you really are doing a research on peace Then I will again recommend for you to look up my uh Offices website where you have all the details of what the women said in each province So at least you have some raw data You can really work with You're welcome We'll look for the citations in her thesis Okay, we'll try to get in the middle here. We have a very eager young woman right in the middle And uh, then the gentleman behind her We got to give the men a chance as well, but go ahead My name is pasma egg berzei from afghanistan First of all, uh, please um allow me to take this platform to thank and appreciate For the iconic agency of our amazing First lady representing Women from afghanistan following queen surayha. Secondly Afghanistan is at the political juncture of uncertainty Approaching either towards conspicuous gains Or inevitable loss um Taking the behavior of state persons and the general well of afghan people into account Sooner or later the peace accord is in-electable Now my question is How do you define a substantive commitment? To protect and maintain the boundaries or red lines ensuring security equal inclusion an active participation of women and public spheres of life and post peace accord era If you please elaborate If there is a structure set of mechanism on how to prevent any social or political Recalcitrant force from bargaining on Any issue curtailing rights and liberties of women in afghanistan. Thank you Thank you and just pass right behind you the gentleman right behind Oh, I thought oh, okay. All right. Go ahead. Okay Um, thank you so much for uh, coming and answering the audience question My name is muhammad rafi sina uh, I have a short question Uh when president ghani made a decision to release anas haqqani One of the Leaders of haqqani Network As a woman and as the first lady of afghanistan What was we what was your reaction to his decision? and I'm so glad that anas haqqani is Uh, colleagues are back to background present according to Tullo news So what was your reaction and last question are you scheduled to have a meeting with With the u.s. First lady milania trump Okay, we'll take one more question over here in the red. Yep Thank you first lady ghani. It's nice to see you. My name is mary matash. I'm an afghan american attorney Doing rule of law projects between us and afghanistan I actually spent the last two months out of six months in afghanistan And I did a piece called leading the way and I interviewed women leaders from security economic political sectors And there was two things that they said that were interesting for me And I'd like your feedback one was that many said that they felt the peace deal had already been made behind the scenes And they were going to do their best to find out what the best outcome is that they could achieve And the second was that they were mentioning this delegation of women that were appointed by the taliban to be part of the peace talks And I had not heard about that on the international news And I wanted to see what your thoughts were If there is this delegation that were actually part of the taliban side And their concern was how would the taliban interpret these laws as you know article 22 of the constitution says that There is to be no discrimination between men and women But the key was how are the taliban going to interpret the laws? They felt the taliban was reformed like there was a taliban 2.0 out there And they were going to interpret these laws differently And I don't know in these discussions that have been had in this consultative process whether you have received that type of feedback And if anyone's interested in watching the video you can go and youtube afghan women leading the way I think it's the second video that comes up and listen to what they had to say So I'd like your feedback on these two issues. Thank you Again here. I'll I'll start with the last question because it's fresh in my mind So mariam john, are you assuming? I mean the way you're presenting the thing And the way the answers were it was almost like an assumption Then the taliban were going to come back and rule afghanistan Are you sure? I know I know but are they sure Why are they saying that? As long as My husband is there as long as I am there We want peace with the taliban because they are afghans and as afghans They have the right to be in afghanistan and this is why they are there already Okay But How many are they? I don't know outside afghanistan. They might be I don't know 20,000 40,000 Inside Maybe there are some families But we're not talking about such a large number and we are a country of 36 million people So if they want a regime that is totally against the regime that we are having Which is a theocracy they want the theocracy And in a theocracy where nobody can argue what they're saying because theocracies are the worst because they are religious beliefs And when you believe in something there is no room for Negotiation there is no room for saying, okay, maybe we'll concede this or we concede that So I don't I personally From where I'm sitting and from where I'm seeing what the government is doing I don't see a peace that ends up with in emirates Of afghanistan And I think this is very clear to a lot of people We want the taliban to feel comfortable Living in afghanistan, but we don't want them to come and impose their beliefs on us We are already a muslim country from several centuries We have already interpreted the koran and the first part of the koran Shows that everybody has to read the koran and understanding the way he understands it So they're entitled to their opinion But they're not entitled to come and force it on us So, uh, I would say that these women were not really, uh, yes There is this worry among women, but it's not It should not be encouraged. It's not it's not going to happen at least not under my watch Okay, uh, the young lady in the middle, um So your question was about, um What was it again? Oh, yes, you're almost asking me to do the negotiation in two minutes That's what a negotiating team should do And I'm sure that they will look into that Um I have no idea I have not studied mediation. I've not done negotiations Uh, I I don't know but definitely it is demand that should be met So I hope you keep on asking about it And uh, you will commend them to the document that came out of the national consensus. Yes Yes, you have the declaration. I think we are distributing it here So and it is again on my website Uh, there was a third question. Who was it? Yes, and it was uh, oh about Well, this was a negotiation Between uh I don't know if it's the american university or it's the american government again. I I don't I don't get the details of those. My husband does not come and tell me everything he does So and I was not in Kabul when this happened so There have been these two professors to one american one australian that work at a uaf that were kidnapped in 2016 and It seemed that there was an opportunity Of negotiating their release against the release of Uh, the three Taliban one of them being The haqqani brother I don't like to second guess the government. The situation is very complex and it's not as simple as that and As you mentioned it did not work I'm not quite sure why but probably, uh Some party did not do what they promised that they were going to do and so unfortunately the two professors might not be released But this is what we are dealing with. This is the kind of people we have to negotiate with And it is it is really uh Delicate it's subtle And this is why I think every one of us should really discuss and think through so that we are all on the same page and we can Give talk with one voice with one voice We are much stronger than if ever once Somebody says oh, we should do that and somebody else said no. No, we should do it Thank you Okay, we have time for one last round. Um, we'll go to the plaid scarf right there If we could get a mic over Good morning. Assalamu alaikum My name is samaya karam. I am a student a master student at american university This question particularly focused on the broader Range of it. I know that there is initiative being taken in afghanistan about women but what can the International community particularly the us and the institutions here in dc can do to help To help go and keep going with that change and with the national consensus So how can the international help this young man right there? Thank you so much and welcome to the u.s. First lady. My name is mensur ahmad mensur And i'm originally from eastern part of afghanistan And thanks again for the comprehensive presentation. I have a very simple question and my question is Speaking of communities engagement and afghan women's engagement and the peace process Do you think there is a need and a way for these afghan women To go and through the support of afghan government, of course To go and talk with the taliban's families And see this peace process from a different angle How the taliban families are thinking and how they can influence influence the process in afghanistan. Thank you And and let's see anyone from the back, okay, so Uh With this one here. Yeah, okay this gentleman right there Thank you so much in the last point. I Find the chance to ask you miss rola ghani. I'm wahid from voice of america There are a couple of questions But i'm just directly good to the peace and you didn't talk about the election, which is going to be changed And a big concern again like it was in 2014 What is your concern about the elections reasons and what is your red line On the peace talks with the taliban Ah, what can you do for the afghan women? Okay So, uh, are you listening? I see you're bending. Okay Your question is how can you help? Afghan women as I said earlier the best help you can give afghan women is to help them get More professional and more skilled Really, that's the best thing you can do and you train one person. I mean look Our ambassador She's just one person and look at all the work she's doing Okay So you train well if you per people and then they can have a great effect. So I think it's really Let's put the emphasis on training and skill learning and real transfer of real knowledge not just You know thing It's funny that you should talk about Interacting with families of taliban and this is why I'm very hopeful of Some provinces being able to Arrive to a more peaceful environment because women can talk to other women And it is it has been one of the things that these women in the consultation have mentioned and in some of the In some of the provinces We were told, you know, they are going to be women taliban women in the audience And we said sure afghan women are afghan women Let them say what they want and they were not very different They are mothers and they have the same problem Seeing the corpse of their their son coming come back in a in a coffin They are Mothers who have children they want them to get educated they want them to get education They are They have household they have to you know, probably there are problems of water problem of transportation Whatever there are a lot of problems that they share and I remember at one point it was I think at one of the eat somebody came up with the idea. Let's have another ceasefire and They came and they said, okay, let's talk to the women that had come and see what they're saying And you know their reaction Their reaction was we are already in contact and we are already making some kind of Truths for the time of the eat But we don't want it to be publicized We are doing our work keep us leave us alone. We know what we were doing. It's really a grass root Thing and I agree with you. This is the way we might be able to get somewhere And the third question. Yes, it was about elections and about red line I'm like you. I thought today we would know what the elections results were. I'm still waiting and I don't know and Again, it becomes a political problem and I'm Steering away of politics I'm the first lady for all of Afghanistan and all the afghan women. I'm not the first lady for people who vote for me I'm lady first lady for everyone The second one are the red lines It's not my red lines. You will see them in the declaration Uh, but Basically, it's the red lines that the women have come to and this is why you hear them say We don't want our constitution to be changed. We want we don't want the regime to be changed and here there is it's really a an interesting, um Distinction you may have to make between the word regime nizam and Government hokomat The government come and go Some say one term some say two terms whatever But the regime it's the regime that the people are realizing It's the regime that is new to afghanistan and they're realizing that they like that regime They like the fact that they can be entrepreneurs and kind of Start their own business. They like the fact that they have enshrined in the constitution Uh access to education to health to legal services They like what they see so Basically, these are the two Things that come to mind when you speak about red lines Okay, thank you In our closing minutes, I want to ask you one final question and you know, we often see Particularly in the media a narrative of destruction and of conflict in afghanistan and There is a deeper story of resilience of Hope of strength You talk to a lot of people you've mentioned that you you listen You hear stories from all across afghanistan So I want to ask you to close us out with a story that Has given you a great deal of hope that really personifies that deeper resilience When I first started Opened the doors of the office. I used to get a lot of delegations from all the provinces And their main concern was You have forgotten us All the services are in Kabul or in other big cities in the provinces. We're not getting anything In Dari, it was always the same expression Marafara muskadeen. I don't hear that anymore I really don't hear that anymore It is maybe Because more and more when there are big events in Kabul people now try to include afghans From the provinces women and other Other because a lot of trainings Government trainings bring Government employees from the provinces to Kabul Because Young people are much more mobile And do come to Kabul What I feel is that there is no longer this us and them there's no longer this This kind of thing that oh the people of Kabul There's something else. No There is the sense that There is a way for achievement. I feel that people now have a sense of hope Young people now know that if they work hard and they become specialists in one field They will be considered for high post or they will have the opportunity of having a business of being able to Earn their living comfortably People Are no longer thinking. Oh This is a terrible country. I need to get out of here You have less and less people wanting to leave Afghanistan I feel that The the story that I like the most is that of course, you know that if ever you work for in In american institution for one year, then you become eligible for an siv visa And I don't know if there is anyone here who came on in siv visa Which is just it's great. There are people who are concerned that having worked with certain institutions they might be Targeted for attacks And there are quite a few people that left in 2016 17 18 but among them There were A few families that I knew and usually it was a husband who wanted to come to America And the wife was quite happy in Afghanistan. But anyway, they would go with the children and What makes me feel very good is that There are a few of them that are returning And they're returning because they know that now is a moment of opportunity in Afghanistan. Now it's like The time is like zero. This is where Development is going to start. This is where if you have a good idea and you start a business You might become very powerful very health very wealthy in 10 years This is really a A moment of opportunity And I when they come back, I really welcome them. So I hope one day I'll be able to welcome all the Afghans that are here Afghanistan is going to become a beautiful country and it needs the help of every Afghan and Just know that this is your country too and that we Be very happy to have you back. Thank you Thank you so much for once again joining us here at the us institute of peace Thank you for bringing your perspective your wisdom and your heart to an important conversation and an important time One more round of thank you for the first lady And thank you everyone for joining us