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Skriven 2005-03-31 00:10:52 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0503307) for Thu, 2005 Mar 31
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Mrs. Bush Highlights Women's Achievements in Afghanistan
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For Immediate Release
March 30, 2005

Mrs. Bush Highlights Women's Achievements in Afghanistan
Women's Teacher in Training Institute
Kabul, Afghanistan



Thank you for your warm welcome. It is, indeed, an extraordinary privilege
to be with you today to celebrate the incredible progress that has been
made by the people of Afghanistan over these past four years. I have
especially watched with great pride as courageous women across your country
have taken on leadership roles as teachers, students, doctors, judges,
business and community leaders, and politicians. And no where is that more
evident than on this University campus. The United States Government is
wholeheartedly committed to the full participation of women in all aspects
of Afghan society, not just in Kabul, but in every province.

The National Women's Dormitory and the Women's Teacher Training Institute
will allow women to come from every corner of the country and have a safe
place to stay and study so that they can return home and share one of
life's greatest gifts with their communities - the gift of an education.

I want to thank Mina Sherzoy, the Head of the Afghan Business Women's
Council, for organizing the marketplace today which showcases some of the
local wares being produced by women entrepreneurs. Mina recently led a
delegation of 14 exceptional women entrepreneurs to the U.S. to participate
in a mini MBA program spearheaded by Barbara Barrett and Thunderbird
University - one of our nation's top international business schools. One of
these exceptional women, Hamira Nassary, was my guest at President Bush's
State of the Union address in the United States Capitol.

I would also like to thank Dr. Ashraf Ghani, the President of Kabul
University for the opportunity to speak with you today. You are doing such
important work and we greatly appreciate your devotion to the education of
the people of Afghanistan.

It is said that big things have small beginnings. Two years ago, the
teacher training institute was just a dream. In July of 2003, the US-Afghan
Women's Council visited one of my husband's top advisers, Karen Hughes, in
her home town of Austin, Texas. As Karen talked with them about the most
pressing needs facing the women of Afghanistan, the consensus from her
Afghan counterparts, including the Women's Minister, Habbiba Sarabi, was a
dire need for teachers in the remote and rural communities. Karen was told
that women hoping to attend the University did not have a place to stay.
The dormitories had historically only been for men. Karen told me of these
needs, and as a teacher and librarian myself, I hoped that the United
States Government could help build this institute. Many of you here today
have all played a critical role in making this dream a reality. And from
today's small beginnings we expect the Institute will yield great things.

There is much more to this place than the bricks and mortar you see around
us. The ordinary business that will take place here is, in fact, a symbol
itself of the extraordinary leap forward Afghan women have taken.

We are only a few years removed from the rule of the terrorists, when women
were denied education and every basic human right. That tyranny has been
replaced by a young democracy, and the power of freedom is on display
across Afghanistan.

We must be mindful though, that democracy is more than just elections. The
survival of a free society ultimately depends on the participation of all
its citizens, both men and women. This is possible if institutions like
this exist to give women the basic tools they need to contribute fully to
society-and the most critical tool of all is an education.

So the hard work of the Institute has begun. Future teachers will come here
for an innovative teacher training course. The Afghan Literacy Initiative,
an accelerated literacy, math, and life skills curriculum for remote rural
communities, where many girls still do not have access to schools, should
have over 2,000 pupils by the end of the year. These students will be
trained in their communities, as a result of a cascading system of training
that begins with the development of the master trainers, here with us
today.

Another program is Learning for Life, a health-focused course that is
designed to help reduce maternal and child mortality. This program
addresses two critical needs for Afghan women: literacy and healthcare. It
will help people learn to read with materials that are focused on health.
This makes literacy directly relevant to something women care about
greatly-the well-being of their families. Over the next two years, Learning
for Life will reach 8,000 women, and of those, 5,500 young women across
thirteen provinces will qualify to be trained as health care workers and
midwives.

The Teacher Training Institute is public-private partnership and it will
continue to require the assistance of the Ministry of Education, numerous
private donors, non-governmental organizations, and of course, the
U.S.-Afghan Women's Council.

I would also like to extend a special thanks to two United States
corporations - Microsoft and Dell Computers - for their extraordinary
generosity on behalf of both the Teacher Training Institute and the
International Association of Women Judges. These companies heard that the
women of Afghanistan had a need for technology assistance and they
immediately provided computers, printers, and teaching application
software. This is just one more example of the American people's commitment
to the success of the people of Afghanistan.

Today I am proud to announce the United States' commitment to another
initiative. The United States is supporting the establishment of the
American University of Afghanistan with a multi-year commitment of more
than 15 million dollars. This will provide a modern facility with an
international faculty to educate future leaders.

The American University will aggressively reach out to young Afghan women,
to ensure they feature prominently in the school and bring to it their
invaluable perspective and determination. There will be appropriate
facilities and housing for women, and care will be taken to be sure the
faculty of this co-ed institution is inclusive of women. The school will
also offer scholarships to outstanding young women who otherwise may not
able to attend. Classes will be offered in business, management,
information technology, and other professional areas of study.

Finally, I'm pleased to announce the development of another education
initiative- the International School of Afghanistan. The school will
provide Afghan children from kindergarten through high school with a
first-rate education through a classical curriculum including mathematics,
language, literature and grammar, the sciences, social studies, culture and
arts. We have dedicated $3.5 million for the establishment of this school.

These three initiatives are each significant. They are all part of an
overall commitment by President Bush to Afghan education projects totaling
80 million dollars.

These are more than just development projects-they also signify the bond
between the American and Afghan people. They are symbols of our shared
hopes and dreams for the future. That dream is of a prosperous, peaceful,
and above all, a free Afghanistan, where both men and women stand upright
in equality.

As we have worked together these past years, we have accomplished much and
launched projects that will yield great results in the coming years. We
have also learned a great deal about each other. We have come to know what
is in each other's hearts, and is so doing, come to understand that we are
very much alike.

At this time, I would like to invite Margaret Spellings, America's
Secretary of Education, Noor Mohammed Qarqeen Afghanistan's Minister of
Education, and Dr. Sayed Amir Shah Hassanyaar, Afghanistan's Minister of
Higher Education to join me on the stage to sign an agreement between our
two governments on these important initiatives. I would also like to ask
the American Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, Paula Dobriansky,
United States Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, and Jim Kunder,
Assistant Administrator for the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) to join us for the signing ceremony.

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