S. 229 would empower women in Afghanistan.
Detailed Summary
Afghan Women Empowerment Act of 2009 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the protection of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and their full participation in the reestablishment of democracy are essential to Afghanistan's reconstruction, and to achieve such reconstruction the U.S. government must commit resources to advance the rights of women throughout Afghanistan.
Amends the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002 to revise the provisions respecting assistance to women and girls in Afghanistan. Extends funding authority.
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should: (1) condition the provision of such assistance on the recipient adhering to international standards for women's rights and human rights; and (2) ensure that Afghan women-led nongovernmental organizations with demonstrated experience in delivering services to Afghan women and children receive grants without ethnic, religious, or any other discrimination.
Status of the Legislation
Latest Major Action: 1/13/2009: Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Points in Favor
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Points Against
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Visitor Comments
stick
January 16, 2009, 7:40pm (report abuse)I can bet whoever sponserd this crap had a big D for dummy after their name.
WashingtonArmory
January 24, 2009, 4:44pm (report abuse)I think Barbara Boxer needs to be deported from the united states to Afghanistan for introducing this obvious useless piece of garbage legislation, We need to worry about what happens here in the USA! we do not need to be wasting taxpayers time to worry about what happens to women, Children or anyone who is NOT a united states citizen. Mrs Boxer step down NOW! and give your post in the senate to someone who is concerned about AMERICANS!!
TexasFred
January 24, 2009, 5:44pm (report abuse)WHY are we worried about empowering Afghan women? Islam won't allow that and unless we have some plans on doing away with Islam altogether, this is a HUGE waste of time and U.S. tax dollars...
gzucker
August 3, 2009, 12:46pm (report abuse)TexasFred - while this isn't an easy fight, it's (a) by no means hopeless, and (b) women's empowerment has in fact been shown in study after study to have incredible effects on community development. While men re-invest only 30-40% of their income in their communities, women re-invest 90% in important development initiatives, which build societies and undermine extremists like the Taliban.
You can also read about the inspiring NGOs run by women in Afghanistan that would benefit under this legislation, organizations like the Afghan Institute of Learning (http://afghaninstituteoflearning.org/) and Kandahar Treasure (http://kandahartreasure.com/).
If you're still not convinced, read a little bit more about women's empowerment on the website of the organization I work with, Global Goods Partners.