The Afghan Women's Council (AWC) (also known as the ''Women's Council'') was a women's

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

. In Afghanistan. It was a non-profit organization that strived to help Afghan women and children by improving their living condition as well as raising the awareness of human rights. In 1990, the Democratic Women's Organisation of Afghanistan was abolished because it was considered too Marxist in a period when President Najibullah wished to appease the Islamic resistance. It was replaced with the Afghan Women's Council, which was a more apolitical women's organisation.Valentine Moghadam:
From Patriarchy to Empowerment: Women’s Participation, Movements, and Rights
' Until 1989, the leader of the organization was Masuma Esmati-Wardak, Wardak was not a member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and in 1991 she became Minister of Education. The organization was run by Wardak and a staff of eight women. Some of these staff members were also members of the PDPA. When the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

began in 1978, under Nur Muhammad Taraki, the government gave equal rights to women. Women now had the ability to make decisions about their own lives. The membership of the AWC was around 150,000 around the country and had branches and bases in all Afghan

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s except Wardak and Katawaz. Most of the women in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

resisted the Mujahideen because of their retrogressive laws concerning women. The AWC provided

social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administ ...

s to women in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, in the fight against

illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

and

vocational training Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...

for those in the

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

hairdressing A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be ref ...

and

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the on ...

fields. Many feared the sacrificing of the AWC in the

national reconciliation National Reconciliation is the term used for establishment of so-called 'national unity' in countries beset with political problems. In Afghanistan the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan government under Babrak Karmal issued a ten-point rec ...

talks, which started in 1987. One of the most important AWC programmes was the fight for the

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

of girls. According to an AWC survey, in 1991, an estimated 7 thousand women were in institutions of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

and around 230,000 girls studying in

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

s around Afghanistan. According to the survey, there existed about 190 female

professors Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

and 22,000 female

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

s in the country.

References

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan Women's wings of political parties Women's rights in Afghanistan Women's organisations based in Afghanistan Feminist organisations in Afghanistan {{Women-hist-stub

See also

References