A meeting of international donors in Paris last week revealed many disconcerting facts related to the redevelopment in Afghanistan, after the Bush Administration promised a Marshall Plan for the country. The country continues to face corruption and violence disrupting the rebuilding process, and creating a hostile environment for women and children.
Washington Post reports that Afghanistan maintains one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world: 16 deaths per 1,000 live births. Half of Afghanistan's children do not attend school, and Afghan girls make up only 35% of those that do.
"So far international aid to Afghanistan has not gone far enough to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the Afghan people. The amount of international aid has been wholly insufficient given the huge job of reconstruction in Afghanistan. Of the aid that has been given too much has been driven by the priorities of the international community and its security concerns rather meeting the needs of the people and building a more effective state," said Matt Waldman, Afghanistan policy advisor for Oxfam International in a press release.
Media Resources: Washington Post 6/13/08; Feminist Daily Newswire; Oxfam International press release 6/11/08; Feminist Majority Foundation
6/18/2013 Supreme Court Strikes Down Proof of Citizenship Voter Requirements - On Monday, the United States Supreme Court struck down an Arizona law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship before being allowed register to vote.
In an opinion written [PDF] by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court ruled that the Arizona statute violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA, also known as the "Motor Voter Law") of 1993, which created a federal form that individuals can mail in to register to vote in federal elections. . . .
6/18/2013 Pakistani Women's University Bus, Hospital Bombed - A bus for a women's university in Pakistan and the hospital that treated victims from the blast were bombed on Saturday, killing 14 students and 24 others at the hospital.
The bus was transporting female students and teachers from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University in Quetta, located in the southwestern part of Pakistan. . . .
6/18/2013 Taliban Attack In Afghan Capital As NATO Transfers Power - Yesterday, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) transferred responsibility for the country's security forces to the Afghan government after a bomb blast targeting a political official left three civilians dead in Kabul. . . .
