Half Of Humanity’s Voice Was Not Heard At NATO: Women

An Afghan women’s rights campaigner has flown 4,500 miles from her home in Kabul to protest at the lack of female delegates at the Nato summit in Wales.

Samira Hamidi held a ‘Talk to me – not about me’ sign outside Celtic Manor to draw attention to the fact that despite Nato commitments to discuss the potential plight of women when allied troops move out of Afghanistan, there is not a single female representative in either the British or Afghan delegations at the discussion.

How can we be expected to be taken seriously at home when we are being sidelined in the very places where we should be championed?

• Samira Hamidi, AWN

Hamidi’s protest, representing the Afghan Women’s Network and a coalition of NGOs involving Amnesty International and Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) called ‘No Women, No Peace’, also serves to highlight the fact that of all the international peace agreements signed in the last 30 years, just one in 40 of the signatories have been women.

Speaking to i100 , Champa Patel, the Head of Campaigns and Individuals at Risk forAmnesty International , expressed fear that women could be at risk when allied forces eventually withdraw from Afghanistan later this year.

There is a risk that without a well thought out transition in the country, a vacuum could be created that would allow the resurgence of the Taliban or another similar Islamist group.

We need to learn from history, from modern history. Just look at other areas of the Middle East at the moment.

This protest was to make the point that women need to be meaningfully included in this discussion. A discussion is taking place yet 50% of people are not represented in that discussion.

• Champa Patel, Amnesty International

Remind you of anything?

i100 has contacted both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Nato for a response to this issue.

More: This video gives a glimpse of what it’s like to be a woman in Egypt