Monday, March 27
Embassy of Italy
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where women and girls are denied an education because of their gender. Afghan women and girls face a dark future without proper access to education, and are caught in a tortuous cycle of disappointment and despair. Despite the unprecedented challenges they face, Afghan women and girls refuse to accept full-scale reversal of their hard-earned gains and demand their right to access education. International attention is urgently needed to coordinate and scale up efforts to enable women in Afghanistan to access their inalienable human right to education.
This event brought together Afghan leaders, international partners, diplomats and leading policymakers to reflect on the urgency of the situation, and share recommendations and innovative models for ensuring a future for Afghan women and girls’ education.
Featuring (in program order):
Amb. Mariangela Zappia, Italian Ambassador to the United States
Rina Amiri, U.S. Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights
Palwasha Hassan, Senior Fellow at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and Former Director of Afghan Women’s Educational Center
Sara Wahedi, Founder and CEO of Ehtesab
Jo Bourne, Chief Technical Officer at the Global Partnership for Education
Richard Bennett, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Amb. Adela Raz, Former Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations and Director of Afghanistan Policy Lab at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Dr. Habiba Sarabi, Former Minister of Women’s Affairs and a former member of the Negotiation Team of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Dr. Loredana Teodorescu, WIIS Italy President and Head of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network
Tom West, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. State Department
Gianfranco Petruzzella, Italian Special Envoy for Afghanistan
Moderated by Amb. Melanne Verveer, Executive Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Hosted by the Embassy of Italy, Women in International Security Italy and the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.