Possession possess minorities are waiting hour and a half to two hours, what being don on that level to deal with those there is a recognition that not everyone has to wait on long lines and so much of what has gone wrong with our elections is as much function of ram shackle election system as anything else. A lot of states have improved matters by moving to early voting. Other steps that are in a sense a kind of customer service, and in a place like ohio, where there was nearly a floridastyle debacle that almost upended the election of 2004, they actually expanded early voting and its been a big political fight over it, but its quite effective. But it varies from police to from place to praise and its the case in minority neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color that the lines are longer due to as much as anything else the underinvestment. Theres a president ial commission that president barack obama appointed. It was chaired by mitt romneys lawyer, ben ginsburg, and his own counsel, and they agreed on the need to modernize voter registration, and they agreed there ought to be National Standard for how long you have to wait on line. Were one country. We ought to be able to have able to vote with an equal and effective voice, no matter where they live. This is a matter of will and investment. Theres no magical technology. I will mention one technological thing to make you more nervous. After florida, one of the things in 2000, one of the things hat happened was Congress Passed a law requiring states to move to electronic voting and it was controversial because people were worried about security. Thats actually largely been addressed there are ways to make the machines actually better than the old machines, even the beloved old lever machines we all liked to close the curtain on here in new york. Thats the good news. The bad news is, theyre 15 years old. Their computers are 15 years old. And they use zip drives and theyre all on the verge of breaking. 43 states, the voting machines, electronic, computerized voting machines, are ten years or older. So theyll be in need for massively new investment in Voting Technology around the country, or youll have lines. Even that creates opportunities to integrate that with electron ic registration and other things to make sure everybody who is eligible to vote can vote. One more way in which the fight will continue in which its not only the formal rules but everything around it thats going to be contested that but that ultimate lyrics hopefully, will lead to continued progress. You can get the books in the back. [applause] [inaudible conversations] we want to hear from you. Post your feedback to tower facebook wall, facebook. Com booktv. [inaudible conversations] good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the u. S. Institute of peace. My name is nancy behind lynnberg. Im the president of usip and absolutely delighted welcome here this afternoon for her first visit, mrs. Bush. Were very happy to have you here, and i also want to welcome ambassador steve from the Islamic Republic of afghanistan, and your wife, and delighted have you here with us. Many other gets in the room. Thank you for joining us and thank you for coming this afternoon. And for those who are knew to usip we are an independent National Institute founded by congress 30 years ago, and dedicated to the proposition that peace is possible, peace is practical, and peace is essential for u. S. And interNational Security, and we pursue a vision of a World Without violent conflict, by working in conflict zones, with partners, equipping them with dollars, with knowledge, and with training. Theres probably no place where usip teams have spent more time than in afghanistan. Working with Civil Society and government partners to help make peace possible. So, were delighted to have today a Panel Discussion to discuss exactly who are some of the powerful women helping to make peace possible in afghanistan, and i have the distinct privilege of introducing our panelists and our moderator. Let me note that we will have ushers coming down the aisle to collect your question cards, for questions after opening remarks. If you have a question, please write town your name, your affiliation, along with your question on the card, and we will make sure that gets on stage. So, first, let me welcome mrs. Laura bush, former first lady of the United States. She hays long been an advocate for expanding rights and opportunities of women in afghanistan. She has traveled to more than 76 countries, including two historic solo trips to afghanistan, and today, as the chair of the Womens Initiative at the george w. Bush institute, mrs. Bush continues to work on Global Health care innovations, empowering women in emerging democracy, education reform, and supporting the men and women who have served in americas military. We also have with us today ms. Mean in sherzoy, a gender activist with over 25 years of experience in Economic Development and advocacies, and ms. Sherzoy has extensive experience in Capacity Building and ngo development in afghanistan. She has worked with the Afghan Civil Service commission and government counterparts to increase womens participation in government, and is the gender advisor for afghanistan and also featured in the wonderful new book were here to celebrate by mrs. Bush. Finally, im delighted to introduce mr. Steven hadley, the chair of usips board of directors, as our wise counsel and champion. Previously steve was the assistant to the president at the National Security affairs for four years, to thenpresident george w. Bush, and from january 2001 to 2005, he was assistant to the president and deputy security adviser. Please join me in fifthing a very warm welcome to our three wonderful guests. Applause produce [applause] thank you, thank you. All right. Were delighted all of you can be with us, and mrs. Bush, were delighted to have you here at the u. S. Institute of peace, and delighted with you new book, which is a collection of wonderful stories. If you havent read it, you really need to do so. Its a terrific book. What were going to do this afternoon is have a conversation among mrs. Bush, mina and myself are for about 25 minutes or so, and then will well have a question and answer period from you there cards distributed. Please write your questions on the cards. Pass them to the aisles and there will be runners coming down and getting them and passing them to me and we trial to get through as many questions as we canful well then at the end turn to our panelists, and ask for any closing comments and then well adjourn promptly at 5 00. So, again, were delighted youre all with us here for this wonderful event. I want to start, mrs. Bush, with you, if i might. You have a long history being a real advocate and champion for afghan women. You were the first first lady to deliver the president ial radio address in november of 2001 and you spoke about the light, challenges and the strength of afghan women at that time. Why is this such a cause for you . Of all the things you could take on as first lady as a cause, whey why were afghan women so important to you. Right after september 11th september 11th when the spotlight turned on afghanistan, american women, including myself, saw women who were majorrallized, left out, and the very idea of a government that would forbid hall of its population from being educated was shocking to americans american men and women, but a lot of people started calling me to say issue want to do something. What can i do to help . And one of my best friends from houston, called and said, i used to be so glad i wasnt in your shoes. But she said, now i wish i were. Im jealous because you can do something. And i cant. So, right then we formed the us afghan Womens Council and women brought various projects to support our sisters in afghanistan, and that was really the beginning of my interest in afghanistan, and in the women there. So, all the years we lived in the white house, and since, ive stayed in contact with many women that ive met through the u Womens Council and met on my trips in afghanistan. And you said you wanted to write about them. Why this book in this way . By the way, if you havent seen it, it has a forward from mrs. Bush. Its a wonderful tracing of the tribulations of afghanistan over the last 25 years, and its wonderfully written. Why this book in this particular way . Well, its called voices of hope and these are the stories of women in afghanistan, and because their voices were sigh lend issue thought it silent it thought it was important for all of to us hear what they had too say, beside that i think that things have changed. Since september 11th and i wanted people 0 know that. So i think this is a great way for all of to us learn not only about each of these women and one man, one brave man, including in the included his temperature but also for his story, but for us to learn more about the its of afghan if think we think we know it out, but their lives really show the history of the last, say, 40 years of afghanistan, starting with, for many of them, when the soviets came in, in 1979, and at that point some of these womens immigrated to pakistan with their families, some ended up in the United States after that, but nearly all of them went back after september 11th, when they could go back. Some lived there the whole time. Over the years of the soviet occupation and then the years of the taliban, and are still there. Wanted to tell their story. I wanted americans to hear their stories, and im thrilled to have this opportunity to tell their stories with this book. Mina, youre one of the people in the book. You were born in afghanistan. Came to the United States, spent most of your young adult life in the United States, until 9 11, which was traumatic for all of us, and so september 11, 2001, you decided to go back to afghanistan. Tell us about your decision to return to afghanistan and what you have been doing there, your life there now that you have returned. Sure. First, tell them why you werent in afghanistan when was it when the soviets came in . Yes, wasnt there first of all i want to thank you and im very privileged to be here on the stage with you, mr. Bush. Thank you. And mr. Hadley and i want to thank usip as always for putting together such a dynamic event, and thanking everybody to be part of this who are here today. Um, i was young, had just graduated from high school, so i went to high school in can be high school in kabul, and my father was an ambassador in czechoslovakia, and we heard the russians took over, which was a shock, and it came in as such a shock that at first we didnt know, like, okay, they invaded the country. I was so young. Didnt know the meaning of it, because afghanistan i was raised in the golden ages. We didnt think of war. Id never seen a gun before or a tank or anything else. So, to me, it was like, okay, somebody invaded and they will leave and they will go back. So, we slowly immigrated to the United States. My father had the attitude after three years we would go back, and the American Ambassador in germany gave my father we eh was going to give him citizen ship, green card, everything. He said, no, no, no, im not going to do that. Im going back. So to make a long story short we stayed for 25 years. September 11th happened. And when september 11 happened, of course my father was one of the first people that went to afghanistan, and he was the deputy political foreign minister. So, i saw the opportunity, because a lot of people were telling me, dont go, dont go, its dangerous. Put deep inside, all these 25 years i had such a passion to go back, and i always thought of the Afghan People being there and suffering, and i always thought of having thankful and grateful for having all the opportunities i had in the United States, and so how could i leave them . And so there was three of us, three women, i live in california, so, in the bay area so the three of us decided to start doing fundraising for the afghan women, and we did fundraising before, too, because i used to do a lot of fundraising, raise 2,000, 3,000 and send it. The best i could do. This time it was different the fundraising was lake the doors had opened. So its time to go now. Time to go and give. Time to go and help and take peoples hands and whatever the darkness has been in the past, lets overcome that. So thats why i have always wanted to go back, but until september 11th i couldnt because of the war and the taliban and what was going on, but after that, i decided to go back, yes. What was it like when you went back . What was your first reaction . What was the environment after 2001 . And then tell us about the environment now. I think being raised in the golden days user during the golden days of afghanistan, and then being really greatful for living in grateful for living in america, and to be honest with you, cherish my life here because america gave me security, peace, serenity, education, opportunities, everything. And i went there actually to be honest with you for three weeks because i had two daughters. I have two daughters and they were going to college at that time. So i said im going for three or four weeks and ill be back, which i never returned. And so when i went back, one thing that i saw that triggered my heart and my mind at the same time because when i landed, they took me the driver and my cousin they took me to the american embassy, to register for security reasons, being an american citizen you have to register. So, i got out of the car, and everything was done on the street at that time so it was a different time. So i went ahead and started signing the papers and talking to the soldiers and i turned around this was actually march 14th when i landed there. So, i turned around, i saw this tenyearold boy or nineyearold boy in a raggedy clothes, barefoot and it was chilly, and he was polishing my cousins shoes for a dollar. I just saw that and i totally freaked out right there. Because i started thinking, how i was raised. When i was ten years old, my nieces, my daughters, my family, my parents, my friends kids, when they were ten years old, they were in another world. Even when they grow older as parent we ask them to polish my shoes. They dont polish my shoes even now. So that broke my heart right there. So what i did the next thing i did was after a week, after studying everything, called my daughters, i said, look, there are people here, i have been around, there are girls that havent been to school. Theyre your age thatch cant even write their name. So, i know you need me, im your mother. Ill always be there for you, but do you mind if i can stay here for a few years and help and take care of these girls and guide them and assist them whatever way i can . So, they were so supportive, and i always tease them, i said, no, no, you just wanted to get rid of a nagging mom. But they said, no. We knew your passion. We heard you on the phone, and when we have time well come and help you. So im really appreciative of that, yes. Otherwise i couldnt have been there. A word about the situation now. The situation now has changed. As we all know, we see through the newspaper i just came back on wednesday. Things have changed in afghanistan drastically if you look at it from 14, 15 years ago, when you look at women empowerment, education, health, clinics, hospitals, the judicial system. Everything is not 100 perfect but at least the seeds have been planted there, lets put it this way. The only thing that really is a barrier to development of any country or anything you do in life, is security. Their insecurity interruption, two things. Like, for example, violation against women. Ill give you an example of that. First of all, there is Justice System in afghanistan. We have a lot of good laws but theres no way of enforcing it because the corruption gets in the way. So, what i saw this time, i was there for three months. Had for three weeks, ended up three months. The security situation has really deteriorated, and i know a lot of businesses are closing, and a lot of people are becoming unemployed. So, this kind of situation adds to the insecurity as well, because when something goes wrong, you dont know it was the daesh, the tall taliban, a thief, a person that was hungry. You didnt know who did it. So right now thats the security situation right now. Even though the security situation has deteriorated but we keep pushing. Thank you. We dont stop. Thank you. Mrs. Bush, you went to afghanistan in 2005, then again in 2006, 2008. Can you talk about those trips, what you learned, some of the insights you had and perhaps some of the women that you met during those trips some of whom probably show up in your book now. I went met the female governor there, and bammian is the it had the buddhas carved into niches in the mountain wall, and i knew that they looked like from forecasts but by the tomorrow i went they were just rubble at the bottom of these two huge newspapers which had been there since the sixth century but destroyed by at the taliban. So there was this contrast between the ancient civilization of afghanistan with these old buddhas that had been destroyed, and then the idea that there was a female governor, which was the newer thing, newer since september 11th, and i remember coming to see her and what that was like and how thrilled i was to be there and see her, but then also this big symbol of the destruction of the ancient did you meet some of the women at that time that are in your book. I most of the women in the book here in the u. S. , through various things. Lets see. There she is over there. Others whose stories mina is here. When ive been on the book tour ive read from minas story. What she just told us, the story of seeing the little boy without shoes, polishing the shoes of someone else and how that struck her and that picture state in her mind and led her to wanting to spend so much time there so ive formed a lot of friendships with women in afghanistan and some of them are in here. Some of the women in the book i dont know but there are few of them here as well. Id like to go back to something you started. Theres a lot of intermittent press coverage here about afghanistan, most of it bad, security is getting bad, taliban pa are on the move and all the rest if think we dont often appreciate how far the country has come. You started to talk a little bit about that. Could you say a little bit more about what has really been accomplished here in the last 14 years or so. Like i said earlier, we have accomplished a lot. 15 years ago we didnt have girls going to school. We didnt have clinics for women. He didnt have women ministers. We didnt have women in parliament. So, i can go on and on, especially business women, women advocates. The first year i was there, let me explain to you this way. When i first went there, i was looking for women. That theyring too the andre craft and the carpet weaving so i was looking for. The all over the place, and you couldnt find them, even in burqas on the street. So, i ran into hezbollah i just want to see, like, 10 or 15 women that i could work with and i could talk to and maybe i could teach them something. For Economic Empowerment purposes he said, okay, come on a friday, and i will go ahead and show you the women you can work with. Kind of didnt tell anybody where i was going because i know if i told my dad i was going to this mosque, he would send ten guards with me or wouldnt let me go. So i was afraid. But i did good with my friends to the honest with you i walked into mosque. I saw hundreds and hundreds of women with burqas sitting there. And their back was facing me when i entered, and i stood there, i said you got to be kidding me. What am i going to do with hundreds and hundreds of women . So i stood there i give them a message, and talked to them, saying that im here to help. Im here to empower them. And so that theyre not needy. Theyre not a charity case anymore because im very against becoming a charity case for the afghan women. So, you have to learn. You have to work and earn your money in order to raise your children, help your family and husband and everyone. So i left there. Thats what encouraged me to put together an ndo, so i put together an ngo for witness doze especially, and widows especially, and i registered over 10,000 women, and in six years, then we did an assessment, and to be honest, in ten thousand women i had only 56 literate women. Only High School Im talking. High school, which is some of them were eight grade, nine grades, so that they were called literate. And so this is what happened. And then i was able to get funds from different institutions, donors, and i did the Capacity Building and tailoring, sewing and english and literacy and computer classes, as we started expanding. But looking today, you see a lot of afghan women out there. This is what im trying to compare. On that time you couldnt find anybody, but now you find hundreds and thousands of women out there, even in the provinces or in kabul, in media, for example, you see them in television, the journalists, teachers. Theyre all over the place. So its not that difficult to find afghan women, thank god. One of the thing that mrs. Bushs forward there, very nice statistics showing the progress on health and education. What struck me is teenaged girls now 36 literacy, 37 of the teachers in afghanistan are now women, so really remarkable progress. And mrs. Bush, know one of the things at the institute and the president ial library you have been very instrumental in the Womens Initiative at the Bush Institute, continue the work you started as fitz lady. As first lady. What kind of activities are going on at the institute. At the Bush Institute we have had core classes of women, a fellowship, two from egypt and two from tunisia. We began with those two countries because they were the first and most in the arab spring countries we bring women from the same country for a fellowship so when they go home they have each other and can introduce each other to their families and colleagues and friends, and broaden their network. A professor did research that shows your note work is as important as your education level to your success, and in societies where women are inside more, they didnt have the chance to build the kind of networks we as american women do. So we have had now four classes, two egyptian classes and two tunisian fellows, and well do another group this year of egyptian fellowes. The idea is to continue to focus on these so when they go home, they really have a Broad Network now with the two groups and everybody else they have introduced each other to. So thats one thing were working on as part of the Womens Initiative. We have a Womens Health initiative. In africa we have added thissing and treatment for Cervical Cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer death among african women. The aid platform was set up when george was president , the president s emergency plan for aids relief, thats all across africa, now really helped africans build an infrastructure, treating aids and now adding the testing and treatment for Cervical Cancer so thats our Global HealthInitiative Focuses on women. We have a first laids conference with african first ladies to talk about how they can use their roles in their countries while their husbands are head of state, to work on issues that are important to them. We have tried to match them with n gohs, or corporations, that are active in their countries, and then talked about Good Governance, and one african woman said, i know the government paid for your clothes. And we said, no, they didnt. Happen to be there and they said, no, theyve did not, thinking about mrs. Clinton. But we do talk about Good Governance and the way first ladies can help and now we have broadened that to more than just african first ladies. We have the First Lady Initiative with first ladies from all around the world. What else . The head of our Womens Initiative at the Bush Institute. [applause] then of course the us afghan jims council, which we just came from the meeting of here so african i mean afghan first ladies are part of our project as well, working with afghan women, and thats obvious. Thats what this book is, and thats why were here today. One of the thing is thought is nice is it really is i was honored had he privilege of sitting in on the meeting today. This is a bipartisan effort. This is one area where republicans and democrats have worked together, and i found it was interesting that the former secretary of state, human being, wrote a nice blush blurb on the back of the book and it continues to be a bipartisan effort here by northwestern people and by the congress and thats a wonderful thing. Mina, id like to go back to you, if i might, and just ask you, what is the sort of frame of mind, the spirit of afghan women today . What are they thinking about . Particularly the young women who have seen such change in their lives. When you talk to them, whats their frame of mind today . What are their hopes . What are their fears . The frame of mind of afghan women, like i said earlier, is a change for the time of the first in the past 14 years. Theyre not the same afghan women they were 14 years ago. They have come a long way. They are have learned their rights in every way and still learning. Im not a saying the whole country knows all the women. They know their rights, but theyre still learning. And the other thing is, they have learned how to advocate, and their spirit is high all the time. One thing i found. Afghan women no matter if it was a golden ages of afghanistan or the bad days or it doesnt matter where they are, how they are, how bad it is, they have a high spirit. Theyre very brave, very courageous, and they have this strong inner hope that keeps them going all the time. I have seen women that had really been through a lot of hardship, and it just surprises me that how she come to work the next day with a smile on her face, and you dont know what she has been through. And its that mask that she wears, i call it. Its that mask she wears in order to look strong, to move on, and to convince children and her family its okay, that everything would be fine. And of course, just like everybody else, afghan women are like the other women in the world, were not any different than the afghan women. Its just the differences, what kind of opportunities are given to them, and what kind of opportunities are given to us. Thats the difference. Some security also plays a major role for them. So afghan women, theyre in high spirits and their dream is to be just like everybody else, a normal mother, normal wife, a normal citizen, and they just have to live just like want to live just like everybody else, even though, like i said, thingses are really getting ruff t rough these days. How theyre going and advocating and all over the place. Its one example. So, nothing go ahead, turning some quests from the audience. I have a lot of good questions. Id like to have a question for each of the women, both of you, before we do that. One is sort of, on balance, are you hopeful for the future of afghanistan, and what can we, the International Community, do, and we as americans do, to try to sustain the gains that have been made . Mrs. Bush, can i start with you . I am hopeful and hopeful partly because with what mina said. Know the spirit and strength of afghan women and i think that comes across in the book and the stories of the women that are interviewed in the book. So that makes me hopeful. I also think that the whole International Community, we and the United States, as well as the whole International Community, needs to continue to do whatever we can to support women in afghanistan, and support the Afghan People. We need to help them build an economy so people can have jobs, so people can make money, so that people can be become independent. Those are the thing wes need to continue to do, but i also was heartened that president obama chose to keep our troops there. Think we needed to keep the troops there. We need make sure that they that afghanistan has the security to be able to build the stability, to form their government, and continue to work on what theyre working on. I know mrs. Donny, mrs. Began ghani, the any first lady of afghanistan, she sent a message to us, she is hoping to build a Womens University with women professors, so that when the traditional fathers dont want their daughters to go to university because of going with men or having men professors, there would be an option for women, and i think that is a good way that americans could support her, and that is to try to help in that way as she builds this Womens University. But vowedly most important thing is the security. And our troops help in that. Minimum na, same question to you. Are you hopeful and what should we be doing . I acknowledge mrs. Bush and i agree because without security, security is the number one thing. Without security you cannot move forward. Everything starts collapsing around you, and we dont want the International Community to leave. As well. We have started something as the International Community and we have to continue and make it really solidify, make it happen, and show the world that we were there, not with 15 or 20 or 30 areas, and its happened. You just dont want to leave a country in chaos. When its in chaos, and that shows a failure on the International Community. So, we have to continue what were doing, and we have to really put more money into development of the military. Im sorry. Its just if we have capable people and if people have food on the table, and they have jobs, why would you need military . This is a question for me because im not a politician but im an activist, so thats asked to me all the time. So, for me, first comes the development. Yes, we do have to train the police to a limit. We do have to train our military because of our neighbors, but if you have good citizens and if you dont have hungry citizens who can be bought by your neighbors or by any politician or anybody, you will have a stable country. But unfortunately, for the past 14, 15 years, yes, a lot of money has been poured but it hasnt really been poured into the real, Real Development side of it. It has been allowed into the military and police, which has not been very effective either. So, even now, the money a lot of the money had been allocated to defense and military, but i think if we could just add to that and add more money to development to develop people to give them jobs to create jobs. The other thing that has happened with the training, we train. But we dont follow. We can train all we want. There should be a followup program. Maybe after a year. Not shortterm but longterm. We can do the training, a month two months, and then everybody leaves. Okay so many women were trained and so many men and, okay, big pictures and done. But we have to follow up. This person really found a job . If this training was effective. Of it wasnt effective, then what should we do to make it effective . We have already spent a lot of money, and we want to see a result that is successful to everybody, to the donor, to the Afghan People, to everyone. So, that is where im coming from. I dont want anybody to leave but to get more money added to the Development Side of it. And its a security issue as well. One of the reasons the taliban and the that was the little boys were put in these madrases, theyre parents put them there because they were hungry, and they got fed. So, their food ends up being a security issue as well. Ive been reading this one part of the book that i think fits witch what were talking about right now in the rest of the world we live a fast paced life wimp want everything to happen in front of our eyes we dont think about the future. We dont invest in the future, unfortunately. And that needs to change. Im sure other nations have gone through this societal change probably hundreds of years ago. I think it will happen in afghanistan. We just have to be patient and not give up because once you give up, you have to start from scratch all over again. This talking about the nonsecurity side, and an issue that is very dear to the heart of upy. This is a question from barbara, for both of you. The u. S. Government is implementing the largest rule of law program of its kind in the world in afghanistan. What should be its focus in the folks five to ten years, particularly in focus for next five to ten years, particularly as it pertains to women and girls. Mina, do you want to take a shot at that . Sure. Good luck. Like i mention earlier, the rule of law, we have laws. We have many laws. Needs to be enforced. We have to learn how to enforce laws and how to use laws. I remember i did have in my ng ooh for my mgo i had training for lawyers and it was very interesting for know find out that one of the lawyers she was being abused by her husband at home and then she would get out and go to court and try to defend everybody else. I sat her down and said if you cannot defend yourself, how can you defend others . She started crying. She goes, even when im standing there trying to defend others im not making it. Because the judges that are there, they have already been paid or theyre stronger than me or the one who is across the table from me, the other judge, the lawyer, its stronger than me and i always get defeated. This is why i need this training. We need to really focus on women and judges and the attorneys. It is starting from the university. Thats where we need to start working, maybe the second and third year of the law university, to start kind of practicing with them, and advocating for them, and teaching them how to defend themselves first. And the house, if you cannot defend yourself within your home, win your own circle you cannot defend yourself outside or defend anybody else. I also know lawyers and attorneys in afghanistan that are women, let me tell you, theyre very tough but theres just a few. There arent that many itch think we need to really stop and focus on the Younger Generation that are going to be the next lawyers, because the lawyers that are there from the past, maybe 45 or 50, of that age im not trying to discriminate or anything. Its hard for them to change their way of work and their way of implementation and attitude, but one thing we can focus on is the Younger Generation, and teach them to realy be the real lawyer 0, to be in that court to win to go with an attitude, i can win. So, thats what i think. Good job. Next question. One of the ones two that are relatedment one comes from marissa over georgetown university, and is a question for mina. Id like too first ask this one. Really for both of you. This is from of the afghan news. Probably mispronounced that. Apologize. There has been on and off again talks of peace talks with the taliban, onagainoffagain, uncertain how it will go. Do the women, mrs. Bush, you work with and some of the women to in the book that you knows have talked to and mina, for you as well, there are fears about the Peace Process and fears of a Peace Agreement between the Afghan Government and taliban for what it will mean for women and what it will mean for the progress achieved since 2001 . Go ahead. Okay. Depends on what you give up to make peace with the taliban. The latest i read is they left the table, and did they come back . Does anybody know . They have left the the taliban have left the table recently in the last couple of days, hekmati, one of the folks indicated that he is willing to participate in the afghan Peace Process, query whether that will have an impact on the taliban. So its onagainoffagain but the question is, are there some anxieties sure. Of course. There is a lot of anxieties, especially among women, to the Peace Process, and if you look at the whole picture, the overall picture, its to have in the Peace Council, Peace Council created years ago. When you have 70 men and five women or six women, how do you arrive at peace . Because those five or six women that were selected, they also cater to whatever that 65 or 70 men are saying. So, women are in minority, and women are scared. Of course they are. Theyre in anxiety and theyre fighting this in every way they can, and they are. So, they dont get sacrificed during the Peace Process, so they like, during the taliban times, how women were secluded from everything, and they dont want that to happen again because we have gained so much for the past 14 years, and there was no way we would sacrifice that. No way. It doesnt matter what i mean, i could tell you this, because i come from i always have these gatherings, these women, and when they come from these meetings, you should see their faces. Over my dead body. That is how they speak. There is no way im going to give up what ive gained in 14 years, and politicians im sorry would sacrifice my right to the college in order to bring peace. That is not peace. At the end of the day. We are isolating half of the population. So i dont think it will happen. Its just an ongoing thing. There is a lot more involved to it. Than the women. It is what our neighbor country is asking for. Theyre asking for a lot of things but Afghan People are not going to give up so thats my understanding. Of the Peace Council. We have talked a lot about women and girls and the Important Role they have in the Afghan Society and the Important Role in peacebuilding. One of the things that came up the meeting today was related to this question that is unsigned. How important too you think efforts are to reach men and boys in addition to women and girls . If we are to change the culture and values of society. Well, thathandle that has too change, for sure, reach men and boys. I said forever u. S. Afghan Womens Council ming that one of my friends said to me i dont know why youre working with the women. Its the men that need the work. And there are efforts and, and we did hear that in the meeting earlier to work with men, or boys especially, to talk about peace and conflict resolution and all of those other things itch think what happened is these boys werent parented. The ones grown up now, that are the terrorists or the taliban. They didnt have parents who taught them how to be men, and taught them how to mother and dad that taught them how to live. Instead they were sent to these madrases and they were brain washed and not taught how to get along with people. And that is what a family, a good family, does. A mother and a father. And that is teach all the children, the boys and the girls, how to get along with other people, and that other peoples lives matter. I agree with you, mrs. Bush. We first have to work with the boys, with the men. Because if the men and the boys are brought up for women, and we dont have to exactly in the meantime, what has the war done to these men . We have to look at it this way and i cannot blame them most of the time. Its because that boy, that was born 30 years ago, he was born during the war, and you have to be protective of the women and children and the girls during the war. So he was then the taliban came so that was like an icing on the cake for the whole thing the mentality. So, that boy has been raised with that type of a mentality, protect your women. Dont show your woman. Dont show the girl. And right now were going through a social change, and its going to take time. Its going to take probably another generation or two for men to come out and say, yeah, its okay for really in a very normal way that were doing it here. Its okay if my daughter goes to work. Its okay if my daughter goes to the movies. Its okay if my daughter or my wife. Right now you see these challenges, its because of the war. And the war has brainwashed the men in afghanistan, and that generation is still there. And its going to be there for another maybe 30 years, but its going to take a long time, maybe two or three generations so you can really see the change. This is a related question from mira, who is a student at george mason university. Its a little long but its a good one. As a first generation afghan american i have been raised to learn how to balance my afghan heritage with my western surroundings. Given that afghanistan has a patriarchal structured society what clashes or conflicts have wow seen arise as a result of the resistance to womens quality that some may view as a western idea rather than an afghan idea, and how have you seen balance created with tradition and this socalled western idea of womens equality and empowerment . Go ahead. Its beginning to be like jeopardy. Exactly. Well, first thing that is very common is the word gender. The word gender in it includes men and female. But when you talk about gender in afghanistan, they all talk about they all think women. They think its a western thing. To have equal rights of women. While, to be honest with you in islam we do have equal rights for women. There are rights for women. There are good rights for women. What happened in the beginning when we all first went, everybody went in without doing their homework. Everybody brought in the western ideas, and unloaded in afghanistan, without thinking, what is the culture . What is the acceptance of all of these things . How will people take this . So, when we started on these gender trainings, it didnt go very well. So, you had to rename these things, and really let people know what it really means, and as an afghanamerican, when ive been there ive watched. They will perceive you as an afghan no problem, but later in the day, they say, okay, youre here, know youre helping me you did this, but you have a passport and youre going to leave. You have that option. And i always tell them, yes, have that option, but i im here, and no matter what. And thats one of the reasons these are all the perceptions because Afghan People really have to trust you, and i dont blame them for not trusting anybody because, to be honest, everybody has come in and invaded and left and ruined and took. So, they dont trust anybody. And it has to do with the war and the way they have been treated, and now for the past 14 years, yes, thanks to International Community, thanks to all the donors, they have been there they have pushed issues for women, like, for example, politically to be in the senate to be in the parliament to be in the government. So it has been the foreign push as well, not only the government. But still, until you overcome the doubts with the western issues, anything you put forward they will think twice, whether it comes from germany, comes from egypt, comes from america. Doesnt matter. As long as its from a foreign entity, they think twice. They think they just dont want to go for anything anymore. They thing twice and say yes or no. Thank you very much. We regretably have come to the end of time. Want to thank all those who submitted questions, and my apology to those who committed questions we didnt get to. Id like to turn to our panelists and just ask if you would like a last word before nancy comes up id like to introduce the women in this book, would you all stand . It is not as bad as we made it sound today. It is important to stay involved as americans in afghanistan and keep our troops there and give afghans the security and space of security as they continue to fill their country and