From carrying out completely the missions that he has been tasked with. Is that correct . Yes sir. My greatest concern of sequestration would be the impact on the workforce, particularly the civilians. They would argue what i want to be aligned with that. I can replace equipment. It takes years to replace people. There is a real likelihood, if we continue the sequestration that you will not be able to continue to employ these outstanding and highly selected individuals yes. Sometimes, i do not want the American People to see what goes on at these hearings. I certainly wish the American People could hear and see your statements that youre making today rather than thats just what democracies are all about. And so i thank you for your good work but also want to thank you for your straightforward answers to questions that were posed by the members of this committee. And we thank you. The meeting is adjourned. [inaudible conversations]. Ible con. [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation] ,. [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation] and i am convinced that there is an opportunity for this country if the International Community maintains its commitment. And im also convinced there should be no further reductions in u. S. And International Forces and support for afghanistan until conditions on the ground and afghan capabilities make that possible. Consistently reminded over the course of my career of the importance of the individual in history. The occasion when the right person excep is at the right tid place to influence developments large or small, and rula ghani is one of those people. On april 6 she take takes the se at the annual women of the world, women in the world summit in new york city. The summit tagline is meet the women who change the world. Shes helping to change her adopted countrys history, afghanistan is fortunate to have for in the right time and place. So please join me in welcoming the first lady, rula ghani. [applause] thank you, jim, for these very kind words. I have a little trouble remembering the time as first lady. I havent changed. Ive always been what i am, and im comfortable with it, and i hope you will be, too. In the name of god the compassionate, the merciful, distinguished members of the audience, i come to you in peace. Thats what that means. By inviting me to address the select gathering of thoughtful and influential movers and shakers, men and women him at the Atlantic Council at its afghanistan writing initiatives are honoring me get and i would like to thank fred kempe, jim cunningham, and Zalmay Khalilzad for their warm welcome. Thank you also to you, members of the audience, for taking the time to come and listen to me. Listening is something that i myself do a lot in afghanistan. When i first decided to fully assume the responsibilities of first lady some 18 months ago, i was entering uncharted waters. I had no specific agenda, but that of serving the people, especially the vulnerable ones. That meant that i had to get to know them better and understand their grievances. Hence, the open door policy of my office. In the first six to eight months, groups after groups have come to see me, pouring out their hearts and sharing their concerns. Some came from the provinces, others from kabul. A few are civil servants. No, and then, of course, the four women ministers. Others are social activists or entrepreneurs. To this date, the flow is constant. I listen to my advisors who report to me daily, enthusiastic, hardworking women slightly younger than i am who deeply care for their country, who still remember how beautiful and strong it was 40 years ago, who are determined to help rebuild its society, and who strongly believe in the capabilities of the afghan people. I also listen to the International Community. Some of you are here today and can vouch for it, from u. N. Agencies to embassies to eight institutions, usaid, to ngos and even to individuals. Im thinking, for example, of paschal, the french lady who is bent on creating a virtual Cultural Museum for afghanistan. I love their dynamism, though i sometimes chaff after their bureaucracy. All this to say in a roundabout way, that the information i am presenting to you with the first and, actual, and representative. It might not reflect what you read in journalistic or even in some expert accounts. I was struck by a comment i was reading on yahoo two days ago under ongoing political debate on terrorism from Susan Hessler who is a former cia factchecking analyst, and she recently wrote, people make the most incendiary and irresponsible claims as stating indisputable facts, hardly anyone will tell you where they got their information. Repetition and volume try to take the place of verification. I would choose word for word her observation to describe the reporting on afghanistan these days. So you know where i stand now their journalists are so much trying to be the first to scoop the story while trying to write it in its more sensational and entertaining version. That i hardly have time to check their facts. Witness the article in the Washington Post two days ago. There were so many facts that were wrong, like so many people who are mentioned as being members of the administration that have defected. They used to be members of the former administration, so its really not telling the story the way it is. So repeated halftruths take a life of their own from a special on social media. And suddenly become conventional wisdom. The result today is an existence of several myths that need to be debunked. Myth number one, the taliban are winning. Really . And white visit we keep hearing about the same 600 meters in helmand being lost and regained every other week or every other month . And why is it that the leader cannot claim to be what we need . The fact is that they do not fully control in a territory to be able to make that claim. And by the way, i do want to ask this question. Who is the institute for the study of four that produces maps to the contrary . I really would like to know because their information is totally skewed. America has lost the war. Thats a myth number two. What more . American came into a hunt down Osama Bin Laden which was done. To my knowledge american is not at war with the afghan people. Am i right . America has failed in afghanistan, myth number three. Wasnt americas and to help rebuild the country and help it on its way to achieving political stability lacks wasnt that peaceful succession from president karzai to president ghani the sign up political maturity . Myth number four, the electoral process in 2014 was fraudulent. How can you still insist on that when the u. N. Commission carried on three different recounts, and im talking about total recounts, over two months and was unable to discover the alleged fraud on an industrial scale. They did find some irregularities, and they find them in both camps, and the numbers were reduced by 1 . So again the article in the Washington Post told about legitimizing the government. This is a legitimate government, and if you dont believe in elections, maybe the u. S. Should stop talking about democracy, because democracy is believing in the voice of the people and what they say. I dont know which number this other meth. There are quite a few. The unity government is not working. I ask, when Angela Merkel took over six months to put together her unity government, nobody in the world why should they differ in the case of afghanistan . It takes time to create a unity government. Afghanistan is falling apart economically. Well, maybe they mean that the pockets of the previous bureaucratic and political elite are no longer bulging with illgotten money. In my book, less corruption should be considered progress. The present Afghan Government is inefficient and disorganized. Well, it takes time to clean up years of neglect and absence of management. It takes even more time to set up a Solid Foundation of which to build the reforms. Let this keep an open mind for a year or so. Decides, in the u. S. Ipp reef that are already reporting collection of revenue has already increased by 22 in 2015. If anything this is not a sign of disorganization. Afghan men and uncivilized lot eliteracy does not mean lack of culture. This is something people in the west have hard time to understand. It is what you call of culture and it can be deeply ingrained in people. Afghan Traditional Society is highly cultured or of course this is seldom the case for warlords and mercenaries, but isnt that true in most postconflict situations . And again it takes time to replace the reign of violence with the rule of law. And the government is hard at work reforming the Justice System. Afghan women are worse off than before any peace with the taliban will be made at their expense, or its alternative, women have no say in peace negotiations. Ive heard that so many times. Lets get the record straight. The number two on the High Peace Council is no other than the former governor of a problem, no shrinking violets. Another woman is also on the negotiating team, head of the all important afghan women network. Women are taking part in the Peace Process and at the highest levels. Besides, president ghani himself has repeatedly declared in public speeches that the issue of womens rights is nonnegotiable. I was not be surprised if some of you would want to ask the question regarding several of the preceding points i would be an glad to engaging in the question and answer session. It to you more about the topic close to my heart, the women of afghanistan. As i mentioned at the beginning there is a constant stream of women who come to see me. Lately, ive noticed an increasing number of upbeat accounts. Of course, we are far from having solved all the problems and challenges. It has been only a year since the barbaric tragedy in kabul, and even less sense the stoning in lahore, just to name a few cases of violence against women. But the women of afghanistan did not take this lying down and have raised their voices against all this violence. One of the results of their efforts has been the creation with the help of the ministry of womens affairs, of an Emergency Fund dedicated to the victims of violence that will help cover the expenses, especially their legal and medical ones. Another has been the holding of several meetings and conferences with religious scholars as counterparts to discuss what is the place of women in islam and to clarify any misconceptions. And believe me, youd be surprised as to how many injunctions in holy koran preached respect for women and equal treatment of women and men. One very Important Development in our country since the new government came to power 18 months ago has been to greater participation of women in public affairs. We now have four women ministers, all for very active and effective. Our Foreign Service now counts three women and counts three women of us it is, simply before. We almost had her first woman judge at the Supreme Court. Either way, did you know that we have over 250 women judges in afghanistan, or as some of our neighbors do not have even one . Many more women have been joining the civil service. Some of them in responsible positions such as the deputy ministers. The police are aiming at recruiting 5000 women and have already passed the halfway mark. The army has identified positions that are exclusively to be filled by women, also declared some of the positions to be open to both women and men, and so on and so on. In other words, the present and is actively pursuing the integration of women in its decisionmaking processes. Added a cabinet level level a commission for gender policy led by the Vice President and attended by representatives of several ministries has been busy looking into the gender unity of all ministries come every ministry has again taken at which you call your equal opportunity commission. Agenda sensitivity of all official rules and policy. The ongoing reform of the Justice System is also benefiting women. A special division of the Supreme Court is now dedicated to cases of violence against women and children. And is headed by one of the Supreme Court judges. This has ensured special attention and higher speed in resolving those cases. One such case is that which is being carefully examine. Also a special commission of the Supreme Court has been reviewing the cases of every imprisoned woman. Antedate, 95 women have been released or pardoned, and 42 have seen their sentences reduced. New regulations regarding harassment at the workplace were issued in september 2015. The criminal court is being amended so that women running away from home are no longer automatically considered criminals and sent to jail. Here again, the more adjustments are still needed, but the Justice System is definitely becoming increasingly fair towards women. And i could go on and on about the women friendly policies that are being implemented by the ministry of womens affairs, agriculture, of Rural Development and of labor and social affairs. Following the guidelines of the official National WomenEconomic Empowerment plan. My own team of advisers has also had their share in bringing improvement to the condition of women in afghanistan. In the health field one major a competent has been the formation of an afghan cancer association, bringing together all existing health care for specials under the auspices of the Public Health ministry to set up a unified policy towards the fight against cancer with an emphasis on breast and cervical cancer. Similarly, office has supported a Campaign Launched iv counternarcotics ministry. It is help in establishing a Treatment Center for addicts. For those of you who have been to afghanistan at the time it was called the phoenix camp. We now call it the center of hope, center for hope. With one special hospital dedicated to the treatment of 300 women addicts. So it will not surprise you if i conclude today with a message of hope. The hope that i see on the basis of the women who come to visit with me, the hope that these women are slowly regaining control of their destiny, the hope that the protections afforded to them by the afghan constitution is gaining momentum, the hope that they can become active participants in their countries social, economic, and political life. Hope that they can dream again for a Better Future for them and their families. Nowhere is this message of hope stronger than in the lives of the rising generations. We have terrific young women coming up. I see it in a woman with a starting load of barely 1700, the equivalent of 40 around there. She found the way to start three small businesses, opened the high school and buy a piece of land on which shields to build a pasta factory. Thats ambition. I see it in the contemporary the acutely aware of the educational aspirations of girls from the provinces, because girls in kabul and other urban centers have education. But in the provinces its still very difficult. She is finding so many ways to provide them with opportunities for learning in kabul and abroad. She gets some scholarships here in the states, the academy in jordan. She sent some i think in, i think its singapore, im not quite sure. And was about to develop a dream of opening a boarding secondary and high school for them in the capital of kabul. I see it in another of the contemporary nuggets. She founded her own ngo in order to be of help to the community. Attending to those in need, and to singlehandedly managed to a company 20 handicap children to india where she had arranged for the treatment. And came back with 17 of them now able to walk. It was wonderful to see those little guys coming back to the airport. I see it in leila who, after soviets of taking care of her brother who was addicted to drugs, decided to open a shelter where 40 actors are passionate addicts are attending and whos running a small restaurant in order to cover her expenses. I see it in another mba graduate from the American University in afghanistan who after some years of helping University Student in the department of economics start their own business. Its not about to start a venture herself that covers the whole process of production of four threads and carpets in order to grade 5000 jobs to women in afghan provinces. If this is not hope, what is . Thank you. [applause] thank you very much more that clear and forceful statement. I want to thank my friend, fred, and my friend, jim, for their welcome of you, and add my own words of welcome. For the audience so that in the picture, i have known president ghani for a very long time, since we were in high school together. In fact, when we were going to come to the United States as high school students, we went to the American Embassy together to get a visa. And in filling the application for that visa, first name, last name. And i did not know what the last name meant. Because as you know, most afghans have just a first thing. So the president , dr. Ghani, was next to me so he was a little more were believed that i was at that time because i had just come from kabul and he was a resident of kabul for a long time. And so i asked for his advice, what is this lasting . So he explained to me that your father same is how lille, which it was, my father is dead now and so immediately we made my last name on the spot. Which ha is served well by thank them for that. And we have been interact