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As I was scanning the WomenWatch newsfeed to decide what would be a good topic for this mission, my attention was arrested by the link titled "In Afghanistan, Mullahs use Islam to help women". I was intrigued. I am aware that the Quran is quoted both to empower and to suppress women, just as the Bible and other religious books and texts are used to support both sides of many an argument.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting a national program requiring mullahs and other Islamic leaders to raise awareness on the consequences of early marriage, forced marriage and gender-based violence. Participants also discuss inheritance issues, including a comparison between what Islamic Law says about a woman's right to inheritance and what happens in practice.
The full story can be found here: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SMAR-83G5JP?OpenDoc**e...
I found this encouraging. It started as a local program and went national. I hope it is a huge sucess.
I researched further on initiatives in Afghanistan using the Mullahs to empower women and found another encouraging report. Mullahs Distribute Condoms, Use Quran to Promote Birth Control http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/03/mullahs-distribute-condom_...
This was also reported here: Afghan Mullahs Promote Birth Control to Save Lives http://www.aolnews.com/health/article/under-who-intiative-afghan-mu...
According to the reports, the program has been remarkably successful. While an estimated 10 percent of women in Afghanistan use birth control, that number rose to 27 percent in the three targeted locales. Afghanistan's maternal death rate of 1,800 per 100,000 live births is topped only by Sierra Leone worldwide. (Per both articles)
Afghanistan's population by all reports places their trust in their religious scholars and mullahs, who are respected as wise and honest community leaders that safeguard society's values. If enough of these local leaders are introduced to these programs and agree with them, it could mean a major change in the empowerment of women in Afghanistan.
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