Afghans need more ownership over rebuilding effort, Canadian NGO says

Aid workers need to give more space to the local people in Afghanistan and involve them in efforts to rebuild the war-torn country, the Afghan director of the Montreal-based NGO Rights and Democracy, tells The Canadian Press.

She added that some international organizations attempt to impose western solutions to Afghanistan’s human rights problems.

“You are also supposed to help their rebuilding capacity,” she said. “People should learn how to build their own future. You cannot always go and repair it for them.”

Hasan also spoke positively about using Islam as a tool for change. “There are some interpretations which have a restricted view of women’s rights and these limiting interpretations are the ones mostly seen by the world,” she said. “There is a lot of space for women’s rights in Islam... and we can use it today in our present reality.”

The article noted that: “According to recent figures, only 35 per cent of girls of school age attend classes, with only 10 per cent of girls attending secondary school. In five southern provinces – where support for the Taliban is still high – at least 90 per cent of school-age girls do not attend school.”

“Women’s right is not an overnight thing, women don't just take off their scarves and become modern,” Hassan said. “If you are already there, then you have to make sure you successfully stay there, and then you'll see changes.”

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