Afghan Women Take Spotlight

Two events brought out members of Capitol Hill as well the first lady to celebrate Afghan women and their ties with Americans. On Dec. 4, Ariana Outreach of Virginia and International Orphan Care of Los Angeles hosted the first Afghan and American Sisterhood Award Gala in the Cannon Congressional Building to highlight the plight of the Afghan people and the union of Afghan and American women. And earlier in the day, first lady Laura Bush took the podium at Georgetown University to announce a formal partnership between the university and the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council.

“This new partnership will expand and improve the Afghan Women’s Council,” Bush said, referring to the council that was established by her husband and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2002 to promote public-private partnerships in Afghanistan and the United States and to mobilize resources to improve the lives of Afghan women.

The council’s various initiatives have already helped women reclaim “their place with men at the center of Afghan society,” said the first lady. “With the support of Georgetown, the council will work to improve the lives of even more women in Afghanistan,” she added, explaining how over the next two years, the council will transition from its current home at the State Department to fully integrate into Georgetown.

Following the first lady’s speech, Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky introduced the council’s new and returning board members and applauded Georgetown for its many collaborative projects related to Afghanistan.

“The partnership will strengthen the council’s work in helping Afghan women, and indeed all Afghans, transform their lives for the better,” said Dobriansky, “and will provide Georgetown University with an opportunity to apply the resources and expertise found in its various schools, centers and institutions to an area of such vital importance.”

One of Dobriansky’s State Department colleagues received special recognition for her work on behalf of Afghan women later that evening at a Capitol Hill reception that attracted Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) and the gala’s host, Meridian International Center President Stuart Holliday.

Ariana Outreach presented its inaugural Afghan American Sisterhood Award to Charlotte (Charlie) Ponticelli, senior advisor in the Office of Refugees, Population and Migration at the State Department, as well as to Sonia Nassery Cole, founder of the Afghanistan World Foundation, for their contributions to the empowerment of Afghan women.

A Baltimore, Md., native and long-time human rights advocate, Ponticelli has spent considerable time working inside Afghanistan on issues aimed at improving the daily lives of Afghan women and children, calling her work the “most rewarding experience of my life.” Philanthropist and advocate Cole was honored as the Afghan recipient of the Sisterhood Award for her relentless efforts in the reconstruction process of Afghanistan.

Humira Noorestani, founder of Ariana Outreach, said she was impressed by the turnout at the inaugural gala, which featured more than 200 guests. “The Afghan Diaspora has been present for 25 plus years, yet they do not have a real voice in Washington. As an Afghan-American woman, I will not allow my country to crumble again,” she said.

Nominations for next year’s award recipients to honor an Afghan and an American woman are being accepted until Jan. 13. To apply, visit www.arianaoutreach.com.

On Dec. 4, first lady Laura Bush took the podium at Georgetown University to announce a formal partnership between the university and the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council.


Photos: Phil Humnicky / Georgetown University