In aftermath of the Taliban regime, questions abound about the status of women in Afghanistan, including:

• What are the prospects for inclusion of women in Afghan government and society, and what progress was made toward that end at the UNIFEM Afghan Women's Leadership Summit in Brussels and at the meeting of the Emergency Committee of the Loya Jirga in Rome?
• What are the prospects for gender equity, civil liberties and access to education in post-Taliban Afghanistan?
• Were Afghan women's issues adequately addressed at the Bonn Conference in December 2001?
• What are the historical, religious, social and cultural underpinnings of these questions?

This discussion was webcast live and included questions from the floor and the Internet audience.

Speakers

• Rina Amiri
  Senior Associate for Research, Women and Public Policy Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
• Zieba Shorish-Shamley
  Executive Director, Women's Alliance for Peace and Human Rights in Afghanistan (WAPHA)
• Theresa Loar, Moderator
  CEO, Vital Voices Global Partnership; formerly Director of the President's Interagency Council on Women, Clinton administration