New Afghan women's magazine snatched up

Monday, 11 February, 2002, 12:03 GMT

Editorial meeting: An unthinkable sight during the Taleban era

By BBC News Online's Marcus George in Afghanistan

Last year, a magazine produced for women by women in Taleban-ruled Afghanistan would have been completely unthinkable.

But just three issues in and Woman's Mirror has cast a happy spell on the women of Kabul and has gained the approval of the interim government.

If I think about the changes from just a few months ago... my heart stops and I become speechless

Editor Shukria Barekzai Dawi

Its creators have carefully - and perhaps wisely in a country where memories of the harsh rule of the Taleban remain fresh - sought to establish its Islamic credentials.

In a philosophical editorial, it considers: "In the past, in no place... did women ever count for anything.

"But holy Islam, which came into existence 14 centuries ago, respected the rights of women without any campaign or struggle and made equal all rules and laws.

"In fact, in the view of Islam, women are equal to men in many regulations, laws and transactions, and sometimes are superior and more important," it states.

Renaissance

If these words had been printed last year, Taleban authorities would have undoubtedly been shocked and demanded immediate action.

Woman's Mirror is printed in two languages

This is not yet a revolution for women, but perhaps it is at least the beginning of a renaissance of their civil rights.

Although it has a small circulation - just 1,000 copies each week - Woman's Mirror is lapped up by the public after five years of strict Taleban doctrine, which prohibited all but a handful of government-controlled newspapers.

"Afghan women have received it enthusiastically. We have taken criticism and are ready to take more. They have pointed out problems, which has been useful for us," said editor Shukria Barekzai Dawi.

One of these might be that the magazine urgently needs to extend its print run.

"One day we were taking a stack of the papers to the Ministry of Education, to distribute them in the schools," Ms Barekzai Dawi said. "But before we reached the ministry all the copies had gone."

Broad appeal

Produced weekly in two languages by four women journalists, the four-page paper aims to appeal to a wide cross-section of female readers.

The magazine urgently needs to expand

The front page deals with the major news stories of the week.

Page two covers issues including education, health and Islam, page three features on beauty and cooking, and page four, more news and features.

"My main goal is to improve the understanding and knowledge of Afghan women in our society. I want to work for them and with them and to reflect all the realities in the newspaper," Ms Barekzai Dawi told me.

"But every step forward for us has been a problem. Our facilities are really limited and we don't have the things we need."

Plans are afoot to increase the circulation. Ms Barekzai Dawi stressed that the magazine was being funded solely by her aid agency, Asia.

Education undercover

Asia had held secret schools during the era of the Taleban, and continues them in the open to this day.

The approach to one of Kabul's 'hidden' schools

I was taken to one of these schools, a legacy of the years when education for girls was banned.

We walked for 10 minutes up muddy alleys, reaching the top of a hill.

Inside bolted doors a class of 20 girls of all ages were being taught Dari, the Afghan language.

"Even though education is now legal, we can't move because the agency cannot afford it," said the teacher.

Asia runs another five classes teaching more than 150 girls around Kabul.

Times have changed for women of the city, and despite the increasing work load, Ms Barekzai Dawi is happier than ever.

"I cannot express my feelings in words. Everyone likes freedom, especially freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

"If I think about the changes from just a few months ago, if I think about how all this used to be banned, my heart stops and I become speechless."