Thanks to a new public awareness campaign, women throughout Nangarhar now have a better understanding of their rights.  On January 20, USAID launched a one-month Women’s Access to Justice Campaign province-wide, reaching out to low-income women who have little knowledge of the law or their rights and who do not know where to turn for legal assistance.  It encourages women to use the court system by explaining that they have the right to use the courts and that it is not shameful to do so. 

The campaign uses a variety of media, ensuring that information reaches even those women who live in remote villages or who cannot read.  The message that "Access to justice is the right of every man and woman" is repeated in both broadcast media and on posters, shopping bags, school bags, and other items that get frequent and public use. Over the course of the campaign, USAID will distribute a total of 66,000 comic books, 40,000 pamphlets, 5,000 stickers, 30,000 canvas bags, 900 posters, 15,000 pens, and 25,000 school bags bearing women’s rights messages.

Principal of Bibi Zainab Girls’ School Bibi Haji Afghan Gul praised the program.  “By distributing the school bags to the students,” she said, “you are not only educating the students, but [also] their families and everyone in the community who will see and read the message on the backpack.”

USAID/Afghanistan Program Highlights Double Issue: 1/16/2009-2/15/2009 2/15/2009