As the general director of the Jalal Foundation, a charity organization that focuses on women, Dr. Massouda Jalal travels often to the different provinces of Afghanistan. Her mission to bring aid and raise health and education awareness among families carries great risks given the growing violence and instability in Afghanistan. But Dr. Jalal is doing all she can to help her people and country survive and work for a better future. The typical image of a woman in Afghanistan is that of a hidden, oppressed figure behind a burqa. Dr. Jalal defies that image of Muslim women everywhere with her sense of responsibility, compassion and intelligence.
Massouda Jalal is a medical doctor by training and has been practicing medicine for the past 19 years that also included the period of Taleban rule, in her private clinic in Kabul and at a public children’s hospital. “Female medical staff were allowed by Taleban to work officially at government hospitals or private clinics as long as they were serving women and children, not men,” said Dr. Jalal. With the help of the international community, hospitals are now in a better condition than before, but still, she says, more remains to be done.
She recently rejoined the medical college at Kabul University as a professor. During Taleban years, women lecturers were not allowed so her career at the university stopped shortly after they took over Kabul. The university has improved since then but it too has a long way to go before it attained international standards.
In Afghan universities women represent about 25 percent of enrollment, according to Dr. Jalal who is participating in a research project aimed at upgrading the university departments
Dr. Jalal served as minister of women’s affairs in President Hamid Karzai’s interim government. She was the only woman candidate in the October 2004 presidential elections. Her campaign focused on protecting and promoting Islamic values, restoring democracy within the Islamic framework, strengthening economy, restoring and guaranteeing good relationships with the Islamic countries, establishing a transparent government, and making efforts to realize the ideal of an Afghan Islamic society that is happy, healthy, educated, safe, secure, peaceful, prosperous and just. Out of the 18 candidates, she came in fifth with 1.4 percent of the votes. She believes that if she had succeeded in the elections, “Afghanistan would not be facing the problems it has now.” She contends that her government would have been transparent, accountable and would not have had problems with a neighboring country that “has been a second home for Afghans” during the past three decades.
Now 43 years old, Dr. Jalal studied and worked in Afghanistan always living there. She said she would continue to do what she can to help Afghanistan. Her main concern remains the welfare of women and children. “Despite the international community’s assistance, Afghan women are still suffering. All the recent developmental indexes show that Afghan women’s life is one of the worst,” said Dr. Jalal. According to her, Afghan women suffer from extreme poverty and lack of access to economic opportunities such as employment, business, credits, loans and other financial resources. They also suffer from high illiteracy rate of up to 86 percent and they have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. In some parts of Afghanistan 6,500 out of 100,000 women die at childbirth, said Dr. Jalal.
Some recent UN reports confirm that Afghanistan’s rampant insecurity is holding back efforts to improve the lives of women who still face enormous hardships five years after the fall of the Taleban. According to UN officials who addressed an event to mark the International Women’s Day in Kabul on March 8, 2007, health and education programs cannot penetrate volatile areas and the Taleban’s burning of schools is undermining efforts to put girls into schools. “There are places where women doctors and nurses are not willing to work, even if we provide good salaries,” said UNICEF project officer Suraya Dalil. “We used to have offices with women workers in the provinces but now they are not coming to work because they are receiving threats,” said UN Population Fund program officer Hossai Wardak.
Such difficult conditions make Dr. Massouda Jalal’s efforts even the more critical. She dismisses concern over her safety by emphasizing the good she is doing. “I mean khair (good) to my people and the reward for that is safety and more khair,” she said. “I learned to follow the teachings of our Prophet (peace be upon him) who was khair to humanity. Living with my bigger family, the Afghan community, makes me much more safer. Wherever I go I’m welcomed and appreciated,” she said.
She continues to describe the struggle of Afghan women. They are still deprived of legal protection and services, but at least there is a ray of light in that women are now working in government and nongovernmental offices, earning income for their families. Many girls are also back in school — around 2 million. The new constitution is supportive of women’s rights and has allowed women to participate in all walks of life including government, but she says that translating the constitution’s provisions into actual practice to benefit women would take time. Which is why she is focusing her energy on improving women’s lives, especially that of mothers. “I believe attention to mothers is attention to the families and in the long run attention to the Afghan Muslim community in general,” said Dr. Jalal.
The Jalal Foundation grew out of Afghan Public Relief Organization, which she founded as a NGO about five years ago. Seven months ago the foundation began funding community-based programs for women and children, promoting initiatives and running activities based on its mission, which is to support and empower women. The objectives are to encourage women, especially the young, to get education and scholarships, employment in different fields, and proper mother and child health care. The foundation also seeks capacity building for women to enable them to participate in the peace and reconstruction process of Afghanistan, to provide psychological counseling centers, to raise awareness among women of their Islamic rights and conduct studies on such rights, and to improve the life of around 2 million widows left uncared for after the war. The foundation plans to establish religious schools to educate young girls on the true principles of Islam. “Every drop of assistance would be highly appreciated by Afghan women,” she said.
(For information on Jalal Foundation: [email protected])
