For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
March 30, 2005
Remarks by the First Lady at the Women's Teacher Training Institute
Remarks By The First Lady At The Women's Teacher Training Institute
Kabul, Afghanistan March 30, 2005
Thank you for your warm welcome. It is, indeed, an extraordinary
privilege to be with you today to celebrate the incredible progress
that has been made by the people of Afghanistan over these past four
years. I have especially watched with great pride as courageous women
across your country have taken on leadership roles as teachers,
students, doctors, judges, business and community leaders, and
politicians. And no where is that more evident than on this University
campus. The United States Government is wholeheartedly committed to
the full participation of women in all aspects of Afghan society, not
just in Kabul, but in every province.
The National Women's Dormitory and the Women's Teacher Training
Institute will allow women to come from every corner of the country and
have a safe place to stay and study so that they can return home and
share one of life's greatest gifts with their communities - the gift of
an education.
I want to thank Mina Sherzoy, the Head of the Afghan Business
Women's Council, for organizing the marketplace today which showcases
some of the local wares being produced by women entrepreneurs. Mina
recently led a delegation of 14 exceptional women entrepreneurs to the
U.S. to participate in a mini MBA program spearheaded by Barbara
Barrett and Thunderbird University - one of our nation's top
international business schools. One of these exceptional women, Hamira
Nassary, was my guest at President Bush's State of the Union address in
the United States Capitol.
I would also like to thank Dr. Ashraf Ghani, the President of Kabul
University for the opportunity to speak with you today. You are doing
such important work and we greatly appreciate your devotion to the
education of the people of Afghanistan.
It is said that big things have small beginnings. Two years ago,
the teacher training institute was just a dream. In July of 2003, the
US-Afghan Women's Council visited one of my husband's top advisers,
Karen Hughes, in her home town of Austin, Texas. As Karen talked with
them about the most pressing needs facing the women of Afghanistan, the
consensus from her Afghan counterparts, including the Women's Minister,
Habbiba Sarabi, was a dire need for teachers in the remote and rural
communities. Karen was told that women hoping to attend the University
did not have a place to stay. The dormitories had historically only
been for men. Karen told me of these needs, and as a teacher and
librarian myself, I hoped that the United States Government could help
build this institute. Many of you here today have all played a critical
role in making this dream a reality. And from today's small beginnings
we expect the Institute will yield great things
There is much more to this place than the bricks and mortar you see
around us. The ordinary business that will take place here is, in
fact, a symbol itself of the extraordinary leap forward Afghan women
have taken.
We are only a few years removed from the rule of the terrorists,
when women were denied education and every basic human right. That
tyranny has been replaced by a young democracy, and the power of
freedom is on display across Afghanistan.
We must be mindful though, that democracy is more than just
elections. The survival of a free society ultimately depends on the
participation of all its citizens, both men and women. This is
possible if institutions like this exist to give women the basic tools
they need to contribute fully to society-and the most critical tool of
all is an education.
So the hard work of the Institute has begun. Future teachers will
come here for an innovative teacher training course. The Afghan
Literacy Initiative, an accelerated literacy, math, and life skills
curriculum for remote rural communities, where many girls still do not
have access to schools, should have over 2,000 pupils by the end of the
year. These students will be trained in their communities, as a result
of a cascading system of training that begins with the development of
the master trainers, here with us today.
Another program is Learning for Life, a health-focused course that
is designed to help reduce maternal and child mortality. This program
addresses two critical needs for Afghan women: literacy and
healthcare. It will help people learn to read with materials that are
focused on health. This makes literacy directly relevant to something
women care about greatly-the well-being of their families. Over the
next two years, Learning for Life will reach 8,000 women, and of those,
5,500 young women across thirteen provinces will qualify to be trained
as health care workers and midwives.
The Teacher Training Institute is public-private partnership and it
will continue to require the assistance of the Ministry of Education,
numerous private donors, non-governmental organizations, and of course,
the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council.
I would also like to extend a special thanks to two United States
corporations - Microsoft and Dell Computers - for their extraordinary
generosity on behalf of both the Teacher Training Institute and the
International Association of Women Judges. These companies heard that
the women of Afghanistan had a need for technology assistance and they
immediately provided computers, printers, and teaching application
software. This is just one more example of the American people's
commitment to the success of the people of Afghanistan.
Today I am proud to announce the United States' commitment to
another initiative. The United States is supporting the establishment
of the American University of Afghanistan with a multi-year commitment
of more than 15 million dollars. This will provide a modern facility
with an international faculty to educate future leaders.
The American University will aggressively reach out to young Afghan
women, to ensure they feature prominently in the school and bring to it
their invaluable perspective and determination. There will be
appropriate facilities and housing for women, and care will be taken to
be sure the faculty of this co-ed institution is inclusive of women.
The school will also offer scholarships to outstanding young women who
otherwise may not able to attend. Classes will be offered in business,
management, information technology, and other professional areas of
study.
Finally, I'm pleased to announce the development of another
education initiative- the International School of Afghanistan. The
school will provide Afghan children from kindergarten through high
school with a first-rate education through a classical curriculum
including mathematics, language, literature and grammar, the sciences,
social studies, culture and arts. We have dedicated $3.5 million for
the establishment of this school.
These three initiatives are each significant. They are all part of
an overall commitment by President Bush to Afghan education projects
totaling 80 million dollars.
These are more than just development projects-they also signify the
bond between the American and Afghan people. They are symbols of our
shared hopes and dreams for the future. That dream is of a prosperous,
peaceful, and above all, a free Afghanistan, where both men and women
stand upright in equality.
As we have worked together these past years, we have accomplished
much and launched projects that will yield great results in the coming
years. We have also learned a great deal about each other. We have
come to know what is in each other's hearts, and is so doing, come to
understand that we are very much alike.
At this time, I would like to invite Margaret Spellings, America's
Secretary of Education, Noor Mohammed Qarqeen Afghanistan's Minister of
Education, and Dr. Sayed Amir Shah Hassanyaar, Afghanistan's Minister
of Higher Education to join me on the stage to sign an agreement
between our two governments on these important initiatives. I would
also like to ask the American Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay
Khalilzad, Paula Dobriansky, United States Undersecretary of State for
Global Affairs, and Jim Kunder, Assistant Administrator for the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) to join us for the
signing ceremony.
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