The author of Gendered Aid
Interventions and Afghan Women: Images versus Realities, is Lina
Abirafeh and the editor is Faegheh Shirazi. Lina Abirafeh, She also the author
of Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan: The Politics and Effects of
Intervention, Director of the Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World
Lebanese American University, International Advisory Board Member, Forced
Migration Review, Advisory Board Member - Gender-Based Violence Technical
Specialist, ABAAD Resource Centre for Gender Equality.
Afghanistan, officially the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South
Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making
it the forty-second most populous country in the world. It is bordered by
Pakistan in the south and east; Iran in the west; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and
Tajikistan in the north; and China in the far northeast. Basically, this book
is about the limitation of Afghan women can do in their life. They also found
themselves at the centre conflict between the ideas of modernization but they
still have to stick to their codes culture. The Taliban, fundamentalist Muslim
movement whose militia took control of much of Afghanistan from early 1995, and
in 1996 took Kabul and set up a radical Islamic. The Taliban imposed a virtual
state of curfew on women, curtailing their freedom to move, to work and to be
educated.
Media plays a major role in
influences the way aid institutions approach gender issues during conflict.
Media always portray Afghan women as victim, hidden away and anonymous. This
stereotype makes Afghan women looks like weak, can’t handle themselves, and
mysterious. They were rarely portrayed as someone that strong, independent and have
the courage to manage of themselves. Lina also describe the Afghan women’s
identities, which is their place often defined by family, community, economic
and social security. Their five aspects of their identity mainly are, national
identity, religious identity, ethnic/tribal identity, gender identity, and
family identity. Religion is important part in their life. Majority of them is
Islam. An eighteen-year-old single female pointed out that “religion is an
important part of our society. Without it, there cannot be progress”.
Overall, Lina did a nice work by
interviewing the real people in Afghanistan to know the real story. She also
used another point of view from different person to support what she knew about
the culture. She also good organizing the paragraph and makes the text really
interesting to read. This book is really recommended for people that want to
learn more about Afghan women and history of Afghanistan.