Gendered Aid Interventions and Afghan Women: Images versus Realities

                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.