Mr President, although it was a year ago that Afghanistan's Taliban regime was toppled, there has been scarcely any improvement in the appalling position of women there. That became convincingly apparent to the first five-man delegation from this House, instigated by the Group of the , who recently visited Afghanistan – not only Kabul, but also up-country. The health care system is a disaster, and an Afghan woman dies, either as a result of pregnancy or in childbirth, every 20 minutes. That is the highest rate recorded worldwide. The education system had colla d utterly. Today, girls' schools are again vulnerable to attacks by fundamentalists. Most Afghan women are barred from taking up employment, and they have little or no share in political power or in the work of reconstruction. We had discussions with President Karzai and with many members of his cabinet, and appealed to them in unambiguous terms for the Petersberg resolutions to be implemented only with women participating in the proper way. The European Union is helping in so far as it is able. I want to reiterate that the Commission is doing excellent work on the ground, in that – as Commissioner Patten has said – its officials on the ground are playing a very substantial part in nation-building, and doing so with the greatest personal dedication, for which they deserve our especial thanks. Let us take a look into the future. I urge Parliament's Bureau to invite both President Karzai and the chair of the independent human rights commission, Dr. Sima Samar, to Parliament with the prime purpose of our discussing with them the preparations for the elections and for the Loja Jirga that is to produce a constitution. The clear message to a democratic Afghanistan must be that this constitution must, without reservations, give women's rights a solid base. It is difficult to get back to normality in a country in which, according to one American study, 70% of all Afghan women suffer from severe depression and 65% keep contemplating suicide. The subject of sexual violence is shrouded in strict social taboos. We heard complaints from women's organisations to the effect that their work, even in the international organisations, was made extremely difficult by restrictions on women's mobility, including their being prohibited from driving cars or even riding bicycles. The Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities has taken up this issue on many occasions. We had discussions with the Minister for Women, Mrs Sobrani – the deputy minister, as it happens – and she complained that she received no financial resources for her department. The lack of coordination leads to friction costs in the work of the NGOs and government offices. This is somewhere else where we must help. It is unfortunate that there is still no banking system in Afghanistan, and this is another factor that continues to encourage corruption. It does, however, give me great satisfaction to learn that there is strong consensus here in this House, within the presidency and the Commission, that the position of women needs to be improved. Let us, then, set about improving the position of women, hoping for peace and stability in the region! And the message to our American friends must be: no war in the Middle East!

Political group: PSE