12/04/2022
The inauguration of the Afghan Women Parliamentarians and Leaders Network (AWPLN) was held on Tuesday, April 5th at 17:00 at the Old Parliament House in Athens in an emotional atmosphere. The historically unprecedented event of a political advocacy network led by women in exile, also had a profound symbolism: that of being created in Greece, the country that gave birth to the idea of democracy, after the collapse of democracy in their own country,
The organization was founded by Afghan women parliamentarians and other leaders, who were evacuated to Greece after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan last August, with the support of an international chain of solidarity.
Opening remarks were held by the guest speakers, Maria Syreggela, Deputy Minister of Demographic Policy, Family and Gender Equality, Stella Ronner-Grubačič, Ambassador for Gender and Diversity, European External Action Service (EEAS), Hannah Neumann, Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Greens/EFA, Manos Moschopoulos from the Open Society Foundations, and Nadina Christopoulou, from Melissa Network, while present were Chara Kafantari and Giorgos Psychogios, Members of the Parliament (Syriza), and George Kaminis, Member of the Parliament, and Vassilis Chronopoulos (Kinima Allagis), as well as embassy representatives and migrant and refugee community leaders. Women leaders from the Ukrainian community attended the event, sharing a moving moment of silence for Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Since the beginning of their days in exile in Greece, these women leaders met regularly at Melissa Network in Athens, in order to work for their people within and outside Afghanistan. Τhey have set up thematic committees, and have been systematically liaising with their counterparts worldwide, holding high-level meetings and consultations within and outside the EU. They are part of the Afghan Women’s Forum of the European External Action Service, and will operate globally.
Other than its president Nazifa Yusufi-Bek, an MP and academic, the main speakers were MPs Halima Askari, Shagofa Noorzai and Wagma Safay, judge Hasina Haidari and civil society leader Mobina Akbari. The event opened with a message of peace and solidarity from the Quran and a poem by 13-year-old Elhama Hashimi and closed with a Letter to the World, by 11-year-old Nurina Karimi.