Afghanistan: The View From Parliament

With an upcoming presidential election and the anticipated withdrawal of U.S. troops, 2014 will be a very important year for Afghanistan. Naheed Farid is the youngest Member of the Afghan Parliament. She provides perspective on Afghanistan’s present and future with a special focus on the concerns and hopes for women and young people.

Selected Quotes

Naheed Farid

"It’s a very important year, 2014, is the year that we are facing the first transformation of power from one elected president to another. So this is very important for all Afghans, and they are watching and concerned. They watch what happened and they are concerned about the future of this election. At the same time… the US and the international troops withdrawal makes this situation more concerning because people think… at the same time that we are having a transformation of power, we face a lack of security, then the country will get back and we’ll have some backwardness that we really don’t expect."

"Now, if [the] Taliban come back, there are a lot of achievements that will be undermined. For example, if they come and they want judicial power. So, what happens to the right of access to justice of women? If they come and they want to change the books that girls and boys are studying in school, what happens to the 10 years… of energy and force that we spent for these boys and girls to… draw their path for their future? So I think this is a threat."

"A group like [the] Taliban commit[ed] a lot of crimes in the history of Afghanistan—especially for women. They put women for 7 years [in] their homes. No access to justice, no access to education, no access to bazaars, to walking, to their basic rights. So, as a representative of women, I do not accept that."