Just a quick note on Lisa's response. As a Pakistani activist working with
NGO's across the country, I have seen what happens when aid becomes tied to
certain conditions: isn't that what happened in Afghanistan? So while in
principle it sounds fine, in practice it further squeezes the space
activists can work in. Further i) development aid gets cut across the board
ii) women and children suffer more because of lack of resources iii) rising
poverty and economic stagnation in the country means that resources are
diverted away from the 'soft' sectors..health & education, and the
extremists are provided with 'fodder' for their propaganda.

So please do not advocate tying resources to improving human rights. This is
a myth. What works is an enabling environment in a country which allows
people to go beyond the daily struggle for survival, seek education, etc.
And please do not call murder 'honor killings'....it is a misnomer and its
time we started calling it by its real name.

Yasmin


On 23 May 2002, Lisa Sharlach wrote:

 >
 >Pressure our representatives to tie the huge amounts of aid we are now 
giving
 >Pakistan (to thank them for helping in the "war on terrorism") with
 >improvements in women's human rights. Our government routinely "ties" aid to
 >liberalization of the recipient country's economy, democratization, greater
 >transparency, etc. Why not human rights of women?
 >



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