Under the oppressive Taliban regime, Afghan women had no rights and suffered as non-citizens forbidden from education, work, proper healthcare, and travel even within city limits without a male guardian or relative. After the September 11th 2001 tragedy, Kabul was finally liberated through the efforts of Coalition forces – and so were Afghan women. The achievements thus far in Afghanistan have been heroic but the going has been slow, and the long road ahead to democracy is filled with obstacles for the Afghan people and especially Afghan women to overcome.

Historic elections were recently held in Afghanistan on October 9th, 2004. More than 8 Million Afghan voters participated in these mostly violent-free elections, with women comprising a remarkable 42% of registered voters. The election was an astonishing success, surpassing the expectations of even the most optimistic observers. Indeed the first ballot to be cast was by a 19 year old Afghan woman in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan. This small act speaks volumes about the will and determination of Afghan women, and demonstrates that they have come a long way both socially and politically since the Taliban were driven from power a little over three years ago.

In last January’s Constitutional Loya Jirga, it was women who had the courage to stand up and ask the hard questions, stirring up emotion and controversy among predominantly male constituents and political leaders. It was the unity of their voices that insured that under the new constitution ratified in 2004, women are protected as citizens with guaranteed equal rights in Afghanistan.

Afghan women are now leading the small business revival throughout the country. At a recent awards ceremony honoring entrepreneurs who have successfully started small businesses with the assistance of microfinance programs, 18 of the 23 recipients were women. And, access to media and other forms of _expression are on the rise, including new women-run radio stations.

Women by the hundreds of thousands have returned to work and to school to reclaim an education that was forbidden to them during the five-year Taliban regime. More than four million children have returned to school, and one-third of those students are girls. However, poverty, malnutrition, poor healthcare, violence, illiteracy and forced marriage are among the many human security concerns that still face Afghan women today.

Here are some of the startling and ongoing challenges that still demand attention and require assistance from the international community:

After almost three decades of war and destruction accompanied by severe drought, Afghanistan has the world's worst health indicators. The country’s first National Human Development Report, just released on February 21st by the United Nations Development Program, presents a gloomy picture. Afghanistan is ranked 173 out of 178 nations on the 2004 Human Development Index. Only a few Sub-Saharan nations rank lower. Afghans have a life expectancy of 44.5 years, among the lowest in the world. The infant mortality rate is 115 per 1,000 births; in most Western countries, the rate is fewer than 30 per 1,000 live births.

Although access to healthcare for women has improved, it is still severely restricted in rural areas. Afghanistan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, which means that a woman in Afghanistan now dies in childbirth every 30 minutes, usually without access to even a nurse. UNICEF reports that 1,600 women per 100,000 die in childbirth in Afghanistan; in stark contrast to the UK, for example, where the rate is 16 per 100,000. In the most remote areas the maternal mortality rate is 6,000 per 100,000, meaning that 6 percent of women die during childbirth. Even if mother and baby survive, their prospects are dismal. One in five children dies before their fifth birthday from diseases that are 80 percent preventable.

Chronic shortages of trained doctors, midwives and hospitals also mean most women who develop complications during labor are likely to die. There are very few clinics and hospitals dealing in reproductive health and childbirth for an estimated 25 million people who live in Afghanistan.

Another tragic situation has been the reporting of at least 50 cases of self-immolation among very young women in just the last year and a half, protesting their forced marriages to much older men. A fair system of justice complemented by a modern education system can remedy such long-standing traditions that collide with the younger generation’s aspirations.

In a country endowed with rich water sources but plagued by years of drought, seventy-five percent of the population does not have access to safe drinking water. And, Afghanistan is among one of the six remaining countries in the world where polio, like landmines, still kills and maims many children every day.

Although improving, security is still one of the greatest challenges, especially in the Pakistani border regions with Taliban and Al-Qaeda incursions. The narcotics trade results in ongoing corruption and an imbalance of power at the hands of local renegade commanders, who still manage to defy the reach of the central government.

Wages are extremely low. Civil servants, teachers and even doctors are lucky to receive between $40 and $100 per month. Building up administrative capacity by teaching Afghans modern-day management skills is a necessity.

The Afghan population is said to be 70 percent illiterate, and illiteracy among women in rural areas is estimated at 98 percent. Even in Kabul, probably no more than half the population is literate. The Afghan government has estimated that nearly 2,000 schools will need to be constructed every year for the next five years to meet the demands for education.

Education and economic opportunity for all Afghans will lead to improvements in human rights and social equality. But this process will take many years with democracy still in its early stages of development. The legitimate grievances of the Afghan people must be addressed, and the interests of other nations should not overshadow the needs for human security. Afghans should rightly expect to lead a life of dignity, free from fear and disparity.

At two major aid conferences in Tokyo (2002) and Berlin (2004), the world pledged strong support for Afghanistan. The Afghans welcomed and expressed appreciation for the donors’ generosity. However, the disbursement of funds for reconstruction projects and rebuilding the country’s infrastructure has taken longer to materialize. All stakeholders now agree that developmental prioritization and implementation should bring qualitative change to the lives of the people and make the country’s economy more sustainable. It is crucial to rebuild systems of agriculture, water management and renewable energy sources, and create opportunities within the private sector that will have a real, lasting and positive impact in Afghan society, especially for Afghan women.

This April, the annual Afghan Development Forum will be held in Kabul, bringing together donor countries and the Afghan government to review the funding and allocation of aid for various sectors of the economy. Canada is a major force in improving stability and rebuilding Afghanistan. This meeting is an occasion for the donors and the newly elected Afghan government to look at the overall funding objectives and development priorities of Afghanistan. It offers an opportunity to study how countries have and could be spending their aid money on essential reconstruction and development that works in Afghanistan. This is an opportunity that must not be wasted.

(The author is the former Kabul bureau chief and correspondent for Fox News Channel, and is the wife of the Afghan Ambassador to Canada)