Gains, Setbacks for Women's Equality in Afghanistan, Banglad

This week marked the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.
In two South Asian countries, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, women seeking equality have seen some surprising gains despite ongoing¹ setbacks.
VOA's Sarah Williams spoke² with Carol Yost, director of the Asia Foundation's Women's Empowerment Program, who says women fared very well in last year's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan.
"They [women] hold 27 percent of the seats in the national assembly and 25 percent in the provincial³ councils. So that has been remarkable⁴ progress and, in fact, is higher than many countries in the region."
What do you attribute that high rate to?
"As you know, the Afghan constitution guarantees equal rights for women and forbids any discrimination against women. I think women were very eager to be part of the political process after having been confined to their homes and not able to go to school or hold jobs under the Taliban. And there have been a number of organizations that have really been helping⁵ women develop messages, run for office, encouraging them to run. They are very brave women because in some parts of the country it's very dangerous for them to stand for elections. But they did anyway."
Also, Afghanistan has good news regarding the number of girls now attending school.
"Yes, in the last 10 years since 2001, when they had no girls in school under the Taliban. They have now about 2.5 million out of six million girls of primary schoool age. That is certainly tremendous progress. But there still are major problems in getting all girls into school. There are not enough girls schools. There is a lack of female teachers, so that the families are unwilling⁶ to send their girls to school. There are just male teachers. The schools are too far away to walk. And most of the schools we've been working on are in shambles⁷."
REUTERS
Afghan girls attend their first day of class at a school in the village of Deh Hassan.
"And, yet, there are girls at schools, often three shifts of girls going to school. We've worked in a number of large schools in Kabul and the Kabul environs that have thousands of girls in school and, yet, they can only go to school for a few hours a day because they have to go in shifts to get them all into school. There are inadequate⁸ facilities."
I would think in a country like Afghanistan, in addition to Kabul, in the rural areas, it's probably more challenging for girls to get an education.
"It absolutely is. There is a severe shortage of female teachers. There is a great need to train women in the rural areas to be teachers and get the community support. But the majority of Afghans do want their girls to go to school, polls show. So, that's positive. But the government just has not been able to keep up with the needs of the country."
Looking at another country in South Asia: Bangladesh, where apparently⁹ female students there have made a number of gains in the education system.
"Yes, they have. The enrollment¹⁰ in primary school is over 50 percent now for girls, but the drop out rate for secondary school girls is 50 percent. So, they go through primary school, then their families need them to work at home. They also have one of the highest rates of early marriage in the world in Bangladesh. That's another problem. We have had programs to keep girls in secondary school in many South Asian countries because we find it just has so many benefits, not only to the girls and their children, but their families and communities."
REUTERS
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
And in Bangladesh, of course, there are two women certainly that are very prominent in politics, but in general, how are women involved in the politics of that country on a lower level?
"Well, they've certainly gained visibility and there is a lot of activism of women in the political arena¹¹. And, yet, there's still a long way to go. There are still discriminatory laws in critical areas for women like marriage, divorce, custody¹². The inheritance law still discriminates¹³ against women, who can only inherit half of the property that a son would inherit from their parents. Although the constitution guarantees equal rights, it doesn't translate into equality for women in other aspects of the law."

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

7 shambles   

n.混乱之处；废墟

参考例句：

• My room is a shambles.我房间里乱七八糟。
• The fighting reduced the city to a shambles.这场战斗使这座城市成了一片废墟。

8 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

11 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

12 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

13 discriminates   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的第三人称单数 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• The new law discriminates against lower-paid workers. 这条新法律歧视低工资的工人。
• One test governs state legislation that discriminates against interstate commerce. 一个检验约束歧视州际商业的州立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法