On the occasion of World Women’s Day, first German and French Awards for Afghan women have been announced, highlighting the efforts of Afghan women to make better the image of Afghan women in the world. The awards were given to Amna Hassani, the photographer and Sharifa Danish, the painter, sculptor and poet. Both the women were given away the awards that included 20,000 Euros in a gathering arranged in Kabul in which high-ranked officials and distinguished guests participated.

Talking on the occasion, German ambassador for Afghanistan stated that these awards aim for promoting the efforts of Afghan women who show some kind of outstanding performance in different fields of life. Every year, awards will be given for Afghan women doing some kind of remarkable work in different fields of life and for the year 2014, the field of art and culture were chosen.

Both the women told about the numerous difficulties that they encountered in their respective fields. Amna Hassani described that she withstood a number of difficulties and once, her camera was also broken down. She said that she used the art of photography to express her feelings and show the difficulties of society.

While another winner, Sharifa Danish has dedicated her life for the promotion of art in the country. She also faced numerous difficulties and large numbers of her paintings were destroyed in the Taliban regime. She also demanded for extended efforts for the promotion of arts and culture in the Afghan society.

Time and again we hear about the individual efforts of Afghan women who show that Afghan women are talented and they have all the skills and confidence to exhibit outstanding performance in different fields of life. This shows that, if favorable conditions were provided, an Afghan woman can perform any kind of task and there should not be any kind of doubt in this regard. On the other hand, it is a sad fact that an Afghan woman is considered an object to be kept reserved to the boundaries of the house and is denied of her rights. She also becomes the continuous victim of the atrocities of the male members of the house.

No doubt, these individual efforts are worth-praising that are highlighting the good image of Afghan women in the world but it is also a truth that government, concerned ministry, activists of women’s rights and NGOs are not doing their duties properly because of which atrocities on Afghan women are increasing which is defaming the image of the country as well. Until and unless these true agents of the protection of women’s rights don’t perform their duties properly, any solid and visible change may not be possible.