National Events
Interactive Session with The Honourable, Rula Ghani The First Lady of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
FLO organised an interactive session with The Honourable, Rula Ghani the First Lady of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on April 16th, 2015 at FICCI.
She interacted with FLO members and shared her experiences on empowerment of women in Afghanistan. She also looked at exploring the possibilities of tapping the social, cultural & economic opportunities in India, which would deepen the synergies between both the countries.
HE Rula Ghani mentioned the beginning of a new significant era in her country and was positive that her nation could draw a lot of inspiration from India, especially in the field of women empowerment. “If Indian women can do it, why not the Afghan women”, she added. She also mentioned that India is the fourth largest donor to Afghanistan. “It has been a substantial helping hand you have extended to Afghanistan. We are very appreciative and thankful,” she said.
The First Lady also talked about the five circles in the foreign policy of Afghanistan. She said “My husband calls them ‘circles’. The first one is local within Afghanistan, the second one is with our neighbouring countries and India is very much into that circle.”
FLO President, Archana Garodia Gupta, in her welcome address, said “Women empowerment is another common thread that connects both the countries, besides social, cultural, economic & political relations”. She added that FLO would be delighted to explore the possibilities of:
- Working jointly towards the common goal of women empowerment.
- Entrepreneurs exchange programme, with the goal of promoting women entrepreneurship & professional excellence.
- Use the common modalities for capacity building & skill development programmes for women.
- This could be undertaken under the ITECH programme of the Ministry of External Affairs, if possible.
- Invitation to Afghan women entrepreneurs to participate in the FLO- SCWEC Exhibition to be held at FICCI in September 2015.
H E Amb Shaida Mohammad Abdali, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to India also graced the occasion.
Vasvi Bharat Ram, Vice President FLO gave the vote of thanks.
The interactive session was covered by Headlines Today and telecasted in an exclusive 20 minutes slot. The Link is appended:
