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By Susan Sachs

Globe and Mail
Friday, November 18, 2011
Paris

When the world meets in Germany in two weeks to talk about Afghanistan, will women’s voices be heard?
 
That’s the question – and the concern – being expressed by a wide range of international human rights organizations and by Afghan women who are behind the Green Scarves for Solidarity campaign and a host of other initiatives.
 
The aim of the Bonn conference, which is expected to feature 90 foreign ministers and 1,000 participants, is to garner international pledges of long-term support for Afghanistan after the planned exit of foreign troops in three years.
 
But like most big get-togethers of this type, the most intensive lobbying and politicking is taking place before the scripted conference. They concern who will go as official delegates, who will get face time with the VIPs, who will get access to the media and whose agenda will get attention.
 
The competition will be fierce.

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