Afghanistan plans housing for a million women

08.04.2005 Lack of title deeds, traditions of political patronage, and inability of women to own property are just some of the factors which will make it difficult for the poor in Africa to cope with changing patterns of land use in the 21st century.

KABUL: Mah Gul is a 40-year-old widow living with her four children in the dusty shell of a battle-scarred building in the Bari Khot district of the Afghan capital Kabul. “I must get somewhere for my family to live, here there is no water, no windows even, it’s worse than a tent and I have endured this for three years,” she said.

She’s one of countless impoverished women, who are forced to live in ruined houses or derelict public buildings due to a severe lack of shelter in post-war Afghanistan.

To begin to address the national problem, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs announced on Tuesday in the capital that it was planning to build accommodation for at least 1 million vulnerable Afghan women in the city. Last month an agreement was signed with a German construction company to launch the countrywide project.

more...

Source: IRIN News.