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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview with Medea Benjamin

Aired November 18, 2001 - 10:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: At a news conference today, UN officials said the Northern Alliance has yet to give permission for aid workers from nongovernmental organizations to fly into Bagram Airbase, that's near Kabul. The UN is stepping up its humanitarian efforts to millions of hungry and homeless Afghans before that harsh winter weather is setting in.

And speaking of refugees, a team of delegates will soon arrive to investigate refugee conditions, how aid's being distributed and examine what role women should play in a new Afghanistan government.

Medea Benjamin, from the Global Exchange, joins us to talk more about this interview. The plight of women in Afghanistan has been made much of. Has it improved, say, with the Northern Alliance moving into areas?

MEDEA BENJAMIN, GLOBAL EXCHANGE: Well, that's what we're not sure of. And what's very disconcerting is that the U.S. government is organizing a lot of meetings to talk about post-Taliban government, and there are no women in any of these meetings. And we've been talking to women in Pakistan who are anxious to go to Afghanistan to talk to women about the role, they feel, they should play in the new government.

SAVIDGE: Well, yesterday, Laura Bush went on the radio, and she was talking about the plight of women. Once again, sort of downplaying the Taliban and up with the women there. Is it that the U.S. is, sort of, using women as a cause but not necessarily empowering them in what is to follow in Afghanistan?

BENJAMIN: Well, that's what it seems like, Martin, and that's why we're very concerned. Women have been not only the most oppressed, but they've also been on the forefront of fighting the Taliban, clandestinely, at great risk to their lives, and they really deserve to be at the table. They deserve to have key roles in the new government.

SAVIDGE: All right, well, how do you make that happen?

BENJAMIN: Well, we're going there to speak to these women to see what we can do upon our return to pressure the U.S. government, so that in these meetings women are included. And we feel that it's important that we, as women in the United States, come out and speak very strongly in favor of women in a role in the new government. SAVIDGE: And is this a role that the women of Afghanistan want to play?

BENJAMIN: Well, yes, very much so. In fact, the discussions we've had with the women in exile in Pakistan, they say they have been trying very hard to get in on these meetings. In fact, there was a meeting, a couple of weeks ago, in Peshawar, Pakistan, where there were 1,200 men that came together, not one woman was allowed inside that meeting.

SAVIDGE: I don't want to let you go without talking about the refugee situation, specifically, food and aid getting in. Obviously, it would seem much better given the fact that the military way has been cleared for the convoys is that the case?

BENJAMIN: Well, that certainly is a positive development, but again, we're hearing that the aid is not getting in. And we are particularly concerned that there're so many women and children refugees that do not have access to this aid. That's why we're sending this woman's delegation to look into where the aid is going, where it isn't going and how we can comeback and again pressure from here in the United States to make sure those avenues are opened up very quickly.

SAVIDGE: All right, Medea Benjamin from the Global Exchange talking about the role of women in Afghanistan. Thanks for being with us this morning.

BENJAMIN: Thanks for having me on, Martin.

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