George W. Bush Institute Presents the Conference on Educating and

Empowering the Women and Girls of Afghanistan

DALLAS—The George W. Bush Institute, the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, and the SMU Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development will host a Conference on Education and Literacy on Friday, March 19, 2010, from 10:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Members of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council will be joined by fellow experts and opinion leaders to address the challenges faced by the women and girls of Afghanistan.

Leaders from education, business, government, and philanthropy will work to identify opportunities to promote comprehensive education and literacy training for all Afghan women and girls. Panel discussions will focus on three critical areas: Primary and Secondary Education, Adult Literacy and Higher Education.

Among the conference participants: Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General; Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State and Co-Chair of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council; Dr. Phyllis Magrab, Director of Georgetown’s Center for Child and Human Development and Vice Chair of the U.S. Afghan Women’s Council; Ambassador Paula Dobriansky; Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, Afghan Institute for Learning; Dr. Michael Smith, President of the American University of Afghanistan; Andeisha Farid, founder of the Afghan Child Education and Care Organization; and Paula Nirschel, founder of the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women.

 “In recent years partnerships like the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council have worked to help the women and girls of Afghanistan recover from decades of conflict and oppression.  Yet much work remains,” said former First Lady Laura Bush, Honorary Advisor to the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council. “Today more than ever, Afghanistan’s future depends on literate, educated and healthy women and children.  This conference provides a unique forum to spotlight education and literacy initiatives for Afghan women and girls.

“Women the world over want access to education,” said Ambassador Melanne Verveer.  “This is especially important in Afghanistan, where education and training has the potential to double the skilled workforce that is so urgently needed, particularly in the agricultural sector.  And girls’ education is the most effective development investment that a country can make.  No enduring progress is possible without education. Every boy and girl should be able to go to school.  We shortchange them, and our world, otherwise.”

“According to UNESCO, 64% of the world’s nearly 1 billion illiterate adults are women. Our global future depends on educating the world’s women and children. This conference highlights efforts by international education leaders to educate Afghan women and secure Afghanistan’s future,” said Dean David Chard, Dean of SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. “Hosting a conference of this magnitude at SMU offers our university community and greater Dallas an opportunity to learn about the progress and challenges in helping the nearly 80% of Afghan women and girls who cannot read and write to achieve literacy.”

The event will take place in the James M. Collins Executive Education Center at SMU, Dallas. The agenda is as follows:

9:30 a.m.  – 10:30 a.m.                   Registration

10:30 a.m.  – 11:00 a.m.                 Opening Session

                                                                President and Mrs. George W. Bush

11:05 a.m.  – 11:40 a.m.                 Panel I: Primary & Secondary Education

11:40 a.m. – 12:15p.m.                   Panel II: Adult Literacy

12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.                    Panel III: Higher Education

1:05 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.                      Closing Remarks
Dr. David Chard, Dean of Annette Caldwell Simmons School

To view a detailed agenda and speaker names, please visit http://georgewbushinstitute.com/afghaneducation/.

Media Requests:

Media interested in covering the conference on U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council Conference on Education and Literacy will need to submit credentials.  Interested media should submit a letter signed by an editor on company letterhead via e-mail at news@smu.edu or fax 214.768.7663 to SMU News and Communications.  The letter should include the legal name, date of birth and social security number of the reporter or photographer requesting credentials.  Due to space limitations, a press pool may be created.  Follow-up instructions regarding credentials will be sent to media upon receipt of credential requests.  For additional information, please call 214.768.7650.

Deadline for Media Credential Requests:  Monday, March 15, 2010, 5:00p.m.

About the George W. Bush Institute:

The George W. Bush Institute is a center for scholarship and action that focuses on four major areas:  education reform, global health, human freedom and economic growth, with an emphasis on encouraging social entrepreneurship and empowering women across all its work. The Institute is part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which also includes an Archive and museum, located on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. For more information about the George W. Bush Presidential Center, please visit www.georgewbushcenter.com.

About the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council
The U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, now located at Georgetown University, is a public-private partnership that was created in 2002 by Presidents George W. Bush and Hamid Karzai. It connects the U.S. and Afghan governments, the private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations to develop and implement initiatives for Afghan women and girls in education, health, entrepreneurship, and political leadership. The Council uses its network to identify needs in Afghanistan, to convene interested partners to develop proposals, and to help broker connections for funding and implementation.  The Council’s activities are sponsored in part by the Goldman Sachs Foundation, a global philanthropic organization which promotes excellence and innovation in education. 

About SMU

With almost 11,000 students, SMU is a private university in Dallas offering outstanding programs in the liberal arts, distinguished graduate and professional schools and growing research programs. In addition to the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, SMU offers degrees through Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Cox School of Business, Meadows School of the Arts, Lyle School of Engineering, Dedman School of Law and Perkins School of Theology. Graduate programs in business rank in the top 20 nationally, and the law school ranks in the top 50 in the nation. Students come from throughout the U.S. and 90 foreign countries. Founded in 1911 by what is now The United Methodist Church, SMU is nonsectarian in its teaching and committed to freedom of inquiry.