Afghan women’s and girls’ futures are at grave risk as the U.S. and allied forces make plans to withdraw in 2014. The NATO Summit in Chicago will focus on this transition, but Afghan women are not at the table for these critical discussions. This panel—part of Amnesty International’s Shadow Summit for Afghan Women’s Rights—explores the issues that NATO should discuss to maintain and support women’s rights during the transition process.

Panelists include: Frank Jannuzi, head of Amnesty International USA’s Washington Office; Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, author of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana and deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women and Foreign Policy program; Manizha Naderi, executive director of Women for Afghan Women; Hasina Safi, director of the Afghanistan Women’s Educational Centre; and Mahbouba Seraj, founder and director of Soraya Marshal Consulting and executive board member of Afghan Women’s Network. The discussion is moderated by Jerome McDonnell, host of WBEZ’s Worldview.

This event was posted on Amnesty International’s behalf by UniVerse of Poetry, an online anthology of international poetry dedicated to peace, compassion, and understanding. The creation of UniVerse was inspired by Afghan poet Nadia Anjoman, who wrote extensively about the rights of the women of her country and was killed in 2005 after publishing her first book.