The woman was offering the marketing tip to a group of Afghan women sitting in Kabul—who listened intently via satellite link. Old hat in international organizations, video-conferencing has recently been made available to women in Afghanistan. They can now exchange stories, ideas and inspiration and straight-forward business tips with those whom they call their "sisters" (and a few brothers) across the globe.

The World Bank's Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) made possible the Kabul-Gujarat connection. Last year, the GDLN established its Kabul facility, which now regularly hosts events connecting people in Afghanistan with counterparts in other countries.

In addition to India, the July 8 conference linked Afghan women with other women, NGO leaders and donors in Beirut, Lebanon; Turin, Italy; New York and Washington. It was the third in a 12-part Women in Afghanistan Global Dialogue Series of videoconferences sponsored the Bank. The series runs through April 2004.

Faces of the Afghan women filled the video screen as they described their traditional methods of making handicrafts and preserving fruit and vegetables. Their main challenge? Finding markets for their goods, they said, both at home and abroad. They asked for help in finding new venues to exhibit their goods. They also urged the government to protect their market by avoiding importing items that the women themselves can make.

There were no nods of sympathy, however, from the Indians. What came back was a no-nonsense, mini MBA-marketing course.

"Women need to be workers, producers, managers and marketers," said Reema Nanawaty, secretary of SEWA, a trade union for poor, self-employed women and the largest NGO in India. "You have to first assess your market—find out what people want?and then adjust your production to meet the demand."

"We are, like you, poor, illiterate women," said another woman involved with SEWA. "But we can't depend on others. We have to market our own produce. Whenever we visit another village, for whatever purpose, we bring a bag full of goods to show."

The SEWA representatives in India invited a group of Afghan women to travel to Gujarat to see their work first-hand and "figure out how they could have a longer term relationship."

"I think this [session] was great," said Malaly Volpi, assistant executive director of the US-Afghanistan Reconstruction Council, who participated from Washington. "At the international level, the current focus is mainly on security, which is extremely important, of course, but when I go to Afghanistan, the women would rather talk about a job. Their first priority is to feed their children. They need to talk about these issues."

Useful Links: Click here to learn more about the Bank's work in Afghanistan. Click here to learn more about the GDLN.

Afghan women participate in a previous VC from Kabul.

Reema Nanawaty, left, secretary to SEWA, a women's trade union in India, and participants in Washington during the videoconference.

Gita Gopal, WBI Task Team Leader for the Women in Afghanistan Global Dialogue Series, facilitates the July 8 session from Washington.