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New Afghan vice-president receives award
Montreal - The vice-president of the new government-in-waiting in Afghanistan has won John Humphrey Freedom Award in recognition of her work to promote the rights of Afghan women and girls.

Riccardo Nencini og Sima Samar

Dr. Sima Samar

Dr. Sima Samar is in Montreal to receive her award which is sponsored by the Montreal-based organization, Rights and Democracy.

Since 1989, Dr. Samar has run schools and health clinics for girls and womenin Afghanistan and in refugee camps in Quetta, Pakistan.

With her schools and clinics, she's challenged the attempts of various regimes in Afghanistan to deny women their rights to education and health care.

Finally the world is becoming aware of the plight of Afghan women. The media is now paying attention to the suffering that women have endured under the Taliban's restrictions," Dr. Samar said in her acceptance speech.

More people now know about the starvation and disease that have come from the drought, the fighting, and the overall lack of humanitarian assistance. The situation of women in Afghanistan has been deteriorating for the past two decades. It could not get much worse.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien will welcome Dr. Samar in Ottawa on Wednesday. She then travels to Washington on December 16.