KABUL, Jan 25: The drive for women’s rights in Afghanistan turned another corner on Saturday when a group of 28 women underwent driving tests in Kabul.

Watched by dozens of journalists from the international media, the women first took written theoretical tests and the 12 who passed those headed out onto the open road, a virtually all-man domain in Afghanistan.

The women all received driving lessons thanks to a project funded by the German government and carried out by a German women’s non-governmental organization called Medica Mondiale.

The project is aimed at giving opportunities to women in a country where just over a year ago they spent most of their lives cloistered at home, denied access even to basic education.

Rachel Wareham, a women’s rights lobbyist from Medica Mondiale, said only seven women had so far secured driving licences since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. The final results of Saturday’s driving test were due on Sunday.

“It is very important that women have the same choices, freedom and opportunities as men, whether that means learning to drive or going to university,” Wareham said. “There is no reason why women shouldn’t drive anywhere in Afghanistan.”

The media spotlight clearly made the women nervous and they laughed and hugged each other excitedly after finishing the test.

“I am extremely happy women can now drive in Afghanistan as well as go to school, which was once forbidden here,” said Gaetty Naekben, one of those who underwent the test. Zia Kakar, an engineer at the women’s affairs ministry, said it was a dream come true.

“I have always dreamt about sitting behind a steering wheel and I am so excited that it came true,” she said. “I can’t explain how happy I was the first day I started to learn.”

After the fall of Afghanistan’s communist regime to an alliance of Mujahideen in 1992, women drivers, a rarity even then, all but vanished from the country’s roads. Najia Sherzad, another employee at the women’s affairs ministry who took the driving test, said learning to drive was an immense psychological step.—Reuters