In this Film Annex interview of Fereshteh Forough, we are able to catch a glimpse of an internal perspective of the changes occurring in Afghanistan by way of the Digital Age. Ms. Forough highlights the rapid growth of media infrastructure in her country, since she and her family moved back in 2002.
The interviewee mentions that back then, there were very little ways of acquiring information within the country. There was hardly any television nor radio by which people can communicate en masse. Fast forward ten years, and Afghan youth can now engage the with others in the globe via Facebook and Twitter. Ms. Forough notes that social media made the world more accessible to the youth. Through improvements in education through the addition of computer education, communication and business has experienced exponential growth from the early 2000's.
In the video, one of the issues touched upon are the inspiration of global female leaders to the women entrepreneurs of Afghanistan. Ms. Forough's own company, Afghan Citadel Software Company, are helping pave the way for women to increase their financial status in society. She highly endorses the idea of teaching women the in's and out's of computing so that the barriers for women be ripped open for them to negotiate and conduct their businesses independently without male intermediaries.
The video ends in an optimistic note with Ms. Forough's agreement that the average yearly income in her country, which is $800, could increase to $9000 in simply a few years. With the growth of businesses due to the easy access of producers to their consumers via online interaction, the future is certainly bright for the women of Afghanistan should this current trajectory continue.
