Sima Wali is one of just three female delegates at the Bonn talks

Some have come straight from Bonn where Afghan delegates are trying to hammer out a deal for future power-sharing.

However, only a handful of women are taking part in the talks in Germany.

The EU's Social Affairs Commissioner, Anna Diamantopoulou, said: "Afghan women make up more than half of the Afghan population, so it would be a folly to try to rebuild the country without proper representation of women."

Fears about the future

In Afghanistan itself, many women are not yet sure that the collapse of the Taleban will bring freedom for them.

"The Northern Alliance's victory was good news for all Afghan women but I have fears about the future", says Jamila Mujahed, whose voice was heard symbolically reading the news on Radio Afghanistan just hours after the alliance's troops marched into Kabul last month.

Many of the women who have travelled to the Brussels conference have risked their lives under the Taleban regime to defend the rights of women in Afghanistan to work, to be educated and to live without fear of persecution.

Now, they want women to play a part in any future solution for their country.

Among those at the women's summit are teachers, doctors and political activists.

Many have made the difficult journey from Afghanistan itself, others have been living outside the region waiting to return to their country.

Prominent guests

The women come from a variety of different ethnic and religious backgrounds and the summit is intended to provide a safe place for free debate.

The hope is that the delegates will find broad agreement on how they might be involved in furture Afghan decision-making.

Prominent women from around the world, like United Nations High Commissioner Mary Robinson, have been invited to join the discussions.

In the following weeks a delegation of Afghan women from the summit is expected to meet US Secretary of State Colin Powell and members of the UN Security Council.