The ouster of the Taliban in 2001 ushered in a new era of opportunity for women in Afghanistan. This paper examines the gains made over the past decade for Afghan women and girls and explores the obstacles that continue to impede progress toward gender equality. With their eyes on the 2014 transition, the authors argue that failure to adequately invest in women and girls will impede the country’s economic growth and stymie further development.
با سقوط طالبان در سال ۲۰۰۱ میلادی فصل جدیدی از فرصت ها و تغییرات برای زنان افغان ورق خورد. این تحقیق در پی بررسی دستاورد های زنان و دختران افغان در یک دهه گذشته، و رد یابی موانع ومشکلاتی که افغانستان را از رفتن به سوی برابری جنسیتی باز می دارد، است. با توجه به نزدیک شدن سال ۲۰۱۴ میلادی، نویسندگان این پژوهش باور دارند که عدم سرمایه گذاری کافی بالای زنان و دختران افغان، مانعی برسر راه رشد اقتصادی و توسعه بیشتر افغانستان خواهد بود.
The study was conducted primarily as a desk review of laws, research reports and articles, whose findings were confirmed in interviews with donors, development partners, government agencies, and civil society activists. In order to represent the situation outside Kabul, the authors specifically sought out reports from rural areas. The report’s analysis is grounded in an understanding of gender as a social construct that influences all aspects of daily life. This means that gender – or what it means to be a man and a woman in a particular time and place – is framed by prevailing social norms and institutions. The authors use this definition to develop a multi-scale analytical framework for gender equality and women’s rights against which to assess current approaches to gender integration applied by state and non-state actors in Afghanistan. A brief overview of the history of the Afghan state’s role in the advance and retreat of gender equality illustrates how politically charged this question remains for many Afghans. Low representation of women in the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Programme (APRP), in particular, augurs poorly for representation of women’s diverse needs and interests in future formal peace talks leading into the transition. The central challenge of the transition period is to extend peace throughout the country, without compromising the hard won gains women have made in realizing some rights. Insecurity and violence shape the everyday lives of many Afghans –women and men–– adversely affecting opportunities, aspirations and quality of life. Much of it stems from the continuing armed conflict, but violence also occurs closer to home, among family, kin and community. Violence against women has been a prominent concern of the GoA, women’s rights groups and the international community over the last decade. Efforts have focused on raising awareness and building policy and legal frameworks, but the GoA’s outreach and monitoring capacity cannot effectively deal with the scope of the problem, and girls and women continue to face human rights violations and abuse. Afghanistan has made marked progress over the past decade in establishing its legislative and policy framework to ensure that they include provisions around women’s rights in line with international standards. However, women’s rights in Afghanistan can only be secured, sustained and expanded into the transition period if the domestic and international actors who frame and implement policies and programs across scales intentionally embrace gender equality as a core underlying foundation for development and stability.