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This year's International
Women's Day theme is :
"AFGAN WOMEN TODAY: REALITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES"
26 February 2002
Background article
THE SITUATION OF WOMEN
IN AFGHANISTAN
"Your country is now
embarking on a process to create credible and accountable
institutions in which all Afghans are represented. These are decisions for
Afghan men and women to make. The role of the United Nations is to assist
and encourage this process. But, I would like to take this opportunity to
say to all Afghans: there cannot be true peace and recovery in Afghanistan
without a restoration of the rights of women." UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan in his statement to the Afghan Women's Summit for Democracy (Brussels,
4 to 5 December 2001)
Afghanistan is a country of
approximately 23 million which, after three years of severe drought, 23
years of war and devastation and five years under the Taliban authorities,
has been left as one of the poorest countries in the world. Afghanistan has
the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Even before the
Taliban came to power, Afghanistan had high maternal and child mortality
rates and a very low literacy rate for women. But women participated
economically, socially and politically in the life of their societies. Women
helped to draft the 1964 Constitution. In the 1970s, there were at least
three women legislators in the Parliament. Up to the early 1990s, women were
teachers, government workers and medical doctors. They worked as professors,
lawyers, judges, journalists, writers and poets.
After the Taliban's rise to
power, women and girls were systematically discriminated against and
marginalized, and their human rights were violated. This resulted in the
deteriorating economic and social conditions of women and girls in all areas
of the country, in particular in areas under Taliban control. Women and
girls continued to be severely restricted in their access to education,
health care facilities and employment. During the Taliban's rule, only about
3 per cent of girls received some form of primary education. The ban on
women's employment also affected boys' education, as the majority of
teachers had been women. Poor health conditions and malnutrition made
pregnancy and childbirth exceptionally dangerous for Afghan women.
The Taliban's policies also
severely limited women's freedom of movement. Women could travel only when
accompanied by a male relative, which put a particular strain on
female-headed households and widows. In May 2001, a decree was issued by the
Taliban, banning women from driving cars, which further limited their
activities. The resulting seclusion of women to the home constituted a form
of solitary confinement and also created obstacles to women meeting with
each other. Women were harassed and beaten by the Taliban if their public
appearance was perceived to be in contradiction with Taliban edicts.
Women's removal from the
public space also meant that women could not play any role in the political
process and were excluded from all forms of formal or informal governance.
Afghan women suffered domestic and other types of violence for the past 25
years, not just under the Taliban regime. Despite many years of concern
about the situation of Afghan women, it is only now, under conditions of
extreme tragedy, political violence and destruction, that the situation has
propelled Afghanistan and the plight of its women and girls firmly back into
the global spotlight. For the first time outside of the setting of the
United Nations and of the international community, there is a groundswell of
concern, from Parliaments to First Ladies, from entertainers and media stars
to non-governmental organizations, all calling for the full recognition of
the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Actions by the international community
The United Nations Charter
proclaims the equal rights of men and women. Two years ago, the
groundbreaking United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) called
for an end to impunity for war crimes committed against women and girls, but
also recognized the need to increase women's role in peace negotiations and
in peace-building. The United Nations has urged the Afghan parties to bring
women into every stage of the political process; and the UN is recruiting
Afghan women as quickly as it can to help to provide humanitarian
assistance.
The United Nations and its
family of organizations have had a long interest in Afghanistan. UNICEF set
up its first office there 52 years ago. The situation of Afghanistan, in
general, and the situation of women and girls in particular, have remained
under intense scrutiny by several United Nations bodies, including the
Security Council, the General Assembly, and several of the Economic and
Social Council's functional commissions and expert bodies, in particular the
Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights, and the Commission on the Status of Women.
In November 1997, Angela
E.V. King, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and
Advancement of Women, led an inter-agency gender mission in Afghanistan, to
specifically address issues related to discrimination against women and
girls under the Taliban. The mission made a set of recommendations aiming to
improve the gender situation within Afghanistan and in the United Nations
system, so as to better serve the needs of Afghan women. One such
recommendation was the appointment of a senior UN adviser on gender in
Afghanistan.
Most recently, the 26th
session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
issued a statement of solidarity and support for Afghan women, which stated,
among other things, that "The participation of Afghan women as full and
equal partners with men is essential for the reconstruction and development
of their country." The Committee also called upon all parties concerned to
respect internationally recognized principles, norms and standards of human
rights, particularly the human rights of women, in all their actions and
activities, which the Committee considered essential to achieve peace and
stability in Afghanistan.
The first Integrated
Mission Task Force, which was established at UN Headquarters to advise the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan, included a
gender specialist from the Division for the Advancement of Women. Three
Executive Committees, reporting to the Secretary-General, on Peace and
Security, Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Development Group (UNDG),
have been meeting regularly and have drawn up strategic recovery plans on
the political process, humanitarian assistance and reconstruction of
Afghanistan, including gender perspectives. In addition, the UNDG and
Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs formed a Sub-Group on Gender in
Afghanistan, to monitor developments on the ground in order to devise
strategies to ensure that a gender perspective was mainstreamed in the peace
negotiations and the reconstruction process.
On 14 November 2001, in its
resolution 1378, the Security Council expressed its strong support for the
efforts of the Afghan people to establish a new and transitional
administration leading to the formation of a government, which would be
broad-based, multi-ethnic and full representative of all the Afghan people,
and should respect human rights regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion.
The Special Adviser to the
Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women continued to
address the situation of women's rights in Afghanistan in meetings with the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General and other senior officials
within the United Nations system, in inter-agency consultations and in
meetings with representatives of non-governmental organizations. She also
facilitated contacts between Afghan women and women's organizations and the
UN system and supported the organization of the Afghan Women's Summit in
Brussels, and follow-up meetings with the Secretary-General and members of
the Security Council in an Arria Formula meeting. She also called on Afghan
women to return to their country and former jobs, including in the civil
service and elsewhere.
Today, as the
reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan continues, a number of
United Nations entities continue to be actively involved in improving the
situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. Some examples include the
following:
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The UN has launched a large-scale drive to immunize
Afghan children against measles - a major, yet preventable, killer disease
among the young. Measles is responsible for an estimated 40 per cent of
all vaccine-preventable childhood deaths in Afghanistan, killing about
35,000 Afghan children each year. The $8 million effort, which is being
organized by WHO and UNICEF, aims to vaccinate up to 9 million Afghan
children. A UNICEF spokesperson called the immunization drive "one of the
best gifts we can give to the children of Afghanistan."
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In late September 2001, responding to the grave health
emergency facing Afghan women, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
mounted its largest-ever humanitarian operation. Thousands of pregnant
women were among the Afghan civilians who fled their homes and massed
along the country's borders. The lack of shelter, food and medical care,
and unsanitary conditions posed a serious risk to these women and their
infant children. To provide displaced Afghan women with lifesaving
reproductive health care services, UNFPA prepared to pre-position
emergency relief supplies in the countries bordering Afghanistan. These
were intended both for the large anticipated influx of refugees-into
Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan-and for
distribution inside Afghanistan, if possible.
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During the Taliban's rule
of Afghanistan, bakeries sponsored by the World Food Programme (WFP)
represented one of the few job opportunities open to women; WFP bakery
projects employed 300 women in Kabul and 100 women in Mazar-I-Sharif
before September 2001. Taliban efforts to prevent employment of women in a
survey of beneficiaries caused WFP to threaten to close down 130 bakeries
that fed 280,000 people, including women and children. The situation was
resolved by the authorities agreeing to allow women hired by the Taliban
Health Ministry to conduct the survey. Today, WFP is currently assisting
about six million people in Afghanistan. Beginning in April 2002, the
focus will shift from relief to recovery, with particular emphasis on
school feeding for education. WFP school feeding projects are set to
expand and cover hundreds of thousands of students, half of them girls, to
encourage enrolment and decrease drop-out rates. Food assistance will also
be given to women attending non-formal education, particularly technical
skills and literacy training.
Women's role in the
rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan
Since September 2001,
Afghan women have begun to increase their activities. Numerous events were
organized during the last few months by and with Afghan women's
organizations inside and outside Afghanistan, such as panel discussions,
conferences and international meetings, in order to ensure that the
experiences and needs of Afghan women would received the needed attention
in all efforts directed at the post-Taliban Afghanistan.
For the first time in
many years, new opportunities have been presented for women to reclaim
their rights as active participants in the governance, as well as in the
rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan. Schools for girls are
being reopened, and young women are enrolling in universities. Women are
seeking to return to their former jobs as teachers, doctors and civil
servants. Radio and television broadcasts in Kabul once again feature
woman commentators.
The United Nations Talks on a transitional government for Afghanistan
began in Bonn on 27 November under the leadership of the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General Lakhdar Brahimi. Representatives
of four Afghan groups participated, representing the Rome process, linked
to the former King; the United Front (also known as the Northern
Alliance); the Cyprus Group and the Peshawar Group. All political groups
had been encouraged by the UN to include women in their delegations and
Afghan women's organizations were asked to contact the four groups for
participation in the Talks. Two women, Sima Wali and Rona Mansuri,
participated as full delegates of the Rome process; Amena Afzali
participated as a full delegate of the United Front; Seddiqa Balkhi
participated as adviser to the Cyprus Group; and Fatana Gilani
participated as adviser to the Peshawar Group. The Agreement on
Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan pending the re-establishment of
permanent government institutions was signed in Bonn on 5 December 2001.
In response to requests
from Afghan women, a number of non-governmental organizations convened the
Afghan Women's Summit for Democracy in Brussels, from 4 to 5 December
2001, in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender
Issues and Advancement of Women and the United Nations Development Fund
for Women (UNIFEM). About 40 Afghan women leaders from different ethnic,
linguistic and religious backgrounds participated, including three who had
also attended the UN negotiations in Bonn. The Summit concluded with the
adoption of the Brussels Proclamation, which included concrete demands for
the recovery of Afghan society in the areas of education, media and
culture; health; human rights and the constitution; and refugees and
internally displaced women. Participants of the Summit met with members of
the European Parliament, members of the U.S. Congress, members of the
Security Council in the Arria Formula meeting, and women ambassadors to
the United Nations. In their talks, the Afghan women called for measures
to increase security in Afghanistan and facilitate the disarmament of all
warring factions.
UNIFEM organized a
roundtable in Brussels from 10 to 11 December 2001 in cooperation with the
Government of Belgium on "Building Women's Leadership in Afghanistan". The
roundtable brought together Afghan women and UN agencies, the World Bank
and donors, and issues an Action Plan calling for mechanisms to support
the role and leadership of women in shaping the future of their country.
On 19 December 2001, the
Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women organized a
breakfast meeting between Afghan women non-governmental organizations and
women ambassadors from the permanent missions to the UN, allowing Afghan
women to share their vision and priorities for Afghan women. In addition,
these Afghan women met with the Secretary-General to share such vision and
their views about their role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
In January 2002, Hamid
Karzai, the head of the Interim Administration, demonstrated his support
for women's rights by signing the "Declaration of the Essential Rights of
Afghan Women", which affirmed the right to equality between men and women.
The Declaration had been adopted by a meeting of Afghans in Dushanbe,
Tajikistan, in 2000.
When the Secretary-General visited Kabul on 25 January 2002, he made a
symbolic visit to a girls school, which is assisted by UNICEF. Girls from
six through 16 were preparing to resume their education after a
Taliban-imposed break of five years.
Women are at the helm of
two Ministries which are part of the new Interim Administration headed by
Hamid Karzai. The Ministry of Women's Affairs, which had never existed
before, is headed by Sima Samar, a physician and founder of the Shuhada
Organization network of clinics, hospitals and schools in Pakistan and
central Afghanistan. Suhaila Siddiq, a surgeon who continued to practice
in Kabul throughout the Taliban regime, heads the Ministry of Public
Health.
International Women's Day: 8 March 2002
The observance of International Women's Day (8 March 2002) at United
Nations Headquarters, under the theme "Afghan Women Today: Realities and
Opportunities", is being organized by the UN Department of Public
Information, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division
for the Advancement of Women, UNIFEM and the Inter-Agency Network on Women
and Gender Equality. The special event will focus on the recent
developments in Afghanistan, which have created new opportunities for
women to claim their rightful roles as full participants in Afghan
society. The event will also underscore the international community's
support for and solidarity with the women and girls of Afghanistan in the
face of the long-term challenges that remain.
Afghanistan at a Glance*
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Only about 15 per cent of births are attended by
trained health workers, with more than 90 per cent of births take place at
home. According to UNICEF, the maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan is
the second highest in the world, with an estimated 15,000 women dying each
year from pregnancy-related causes.
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The infant mortality rate is 165 per 1,000; the under
five mortality rate is 257 per 1,000, with one in four children in
Afghanistan dying before the age of five from preventable diseases.
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Only 23 per cent of the population has access to safe
water, and only 12 per cent have access to adequate sanitation, thereby
increasing the incidence of diseases. At least 15,000 Afghans die of
tuberculosis every year, of which 64 per cent are women.
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4 per cent of the population is disabled, many by
landmines. Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the
world. According to the UN Mine Action Programme, Afghanistan has more
than 732 square kilometres of its territory mined and about 500 square
kilometres of unexploded ordnance.
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Malnutrition of women, which negatively affects
pregnancies and deliveries as well as the health of children, is not only
caused by the food scarcity linked to the conflict and the drought, but is
also related to traditional preferences for males which makes women reduce
their own food allowance in favour of men and children.
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The poor health situation has been aggravated by the
lack of basic health services and resources, particularly in rural areas;
the strict segregation of medical staff and the small number of trained
women doctors, nurses and midwives that remained in the country after the
rise of the Taliban.
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23 years of war have destroyed the infrastructure of
the educational system and further increased the illiteracy rate in
Afghanistan. Only 5 per cent of women are able to read and write (during
the 1980s, the female adult literacy rate was only 8 per cent).
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54 per cent of girls under the age of 18 are married.
Families of girls and young women were reportedly forced to marry them to
the Taliban or give them large amounts of money instead. Often, families
married young girls at an earlier age in order to use the bride price to
assist in the family's survival.
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The conflict in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule and
the militarization of society led to an increased number of abductions of
young girls and women by Taliban fighters. The exact numbers are unknown,
as families have been reluctant to come forward and report cases of
abductions for fear of reprisals and due to the social stigma attached to
a daughter or sister kidnapped or sold for sex.
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* Source: Report of the Secretary-General on
"Discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan" (E/CN.6/2002/5)
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