Background
Though the Taliban was defeated in 2002, its influence is still felt in Afghanistan with resulting detrimental repercussions for political stability throughout country and region. Afghanistan faces serious security concerns, as rashes of suicide bombings and resultant causalities continue. Also, harvesting of opium poses threats to civilian safety, political stability, and public health. In 2004, Afghanistan held its presidential election, electing Hamid Karzai to the presidency. According to its recently adopted constitution, Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic with a president, two vice presidents, and a bicameral National Assembly.
While Afghanistan is working to establish a stable, democratic political system, women still face significant obstacles to participation in electoral politics and civil society. In the creation of the post-war constitution, gender equality was discussed and a quota system introduced. The system requires two women per province, guaranteeing women at least 26% representation in the legislature. In the first post-Taliban elections, held in 2005, women turned out to vote in large numbers, despite threats against their personal safety. Women voters made up 43% of voters in those elections and women candidates attained 27% representation. Women are still a vulnerable population that must confront disparities in education and vocational training, while shouldering the burdens of socially constricted roles and family responsibilities.
Today, there are several women in the Cabinet and an active ministry of Women’s Affairs in Afghanistan. However, in 2006, the minister of Women’s Affairs, Safia Ama Jan, was assassinated. According to officials, she was killed in retaliation for her progressive stances on women’s rights.
WCI’s Programs
Despite a volatile security situation in Afghanistan, WCI has been successfully implementing programs for women affected by war and national trauma since 2005. WCI’s programs in Afghanistan have been designed to meet the specific needs of women affected by long-standing conflict, poverty and national trauma. The programs include trainings and dialogue on gender, gender within the context of the Qur’an, basic literacy, human rights, and skills-building. To effectively work with traumatized participants, WCI’s sessions also use holistic teaching approaches including meditation, creative arts, empowerment methods, role plays, drawing and group work.
Because women in Afghanistan were only recently given the right to hold political leadership positions, WCI’s workshops help introduce women participants to the political process in Afghanistan. The workshops also aim to help establish productive working relationships between men and women elected officials. In each workshop, participants improve their leadership and communication skills as well as practice developing strategies for male and female leaders to bring about partnered change in their communities.
Provincial Councilor trainings:
In Afghanistan, WCI implements training workshops for Provincial Councilors. In April 2006, WCI began working with German Technical Cooperation’s Gender Mainstreaming Project (GTZ-GM) to cosponsor trainings for Provincial Councilors and Governors.
143 Provincial Councilors have been trained on gender, leadership, power and corruption, power dynamics, communication and conflict resolution. Following these trainings, WCI organized trips to remote villages for the women Provincial Councilors so that they could strategize with their constituents on ways to improve girl’s education. These trips will allow the Provincial Councilors not only to apply many of the skills they developed during the Strengthening the Skills of Provincial Councilors program, but also to learn about the specific problems surrounding girls’ education in each village.
Outreach to Women in Rural Villages
In addition to its programs for elected officials, WCI also focuses its programs in Afghanistan towards building a new base of women and girls ready to lead and meaningfully participate in an active civil society. WCI has partnered with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to implement its Outreach to Women in Rural Villages Program. These workshops are 10-day trainings designed and implemented by WCI, CIDA and the local Directorate of Women’s Affairs in each Province. During an assessment of the Nangarhar and Laghman provinces, local women shared their thoughts with WCI on the obstacles faced by women:
Identified Problems
| Effect of War on Security |
Effect of Poverty on Logistics |
Deterioration of Social Fabric |
|---|---|---|
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In response to these obstacles and fears raised by local women, WCI worked with CIDA and the local Directorates of Women’s Affairs to conduct a training focused on mobilizing rural women to network and strategize for Afghanistan’s future and the well-being of their families and future generations.
The participants continued to work together on the following Action Plan developed at the end of the conference:
- Creation of a cross-province committee to follow through on the action plan
- Creation of a follow-up training with a larger skills-building component
- Implementation of needs assessments in other provinces
- Development of a networking database to connect participants with other women, NGOs and government officials
Future Activities
Engendering Provincial Councils: During WCI’s assessments in Afghanistan, women Provincial Councilors emphasized the importance of working cooperatively with their male counterparts. Thus, this training focuses on gender awareness, gender analysis, and gender budgeting. Participant selection will involve an evaluation of experience, productivity and vision for leadership.
Governors’ Outreach Programs to Women in Villages: The current women Provincial Councilors serve as crucial role models for other potential leaders, yet they also have limited access to their constituents in remote areas. WCI will finance and organize trips for women Provincial Councilors to select districts where they will visit women’s groups and hold public meetings on girls’ education.
Afghanistan’s unstable security situation necessitates constant reevaluations of WCI’s Afghanistan programs, and has forced some programs to be modified or postponed. However, WCI headquarters and field office in Kabul remain committed supporters of Afghan women leaders and their continued activities.
WCI’s Impact
| Participants Trained | Topics Covered |
|---|---|
| 39 Women Provincial Governors | gender awareness and the democratic process |
| 104 Male Provincial Governors | gender awareness and the democratic process |
| 60 women in rural villages | women and girls’ empowerment in Afghanistan, visualization of goals and solutions, conflict mediation and literacy and skills-building |
