Support for Gender Equality: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan
Abstract
Support for Gender Equality: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan is the ninth lessons learned report to be issued by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. This report examines U.S. efforts since 2002 to support Afghan women and girls and advance gender equality. Today, policymakers face a critical question: How can the United States best continue to support Afghan women and girls, preserving and expanding on the gains they have made - in the midst of conflict, poverty, a global pandemic, and the prospect of an Afghan government in which the Taliban exerts considerable influence? This report seeks to answer this core question, one which is vitally important in the context of peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. To do so, the report investigates the historical and cultural context of U.S. efforts to advance gender equality in Afghanistan, U.S. strategies for doing so, and how agencies implemented those strategies. The report examines the evidence for gains made by women and girls, and ongoing barriers to progress. Further, the report assesses 24 U.S. programs focused on women and girls, to better understand what worked and did not work, and what assumptions and theories of change drove U.S. activities. And finally, the report looks at future threats to and opportunities for advancing Afghan women and girls.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1148296
Entities
People
- John Sopko
Organizations
- Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction