Women's Gains at Risk in Afghanistan
Abstract
M. Ashraf Haidari describes the gains Afghan women have made since the Taliban government ended 7 years ago. They have regained most of the freedoms they lost under the Taliban, and the Afghan government under President Karzai is committed to furthering these gains. In January 2002, President Karzai surprised women's rights advocates by signing the declaration of the essential rights of Afghan women. Afghan women adopted the Afghan women's bill of rights in September 2003, and the bill's provisions were included in the new Afghan constitution. Beyond the constitutional guarantees, Afghan women set out to participate and campaign hard in the national elections. More than 40% of the registered Afghan women turned out to vote in the presidential elections in 2004 and more than 50% of women risked their lives to vote in the parliamentary elections in 2005. In spite of their continued landmark achievements, however, worsening security and violence threaten the many gains that Afghan women have painfully made over the past 7 years. The Taliban have been able to regroup and expand their presence in the countryside where 80% of women live and where the terrorists daily carry out suicide attacks against military and soft targets. The extremists will continue their campaign of terror in Afghanistan so long as their leadership remains intact in the border regions of Pakistan where they find easy sanctuary, arms, and ideological support. Insecurity in Afghanistan is also due to a lack of international financial assistance. Without capacity and resources, most of Afghanistan's state institutions -- including those focused on women -- are unable to enforce the adopted legal framework, provide basic public services, and generate employment for the people.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA484250
Entities
People
- M. A. Haidari
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School