Women's Rights a Fragile Situation

Kimberley Motley, writing for The Daily Beast worries about women's rights in Afghanistan. Although much progress has been made, she believes these are reversible without continued international support. Read her piece in "We're Not Done in Afghanistan".

Women in Nangarhar Want Schooling

The women in the eastern province of Nangarhar are demanding more access to education and have brought their complaints to the local government officials. Nangarhar has almost 900,000 boys and girls enrolled in nearly 900 schools - which demonstrates a significant growth in the Afghan education system. However, the women of the province want to see girls education expanded as well as opportunities for women adult education. Read more in "Women in Eastern Afghanistan Demand Education", Institute for War & Peace Reporting, December 1, 2014.

Domestic Violence in Afghanistan

There is concern that domestic violence against women in Afghanistan is rising. Learn more in a report by The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) published on November 20, 2014 entitled "Shame and Impunity: Is domestic violence becoming more brutal?"

Ranger School Open for Women

Women are slowly breaking down the barriers in the U.S. military. It appears that female soldiers will now be able to attend Ranger school. This 8 week course is a premier school and one of the hardest to successfully pass. Of the students that begin the course less than 50% will earn the right to wear the Ranger Tab. Of concern to many Rangers is the fear that the course will be "watered down" to allow women to graduate. The same "watering down" process took place in the U.S. Army when co-ed basic training was introduced. Learn more in "Ranger School PT Test May Be Top Obstacle for Females", Military.com, November 28, 2014.

Video - "Female Food Entrepreneur"

The NATO channel has published a video about a woman from Herat that started her food business in a mud hut but now sells in numerous market places. The female entrepreneur spent the last nine years building up a successful business. Watch "The Female Food Entrepreneur", NATO TV, November 24, 2014.

Paper - Women and Leadership in Afghanistan

Aarya Nijat of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has published a report (policy note) about women and leadership in Afghanistan. The paper analyses the dilemma of women in a quest to provide answers to questions about the future of women as well as provide policy recommendations. The paper is entitled The Dilemma of Women and Leadership in Afghanistan: Lessons and Recommendations, AREU, November 2014.

OXFAM - Women Frozen Out of Peace Process

According to OXFAM International Afghan women continue to be excluded from the peace negotiations and formal talks about the country's future. Unless this trend is reversed peace will be unsustainable. OXFAM has released a new report called "Behind Closed Doors" that states women are frozen out of the process. The report looks back over the timeline of past peace negotiations. There is worry that the US and its allies will disengage from the peace process - lessening the leverage on the Afghan government to advance women's rights. The report provides some recommendations to advance the cause of women in general and to accelerate the peace process. One recommendation is the participation of women on the High Peace Council. Read "Behind Closed Doors", OXFAM, November 2014.

Paper - "Working with Gender in Rural Afghanistan"

A paper entitled Working with Gender in Rural Afghanistan: Experiences from Norwegian-funded NGO projects (November 2014) was requested by the Norwegian Embassy in Kabul. The study provides a light review of current literature on gender and development in Afghanistan and a discussion on the relevance, sustainability, and results of six NGO's gender work. The report provides some recommendations for future projects.

Tajik Women Teach Life Skills to Afghan Women

Map of Darwaz District
Badkhshan Province

A cooperative venture between women of Afghanistan and women of Tajikistan has provided the Afghan women with some important life skills. In 2012 and 2013 as many as 410 women from Darwaz district, Badakhshan province have learned various life skills that will improve their standard of living. Up until the 19th century Darvaz was an independent principality but today its 50,000 live on both sides of the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. This educational program is supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the German foreign aid agency (GIZ). The program is facilitated by the Aga Khan Foundation's Mountain Societies Development Support Program (MSDSP). Read more in "Tajik women teach Afghan women life skills", Central Asia Online, November 14, 2014. (Map - Creative Commons on Wikipedia).

Women's Empowerment Program

An article with information on the USAID Promote program to empower women. Read "Largest USAID Women's Empowerment Program in World Launched in Afghanistan", Ms. Magazine, November 11, 2014.

Report - Women and Peace Building in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is one of four Oxfam country programs delivering Within and Without the State (WWS) program. It is funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) from 2011 to 2016 under the Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Programme Partnership Arrangement (CHASE PPA). WWS is piloting innovation approaches to working with civil society to promote more accountable governance in conflict-affected and fragile contexts. The paper shares the program learning within Oxfam and the wider development community. In Afghanistan, WWS has been working to build the capacity of civil society and to promote the participation of women, youth, and other marginalized groups in the peace process. Essential to this is the ability of women to engage with power-holders to share their views of what peace means to them and to influence change at the community, district, provincial, and national levels. Read Women and Inclusive Peace Building in Afghanistan, Oxfam Programme Insights, October 2014.

CRU 222 and Gender Integration

Gender integration with the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) is a big issue with ISAF. It seems that ISAF has been working toward this goal for a long time but only recently (my perspective) does it seem to be making headway. Perhaps (finally) we are using a little pressure and leverage (that would be withholding money, equipment, or assets) to facilitate gender integration. A good example of gender integration (and perhaps some behind the scenes leverage) is the newly acquired women's facility on Camp Lion. This former Norwegian Special Forces camp housed the Norwegian Special Operations Advisory Team and was handed over to the Afghan Ministry of Interior on October 12, 2014. Camp Lion is on the military side of the Kabul International Airport. It is home to Afghanistan's Critical Response Unit 222 (CRU 222) which is overseen by the Afghan General Command of Police Special Units (GCPSU). The agreement to turn the camp over included provisions for a women's facility (there is that leverage thing; you can have the camp but there must be a women's facility!). Read more in "Norway negotiates all-female facility at Camp Lion", ISAF News, November 2, 2014.

Women in Afghanistan: Lost Opportunity

A commentator and author (Ann Jones) who spent lots of time living in Afghanistan provides us a history of the fight for women's rights in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. She identifies "failed opportunities" on the part of the international community. She slams the Bush administration hard on this issue. Along with the attack on the U.S. establishment she has some critical comments on the elite (male) politicians of Afghanistan for their lack of support for women's rights. She sees hope for Afghan women with the election of President Ghani. A very educational and in-depth (and perhaps slightly slanted perspective) picture of women's rights in Afghanistan - past, present, and future. Read "Democracy's ugly misogyny: The dark reality of "free" elections in Afghansitan", Salon.com, November 1, 2014.

Rula Ghani May Play Decisive Role

The wife of the new President of Afghanistan, Rula Ghani, has generated some excitement within the "gender crowd" of expats, international aid workers, and development advisors. They see Rula Ghani has a modern women who will lift the status of Afghan women. Mrs. Ghani is a Lebanese-American who is highly educated. Read more in "Afghanistan's New President Thinks His Wife Can Play a Decisive Role", History News Network, by Ali A. Olomi, October 27, 2014.

Book - Interview with Author

The Swedish journalist Jenny Nordberg is interviewed about her book entitled The Underground Girls of Kabul. The book is the result of several years of investigation into the cultural practice (hidden from westerners) of having a girl pose as a boy until puberty. Read more in "Book Talk: Women in Afghanistan, through a looking glass", Reuters.com, October 23, 2014.

Video -"To Kill a Sparrow"

This video is the story of a woman from Afghanistan - named Soheila - who was betrothed at the age of 5 to an older man in an attempt to settle a family feud. Baad is a practice used to resolve disputes - providing a daughter to pay off a grievance. The video of the woman - now 24 years old - follows her tragic story. The documentary - "To Kill a Sparrow" - is a 30 minute long film that shows Soheila's long struggle to escape the life her father intended for her. See the video at "Bartered Away at Age 5, Now Trying to Escape to a Life She Chooses", The New York Times, October 19, 2014.

Girl's Education Backslides in Afghanistan

With the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan comes the diminished amounts of foreign aid. The cuts to funding are happening across the board but one sector - education is getting hit hard. Many of the women activists that championed the cause of Afghan women and girl's education are warning that the recent gains over the past decade are being eroded - primarily because of funding cuts. Perhaps if the Afghans had been a little less corrupt the nations that forked over the billions of dollars in aid would not be suffering from donor fatigue. (But that's just me thinking out loud). Read more in "The West Made Lots of Promises to Afghan Girls, Now It's Breaking Them", The Daily Beast, October 20, 2014.

Women and Afghanistan: Does Islamophobia Exist in the U.S.?

A article by Sara Erkal posted in the Brown Political Review suggests that Americans have a case of "islamophobia" when it comes to their perceptions of women in Afghanistan. I am not sure she has made her case sufficiently; but it was an interesting read. "Femme Fatales of Afghanistan and US Ignorance" (October 19, 2014).

Women and RoL in Afghanistan

A leading women's rights advocate in Afghanistan provides us with information on the great progress made in women's rights and the rule of Law. However she is worried that the international community will walk away from Afghanistan without finishing the work that needs to be done to solidify the gains. The author is Manizha Naderi, the executive director of Women for Afghan Women (WAW), works in Afghanistan providing counseling and mediation to victims of domestic violence, forced and underage marriages, rape and sex trafficking throughout Afghanistan. Read her essay in "New Threat to Afghan Women", The Cairo Review of Global  Affairs of the American University of Cairo, October 19, 2014.

International Humanitarian Aid Drying Up

As Afghanistan moves from center stage on the world scene the international community is sending less aid. Other areas of the world (Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Africa, etc.) are taking the attention in the news and demanding scarce resources. One example of the diminished aid is an Afghan girl's school in Kandahar. The Kandahar Institute of Modern Studies will be closing its doors. It's reliance on international aid kept it open but the aid has fallen off. Read more in "Afghan girl's school in Kandahar faces closure as international funds dry up", The Guardian, October 15, 2014.