Institutionalising women's rights

The country still has much to do but real progress is being made

The long agony for Afghanistan's women ended with the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Since then, thousands of women have been politically, socially, and economically active in Afghanistan in various capacities. Four of the key ministries in the country - the Ministry of Women's Affairs, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Counter-Narcotics, and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled - are led by women, as is the Independent Commission on Human Rights.
Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appointed three female Ambassadors to Norway, Switzerland, and Indonesia, while a woman has recently filled the newly established position of the Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs. Five other deputy ministerial positions are occupied by women, and a fourth female Ambassador will be appointed soon. At the same time, the Afghan Parliament continues to convene with a higher percentage of female representatives, 27.3 per cent, than the legislative bodies of many of the most established democracies, including the US Congress at 15.2 per cent and British Parliament at 19.7 per cent.
In addition, Afghanistan has enacted the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVWA) law, which criminalises all forms of harmful traditional practises. The country has recently adopted an effective National Action Plan for the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, committing to promote women in leadership and encourage participation in conflict-prevention, peace negotiations, and post-conflict processes.
Despite these advances, the condition of women in Afghanistan is still in urgent need of attention. Unfortunately, domestic violence and honour killings persist. One woman dies every 29 minutes in childbirth, the second-highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Mountainous terrain and weather conditions prevent timely medical attention for patients and pregnant women. Severe food shortages have resulted in chronic malnutrition among children, and 48 per cent of Afghan women are iron-deficient.
Millions of girls cannot attend school because of security concerns or restrictive social norms. Just 12 per cent of women (15 years and older) can read and write, compared to 39 per cent of men. The overall literacy rate for women between the ages of 15 and 24 stands at 24 per cent, compared to 53 per cent for men in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan today is making efforts to recover. Improving the condition of women is a major priority in the reforms agenda of the National Unity Government. President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah are firmly committed to empowering women, while First Lady Rula Ghani has made it one of her key priorities to support any initiatives that further the many causes of women, girls, and children, who constitute the bulk of vulnerable groups in Afghanistan.
Indeed, Afghanistan has a long way to go before it can catch up with the rest of the world, but the country is working hard. In the last 15 years, schools and universities have opened their doors to a record number of women. Today, more than eight million students are enrolled in schools, including more than 2.5 million girls. Moreover, public university enrollment increased from 7,800 in 2001 to 123,000 in 2013. These numbers have continued to rise, despite a spike in the number and frequency of terrorist attacks across Afghanistan, often targeting schools, teachers, and students, with most victims being innocent men, women and children.
In addition to taking these concrete steps, the Afghan government is working to change societal mind-sets. In some parts of Afghanistan's most traditional areas, attitudes hamper the progress of women. Unlike most governments in the world, the Afghan government not only makes and implements policies, but also functions as an agent of social change, working to ameliorate the traditional views that hold women back from fully developing their abilities and contributing to society.
The Afghan government is striving to consolidate the hard-earned gains of women over the past 15 years, as it is difficult to imagine how Afghanistan could stabilise and develop on a sustainable basis without institutionalising the equal rights of women. In this light, the Afghan government is firmly committed to the global objective of "Planet 50-50 by 2030," and counts heavily on the continued support of the international community for ensuring that the empowerment of women is treated as a continual process rather than a single benchmark. After all, international experience has demonstrated that even legal equality does not translate into equal treatment.
The author is the Director-General of Policy and Strategy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan.