Nine out of ten women in Afghanistan are worried about the Taliban
returning to government believing it would risk the gains made for
women in the past ten years, according to an ActionAid survey released
today.
A thousand women were polled across Afghanistan to obtain a rare
insight into their opinions about living through the last 10 years of
war and the current reconciliation process with the Taliban. Friday 7
October marks the 10th anniversary of US and British forces’
intervention in Afghanistan.
Sixty-six per cent of women said they feel safer now than they did 10
years ago and 72 per cent believe their lives are better now than they
were 10 years ago.
Nearly four in ten think Afghanistan will become a worse place if
international troops leave. Of those who fear a return of the Taliban,
one in five cited their daughter’s education as the main concern.
ActionAid’s Director of Policy, Belinda Calaguas, said: “In 2001 our
leaders went into war in Afghanistan saying that improving women’s
rights was a goal of intervention. Ten years on as the international
community begins withdrawing troops and enters into peace talks with
the Taliban and other insurgent groups, women are being frozen out of
the process and are worried that their rights are being traded away
for peace.”
ActionAid’s new report A just peace? The legacy of war for the women
of Afghanistan calls on the international community to ensure that
women’s rights are a non-negotiable part of any political settlement
in Afghanistan.
“All parties involved must make public statements that the equal
rights for men and women that are enshrined in the Afghan constitution
– including women’s right to education, to work, and to participate in
public life – are sacred and will never be overturned,” said Ms
Calaguas.
In addition Afghan women must be actively involved in the peace,
reconciliation and transition processes.
ActionAid Afghanistan country director PV Krishnan said: “If Afghan
women are excluded from decision making on the future of their country
we risk not only sacrificing the gains made for women over the past
ten years, but Afghanistan will be a less stable society as a result.”
Women in Afghanistan who have stood up for women’s rights in the past
ten years, including teachers, female politicians and activists are
now afraid for their own safety if the Taliban return to power, with
some saying they will be forced to leave the country.
ActionAid calls on the international community to protect women who
have defended women’s human rights in Afghanistan in the last ten
years, to support women’s organisations with direct, long-term funding
and to ensure that women’s voices and views are heard at the Bonn
conference in December, where the international community will discuss
Afghanistan’s future.
Fawzia Koofi, an Afghan MP who has said she will stand in the 2014
presidential election said:
“World leaders must not abandon the women of Afghanistan at this crucial time.
“I urge the international community to make sure that women’s rights
in Afghanistan remain at the top of the agenda and are not sacrificed
for peace.”
ENDS
For more information or to arrange interviews contact:
NATIONAL PRESS OFFICERS PLACE CONTACTS HERE:
or
Anjali Kwatra on 020 3122 0633 or 07941 371357 or email:
Anjali.kwatra@actionaid.org
Notes to Editors:
1. The report A just peace? The legacy of war for the women of
Afghanistan can be downloaded here:
http://www.actionaid.org.uk/doc_lib/a_just_peace.pdf
2. For more information about ActionAid’s work in Afghanistan and
how people can help, visit www.actionaid.org.uk/afghanwomen (page
embargoed until 00.01 Monday 3 October)
3. The survey was commissioned by ActionAid and carried out by
STATT Consulting and Awaz Women and Children’s Welfare Organisation.
1,000 women were surveyed in the five provinces of Kabul, Balkh,
Kandahar, Herat and Bamiyan between 26 June and 15 August 2011; 491
women were from rural areas and 509 from urban areas.