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PRE-LONDON CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN
STATEMENT
BY AFGHANISTAN WOMEN ACTIVISTS
AFGHANISTAN PEACE IS IMPOSSIBLE IF
WOMEN, HALF THE
POPULATION, ARE EXCLUDED FROM
DISCUSSIONS
AFGHANISTAN WOMEN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
STABILIZATION, RECONSTRUCTION
& DEVELOPMENT OF AFGHANISTAN
A day
ahead of the London Conference, women’s groups make strong recommendations for
reconstruction and development.
27 January
2010
Oisika Chakrabarti, UNIFEM Media Specialist, oisika.chakrabarti@unifem.org
London
— In
the lead-up to the 28 January London Conference on
Afghanistan hosted by the UK Government, Afghan women human rights defenders
today released strong, specific recommendations on security, development and
governance priorities for their country. These recommendations provide the only concrete input from
consultation with Afghan women into the key decisions affecting the future of
their country that will be set in London by international actors.
Deeply
concerned about the exclusion of Afghan women’s perspectives from the dialogue
surrounding the London Conference, the statement
issued today by the women activists comes as a result of broad-based
consultations with Afghan women civil society leaders at the Dubai Women’s
Dialogue and London Dialogue over the last week, involving the Afghan Women’s
Network and supported by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
and the Institute for Inclusive Security.
"As the
global community knows, nowhere are women’s human rights more at stake than in
Afghanistan. Therefore it is of grave concern that women’s voices and
perspectives are largely missing from this London conference on Afghanistan’s
future. The international community should stand behind the women of
Afghanistan and elevate their voices, not barter away their rights in the name
of short-term peace and stabilization,” said Wazma Frogh, Afghan Gender and
Development Specialist.
Women’s
participation in and perspectives on security solutions for Afghanistan are of
particular relevance given the way that their rights and freedoms have been a
focus of some of the conflict in the country. “Besides the high levels of
violence experienced by ordinary women and girls, there has been a very high
rate of deadly attacks on women human rights defenders and women in prominent
public roles. This makes the determination of the women who have travelled to
London to share their concerns and proposals all the more inspiring, and the
international community needs to hear what they have to say,” said Anne Marie
Goetz, Chief Advisor, Governance Peace and Security for UNIFEM.
The status
of Afghan women continues to be one of the worst in the world with 87 percent
of them facing domestic abuse. They are also systematically neglected as key
partners for conflict resolution, peacebuilding and recovery. “Afghan women
have the most to gain from peace and the most to lose from any form of
reconciliation compromising women’s human rights. There cannot be national
security without women’s security, there can be no peace when women’s lives are
fraught with violence, when our children can’t go to schools, when we cannot
step on the streets for fear of acid attacks,” said Mary Akrami, Director of
the Afghan Women Skills Development Centre.
Pointedly
reminding international donors and the national government that women’s
participation is critical for sustainable peace, and that women can spearhead
efforts to moderate extremism, the advocates demanded that women be included in
all security and development processes, including any negotiations and
reconciliation programmes involving warlords, the Taliban, and other
insurgents. “Women are the single, greatest under-utilized resource in efforts
to return stability and prosperity to Afghanistan. Peacebuilding efforts cannot
be fully effective when they ignore the expertise, insights, and ideas of half
the population,” according to Carla Koppells, Director of the Institute for
Inclusive Security. Adds Orzala Ashraf, independent women’s rights activist:
“Short-term deals with insurgents will not deliver long-term stability if there
aren’t guarantees of women’s rights. In the end women’s well-being is the test
of real security and stabilization.”
From the
London Conference, the advocates hope to see a clear plan that will provide
greater clarity of direction and priorities for the new Afghan administration
as well as the inclusion of gender concerns, and a renewed commitment to
implement existing commitments to Afghan women. Their specific recommendations
include:
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