WUNRN
AFGHANISTAN WOMEN - CHALLENGES FOR
RIGHTS, ADVOCACY FOR PEACE
UN PANEL CONCEPT STATEMENT
UN Human Rights Council Session
14 - Geneva
Sponsors:
WUNRN - Women's UN Report Network
WOW - Worldwide Organization for
Women
WILPF - Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom
NGO Committee on the Status of Women
- Geneva
Who are the civil society, the
grassroots, women of Afghanistan? When and where are their voices heard, and
their human rights issues presented for substantive attention and action, that
is not based on vested interests as political (internal and external),
commercial, patriarchal, external aid focused, religious, foundation directed,
or controlled by multiple forces, often with money involved including through
corrupt and power-directed objectives that do not include women? What is their
access to justice?
Gender - particularly the position
of women, and girls - has been a disputed area of programming o the political,
religious, and aid sphere of Afghanistan historically and continuing very
seriously in the present. What limited and objective research has been
conducted, may well not have probed in depth, the complex gender relations and
perspectives in the country, and how these differ according to ethnicity,
socio-economic status/non-status, age, marriage, refugee or internally
displaced status.
Why are the women of Afghanistan,
under varying controls of captive forces or sovereign dictates, so invisible,
so rarely viewed or heard through transparent media.
Why does Afghanistan continue to
have the highest Maternal and Infant Mortality Rate in the World, realizing
that this is a Millennium Development Goal? UNICEF has stated that Afghanistan
is the most dangerous place to be born?
Why do women of Afghanistan
sometimes choose self immolation or other forms of suicide when they see no
alternatives to rampant abuse and other violations?
Why are girls of Afghanistan
allowed, even facilitated, to be married as child brides, for a
bride price for the parents, for a drug debt of the father, when seen as a
liability for the family vs. a blessing. Why is there continuing preference for
boys in Afghanistan, even infanticide of girl children, and constant human
rights abuses that favor the male gender and their control over women?
Why are Afghanistan women, as
research has shown, the primary victims of poverty, the economic crisis, the
food crisis, the lack of political representation, the access to international
linkages? What are the divisive points on religions vs. civil law. Does
Afghanistan honor its international law commitments as CEDAW?
How are women, through their own
voices, surviving and linking for agency and empowerment, for advocacy and
action, during exceedingly challenging, even dangerous times in their country,
that continue to make headlines through international agendas and media
filters? What are their success stories in creating authentic programs to take
care and empower each other, by women, of women, for women?
Where do we hear about the
resilience of the Afghan women, their commitment and success for courageous,
effective social action?
Where do we learn about bilateral
women-to-women programs of bonding and support such as the CISDA women in
Italy with the RAWA and HAWCA women of Afghanistan?
Why are women isolated, and this is
not an issue of the burqa or clothing coverage; but why are women and girls not
educated or kept so often removed from social interaction?
Why are women of Afghanistan
responsible for carrying the burden of morality and virtue, as in issues of
honor killings?
What does the new Family Law, highly
controversial, mean for women's rights in Afghanistan?
How are women's legal and civil
rights defended in Afghanistan, especially in rural areas where they are
essentially living under tribal laws, and do not see civil law as responsive?
Women and girls of Afghanistan have
been dealing with issues of conflict, political turbulence, religious issues,
foreign presence, geographical isolation, traditional and cultural pressures
for conformity, and responsibilities for sustaining the family above all.
WHERE ARE THE VOICES OF THE
WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN, THEIR TRUTHS, THEIR TESTIMONIALS??
That is the focus of our Panel, and
to bring these realities to the United Nations Human Rights
Council in Geneva.
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WUNRN - Women's UN Report Network
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