WUNRN
Realities – Marginalization – Challenges for Rights
By Dr. Massouda Jalal
Founding Chairperson of Jalal
Foundation
and Former Minister of Women,
Afghanistan
In the flurry of many disquieting
political and security concerns that beset our country, Jalal Foundation once
again calls attention to the plight of rural women in
Although we continue to see the
marginalization of Afghan rural women in the reconstruction and peace process
of our country, we are committed to celebrate this day each year to honor their
sacrifices and highlight the value of their contributions to the social and
economic life of our nation. Around 80
percent of Afghan women reside in rural communities working as underpaid and
invisible agricultural workers and bearing the burdens of gathering fuel and
water. They protect the children and elderly during episodes of armed fighting
between government forces and anti-government elements. Many of them lose their
lives and limbs in the process and those who survive continue to live with the
trauma of either burying the casualties of war or sustaining their family
members without economic capital and support from the State.
With the resurgence of extremism, more
and more Afghan girls and women in rural areas fall prey to extreme forms of
violence including mutilation, stoning to death, public execution, torture and
murder - sometimes in the hands of family members who are supposed to be their
source of protection and security.
Afghan girls in rural communities walk long distances in dirt roads,
bravely defying threats of sexual harassment, sexual or acid assault, and
school-based terrorism through water poisoning and gas attack. Rural women do
not have the same access to health and welfare services that their sisters get
in urban communities. They are also more
vulnerable to cultural norms and traditions that limit their mobility, freedom,
and leadership in public life.
The difficulties experienced by rural
women in
Let us acknowledge the leadership of
regional organizations such as the South Asian Feminist Alliance for Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (SAFA-ESCR) in raising the challenges faced by South
Asian Women to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women. As the international community defines the post-2015 development agenda
and its implementation, let us ask our leaders to evaluate the achievement of
international policies on rural women under the Beijing Platform for Action,
Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women and
related policy instruments.
More importantly, policies without
resources are just false promises. As many countries provide tremendous
resources for the development of rural communities, let us fight for the
allocation of dedicated resources to correct the worsening marginalization of
our sisters in remote localities. With a
shared agenda to match policies with action and resources, we could look forward
to more meaningful celebrations of International Rural Women’s Day in the years
to come. Happy International Rural Women’s Day!!