WUNRN
AFGHANISTAN - STATEMENT ON THE MARGINALIZATION OF WOMEN IN
THE NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT AGREEMENT
By Dr. Massouda Jalal
Founding Chairperson of Jalal Foundation
and Former Minister of Women, Afghanistan
On
behalf of the 50 women NGOs and women’s councils throughout Afghanistan that
are members of the Jalal Foundation network, we articulate our concerns and
sentiments in regard to the resolution of the political impasse in Afghanistan
and the recent signing of the National Unity Agreement by President Ashraf
Ghani and Mr. Abdullah Abdullah.
First,
we commend the efforts of the United States government and the United Nations
in facilitating the resolution of our political impasse, thereby averting an
imminent escalation of civil turmoil.
Undeniably, the leadership and skillful diplomacy of US Secretary of
State John Kerry and UN Special Representative of the Secretary General Jan
Kubis played a big role in facilitating a peaceful, and hopefully, workable
solution to the political crisis. We
acknowledge their important interventions although we hope that the honorable
new President of our country and his teammate, Mr. Abdullah, will not need
foreign interventions anymore as they wade through the thick jungle of issues
that have to be sorted out, especially after the departure of NATO and the
reduction of international development assistance to Afghanistan. We expect
them to act like matured statesmen so that the well-being of the Afghan people
may not be held hostage again by their differences.
Second,
we want to raise our serious concern over the lack of transparency about the
substantive content of the National Unity Government Agreement that was signed
between President Ashraf Ghani and Mr. Abdullah Abdullah. While the electoral public hail the
installation of a new President, many Afghans are very unhappy that the
negotiations on the framework of the National Unity Government had been kept
under wraps, leaving us in a quandary over what kind of leadership we will have
to deal with in the next five years. We
need not reiterate that President Ghani and Mr. Abdullah have an obligation to
be transparent and truthful in their manner of governing the affairs of the
country.
Third,
we are very concerned that the women’s agenda may again be marginalized under
the new administration. During the election campaign, President Ashraf Ghani
and Mr. Abdullah Abdullah both promised to uplift the status of the women population.
However, both of them had also left the women out of the information and
consultation loops while negotiating on the provisions of the National Unity
Government agreement. We can never allow
this to happen and we trust that our new President will not sustain the marginalization of women that his predecessor did in his 13
years of leadership.
In view of the above, we wish to
communicate to President Ashraf Ghani and Mr. Abdullah Abdullah that the
women’s sector expect no less than the fulfillment of their election promises. Specifically, we call upon them to
immediately convene a dialogue with women leaders of the country to define the
agenda that the new government will adopt to empower women and attain gender
equality.
We will not tolerate any further
marginalization of the women’s agenda in the new administration and we are
ready to lend our support to this government in the pursuit of enduring peace,
democracy and gender equality.
On behalf of the 50
women NGOs and women’s councils throughout Afghanistan that are members of the
Jalal Foundation network, we articulate our concerns and sentiments in regard
to the resolution of the political impasse in Afghanistan and the recent
signing of the National Unity Agreement by President Ashraf Ghani and Mr.
Abdullah Abdullah.
First, we commend the efforts of the
United States government and the United Nations in facilitating the resolution
of our political impasse, thereby averting an imminent escalation of civil
turmoil. Undeniably, the leadership and
skillful diplomacy of US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Special
Representative of the Secretary General Jan Kubis played a big role in
facilitating a peaceful, and hopefully, workable solution to the political
crisis. We acknowledge their important
interventions although we hope that the honorable new President of our country
and his teammate, Mr. Abdullah, will not need foreign interventions anymore as
they wade through the thick jungle of issues that have to be sorted out,
especially after the departure of NATO and the reduction of international
development assistance to Afghanistan. We expect them to act like matured
statesmen so that the well-being of the Afghan people may not be held hostage
again by their differences.
Second, we want to raise our serious
concern over the lack of transparency about the substantive content of the
National Unity Government Agreement that was signed between President Ashraf
Ghani and Mr. Abdullah Abdullah. While
the electoral public hail the installation of a new President, many Afghans are
very unhappy that the negotiations on the framework of the National Unity
Government had been kept under wraps, leaving us in a quandary over what kind
of leadership we will have to deal with in the next five years. We need not reiterate that President Ghani
and Mr. Abdullah have an obligation to be transparent and truthful in their
manner of governing the affairs of the country.
Third, we are very concerned that the
women’s agenda may again be marginalized under the new administration. During
the election campaign, President Ashraf Ghani and Mr. Abdullah Abdullah both
promised to uplift the status of the women population. However, both of them
had also left the women out of the information and consultation loops while
negotiating on the provisions of the National Unity Government agreement. We can never allow this to happen and we
trust that our new President will not sustain the
marginalization of women that his predecessor did in his 13 years of
leadership.
In
view of the above, we wish to communicate to President Ashraf Ghani and Mr.
Abdullah Abdullah that the women’s sector expect no less than the fulfillment
of their election promises. Specifically,
we call upon them to immediately convene a dialogue with women leaders of the
country to define the agenda that the new government will adopt to empower
women and attain gender equality.
We will not tolerate any further marginalization of the women’s agenda in the new administration and we are ready to lend our support to this government in the pursuit of enduring peace, democracy and gender equality.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________