Women's Rights Fund for Afghanistan

The role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and peacebuilding in Afghanistan is central to securing peace as well as ensuring the reconstruction of the country.

This $500,000 Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded project will provide Rights & Democracy, CIDA and civil society with a comprehensive assessment of the needs of women in Afghanistan in order to enhance Afghan women's full participation in peacebuilding policies and reconstruction of civil society in Afghanistan.

The 13-month project will focus on supporting and building the capacity of Afghan women engaged in peacebuilding activities while enhancing dialogue through the creation of networks and promoting peacebuilding efforts for Afghanistan.

In determining the activities of the Women's Rights Fund for Afghanistan, special attention will be given to peacebuilding priorities that have been determined by Afghan women's groups as well as the Women's Affairs Ministry of Afghanistan namely, vocational education, training in law, advocacy, peacebuilding and human rights, among other areas.

A full-time coordinator based in Afghanistan has been hired in order to implement the project and will be assisted by two advisory committees to support the project, a local one in Afghanistan, and the other of international scope, based in Canada.

Among the members of the advisory committee will be representatives of the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Afghanistan, the Women Living Under Muslim Laws Network (international), the International Human Rights Law Group, Medica Mundial (Germany/Afghanistan), Women for Women in Afghanistan (Canada), Sally Armstrong - UNICEF Special Ambassador for Afghanistan, Kamal Hossain - UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, the Afghan Women's Organization (Toronto, Canada), Shirkat Gah (Pakistan), Afghan Women's Network (Afghanistan) and the Shuhada Organization (Afghanistan/Pakistan).

Using Rights & Democracy's publication A Methodology for Gender-Sensitive Research, as well as its manuals on investigating women's rights violations in armed conflict situations and sexual violence by state agents, Rights & Democracy's team is spending 10 days in Kabul to assess the human rights situation in Afghanistan. The team is interviewing key actors in the area of women's rights to assess the women's rights and peacebuilding situation in Afghanistan from a gender perspective, including a gender assessment of the women's rights programmes of the local, regional and international NGOs in Afghanistan.

Particular attention will be paid to the political and legal framework (ie political expression, equality before the law, family law, citizenship) as well as the social and cultural mores in Afghanistan such as those related to preferential treatment for boys (leading to the denial of basic nutrition and health needs), restrictions respecting dress codes (leading to denial of movement outside of the home); women's sexuality (leading to honour killings, stigma related to societal views about rape); marriage and divorce; violence against women in the family, among others. The assessment will also focus on the economic conditions and policies in Afghanistan from a gender perspective: poverty, labour force, professional occupations, labour migration, household activities.

Upon their return to Canada, the assessment team will make recommendations to its partners involved in the project to determine the best administrative, coordinating, decision-making and implementation structures to ensure the success of the Women's Rights Fund for Afghanistan.

The Women's Rights Programme of Rights & Democracy focuses on issues related to violence against women, in particular, violations of women's human rights in conflict situations, including impunity and peacebuilding issues. For the past 10 years, it has worked on developing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women as well as mainstreaming women's human rights at all levels within the United Nations system.