Statement by Rina Amiri

“UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Recognizing Women’s Vital Contributions in Achieving Peace and Stability”

US House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight

May 15, 2008

I want to express my gratitude to Chairman Howard Berman, Chairman William Delahunt of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, and Ranking Member Dana Rohrabacher for inviting me to testify on the importance of women in building sustainable peace and security in Afghanistan.

Introduction

The fall of the Taliban was met with broad appeals by human rights and women’s organizations towards addressing the plight of women. This, coupled with the fact that the United Nations Security Council had unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 the preceding year, provided a powerful framework for ensuring the inclusion of women’s rights in the Afghanistan peace process. Not only were women included in the official peace, talks, but the Bonn Agreement provided unequivocal support for women’s rights in the peace process.

International support and prioritization for women’s involvement creates the conditions for women’s reemergence as actors in the public space. It was the Afghan women themselves, however, who transformed these conditions into realities. In 2002, when I went to Kandahar as part of the UN’s Emergency Loya Jirga team, an Afghan woman teacher who had been largely confined to her house during the Taliban regime marched into my office and with a firm handshake demanded that I support the involvement of Kandhari women to participate in the Emergency Loya Jirga. This woman not only succeeded in being one of the 12% of women delegates to the Emergency Loya Jirga, but she went on to be one of the 20% of women who served on the Constitutional Loya Jirga that ratified Afghanistan’s constitution. She then became one of the 328 women who contested the parliamentary elections. Today she is one of the 68 women parliamentarians in the lower house.

Women activists recognized that the Bonn process created a window of opportunity where they could benefit from the political and financial support of the international community to regain a space in Afghani society. They also understood that they had to not only seize this opportunity, but to expand upon it, and were therefore determined to play more than a symbolic role. Women delegates to the Constitutional Loya Jirga succeeded in advocating for a quota providing for 25% of the lower house in parliament and securing language providing for the equal rights of men and women. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, women candidates campaigned vigorously, despite security threats, a dearth of resources, limited mobility, and having to contend with conservative critiques of their activities.

These are significant achievements that cannot be disputed. But have they led to genuine and sustainable change in the lives of Afghan women? Have women been able to effectively engage in the peace and reconstruction process on a broader scale? Have the principles of resolution 1325 been realized for women? What does the experience of Afghanistan demonstrate in regard to women’s roles in peace and security matters?

Limitations to Women’s Progress

The statistics on the situation of Afghan women provide a stark picture, leading perhaps to the conclusion that, despite significant political advances, the lives of most Afghan women have not changed significantly. While maternal mortality rates have gone down by 25%, Afghanistan falls at the bottom of poverty, health, and education indicators. It is reported that almost half of all deaths among women of reproductive age are the result of pregnancy and childbirth; more than three-fourths of those deaths are preventable. Moreover, a culture of impunity, weak to non-existent security and rule of law mechanisms, and violence against women, leave Afghan women in a dangerous and vulnerable position. Women are dying from domestic violence and in increasing numbers committing suicide to escape desperate situations. In 2007, the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) received almost 2,000 complaints of gender-based violence. Such acts include verbal violence, beatings, rape, forced marriage, murder, and crimes of honor. I would note that this number only represents those with the resources available to report their complaints; the vast majority of Afghan women are simply unable to obtain judicial recourse and often encounter social isolation or violence as a result.

Increasing insecurity further threatens to undermine the successes of the last few years. After witnessing a record number of girls returning to school, families in parts of the southeast and south are preventing the women and girls from their families from going to school and work out of fear for their security. The deteriorating security situation has also led to the reduction of essential services that many rural women rely on. In the past year, many international development and relief organizations including Medecins Sans Frontiers, the Red Cross, and various UN agencies have reduced their operations and pulled out of rural provinces where aid is already extremely limited. The environment has also made it extremely difficult for rural women to access the legal, educational, and social resources established in the last six years. For many outside Kabul, little has changed since the Taliban’s departure.

In addition, women also are direct targets of a revitalized insurgency, which can primarily be attributed to their efforts to provide educational opportunities and other critical services to their communities. There have been many cases of school bombings and assassinations of women teachers and principals throughout the country. For instance, in December 2006, five members of the same family were murdered by Taliban militants in Helmand; two of the women victims were teachers at the local girls’ school. Women leaders like Safia Amajan, Kandahar Director of Women’s Affairs, and Zakia Zaki, prominent journalist, were gunned down in 2006 and 2007 for their activism and leadership roles. Even in Kabul, women government officials and parliamentarians report threats of verbal harassment and physical violence.

Women’s Contributions to Building Peace

Security Sector

Despite restrictions and limitations to their participation, women are represented in the security sector. In 2007, 233 women served in the Afghan Police Force and 259 women in the Afghan National Army. While this represents less than 1% of employees in the security forces, the presence of women in security forces has been effective. Women police officers have moved beyond the counterinsurgency operations frequently performed by the ANA to employ more community-based approaches to policing. They have been instrumental in the design and implementation of Family Response Units, police units specifically mandated to address all forms of familial violence. Their presence has enabled countless women to voice their concerns and seek justice. Additionally, women police officers provide the ANA with the necessary capacity to perform gender appropriate operations, such as guarding women prisoners and searching women at border checkpoints.

Government

Afghan women scored a tremendous victory during the 2005 parliamentary elections. With the aid of international organizations such as the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), Afghan women-led civil society organizations conducted capacity training for hundreds of women candidates across the country. Over 600 women candidates ran for office despite grave threats to their personal and familial safety. Women did remarkably well in the elections; over 30% of women candidates garnered enough votes to win their seats without using the electoral quota.

Women currently represent 27% of the Wolesi Jirga, the highest percentage of women parliamentarians in any Muslim country and higher than many Western nations. Contrary to expectations that they would play little more than a symbolic role, a significant number of women parliamentarians have proven to be vocal and active members.

To translate these voices into a formidable block, these women need to develop a united voice around common interests. Efforts are underway in this regard. Through the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and other international and local organizations, women parliamentarians have undertaken efforts towards building bridges across political and ethnic divides and formed a nonpartisan women’s network. They have also made key linkages between government and civil society; the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs is currently working with civil society to draft new legislation to prevent and punish violence against women. In 2007, women parliamentarians led efforts to push legislation changing the legal age of adulthood from 11 for boys and 9 for girls to 18 and 16 respectively.

The number of women in the government’s cabinet has steadily decreased over the years; The Interim Administration included three women ministries, in the current cabinet all cabinet members are men, with the exception of the Minister of Women’s Affairs. Broadly, women represent 25% of civil servants and are employed in significant numbers in some ministries, including the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and the Ministry of Higher Education and Vocational Training.

In 2005, President Karzai appointed Habiba Sarabi, then Minister of Women’s Affairs as the first woman governor in the country. In an environment characterized by constant rotation of governors in the provinces, Governor Sarabi has demonstrated her effectiveness by serving in the same position for the last three years.

Justice System

The Afghanistan Compact places particular emphasis on the need for a professional and engendered judicial system. Women are important contributors to this process. They represented 20% of delegates to the Constitutional Loya Jirga. During sessions, women were at the forefront of efforts promoting ethnic pluralism and the rights of minorities. They helped support the establishment of Uzbeki as an official language under the constitution in exchange for Uzbek support for women’s participation in the government as well as advocating for the rights of the handicapped and for the protection and promotion of human rights. Women activists also advocated successfully for the inclusion of language promising equal rights to women. These efforts contributed to the drafting and ratification of one the most progressive constitutions in the Islamic world.

In small numbers, women have also secured positions as judges (4.2%), prosecutors (6.4%), attorneys (6.1%), and heads of Family and Juvenile Courts. The Supreme Court has resisted appeals to include women in its membership. In spite of limitations to women’s official involvement in the judicial sector, Afghan women civil society and NGO leaders are also playing a key role in promoting and protecting the rights accorded in the Afghan constitution. Organizations like Da Qanoon Ghustunkeh, Medica Mondiale, Equal Access, and Shuhada play an essential role in providing legal services for detained women and girls. Close to 80% of these incarcerated women are in prison for moral crimes, in particular allegations of zina or sexual misconduct outside of marriage. Women are often prosecuted even when they are victims of rape. Afghan women’s organizations, in collaboration with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, are also lobbying for legal reforms and advocating for changes in the family and penal codes to protect the rights of women and girls.

Afghan women’s organizations also act as a moderating force, by working with local shuras and other traditional justice systems and promoting a moderate interpretation of Shariah law. A significant number of Afghan women are combing studies in Shariah and Law to equip themselves with the necessary skills to protect and advance their rights.

Conclusion

While significant gains have been made in the political and public sector, Afghan women are far from realizing the principles of 1325. Yet the small gains that have been made illustrate the potential of women and the pivotal role that they are playing in advancing the reform agenda and moving Afghanistan towards a more moderate and inclusive society. They are promoting a more moderate interpretation of Shariah law and undertaking efforts to broaden the space for discourse and debate.

Supporting Afghan women is not simply necessary on moral, but strategic grounds. Afghan women are natural partners in the peace process. These efforts are ultimately critical for the long-term stability of Afghanistan’s peacebuilding and reform efforts. Afghan women time and again demonstrated courage and resilience in advancing their rights. The U.S. Administration and the international community need to continue creating the conditions for Afghan women to realize their rights. It is therefore vital that the U.S. Congress continue to prioritize and leverage women’s positions and to support the further implementation of Resolution 1325 in Afghanistan by:

· Appropriating increased funding for Afghan women-led NGOS, particularly in the provinces, to provide critical health, literacy, education, and legal services and to ensure that they are provided in remote areas.

· Establishing a quota for women employees in US-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams to ensure regular consultations with local women leaders in the design, implementation, and oversight of all projects;

· Requiring the US State Department for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to establish affirmative action mechanisms to increase women’s participation in security institutions, specifically by providing the following incentives:

o Equal pay based on rank;

o Childcare;

o Special housing and health facilities for women;

o Professional development services to encourage women’s promotion to high-level positions; and

o Equal education requirements for men and women to serve in entry-level positions.

· Appropriating funding and providing targeted capacity-building opportunities for Afghan women parliamentarians to effectively legislate in the National Assembly and to strengthen their contribution in parliamentary committees;

· Supporting efforts towards networking among women parliamentarians and leaders and strengthening the capacity of women leaders towards coalition building around issues of common interest.

· Ensuring that judicial reform programs sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) provide comprehensive training on the constitution, civil code, and human rights law, including Afghanistan’s international commitments, to all judges, lawyers, law enforcement officials, and prosecutors. Women’s rights should be emphasized as a top priority;

· Urging the Afghan Government to provide all women government officials and parliamentarians with adequate security to travel to and from work;

· Calling upon the Ministry of Interior to launch a campaign to recruit women police officers.

· Supporting the training of Afghan National Police on alternatives for supporting women victims.

· Encouraging President Karzai and his administration to take concrete measures to counter all acts of violence against women, including familial violence; and

· Ensuring congressional delegations to Afghanistan meet with women government officials, parliamentarians, and civil society leaders.

Thank you.