Afghanistan

Women’s Vital Contributions

Five years after the US invasion, Afghanistan’s level of security is, unfortunately, backsliding. A renewed Taliban insurgency and emboldened conservative forces threaten a still fragile peace and, most especially, the status of women. Women leaders have been subject to verbal and physical harassment and are increasingly marginalized in the political process, a situation that endangers hard won gains. To achieve successful stabilization and democratization, Afghans must recognize women’s empowerment as central to the country’s political, economic, and social reconstruction.

In September 2007 Karuna Center for Peacebuilding and the Initiative for Inclusive Security jointly led a six-day multi-sector training seminar in Kabul, titled Securing Afghanistan: Women’s Vital Contributions. The training culminated in a policy forum held at the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and brought together more than 60 Afghan leaders and 17 international policy makers.

KCP Associate Director Olivia Dreier interviewed participant Orzala Asharif, founder of Humanitarian Assistance for Woman and Children in Afghanistan, and a truly remarkable person:

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Part 2:

One of Karuna Center's most dynamic participants, Wazhma Frogh, was recently featured in a Christian Science Monitor article entitled Inside Islam, A Woman's Roar.

Karuna Center’s partner, the Initiative for Inclusive Security, has worked in Afghanistan since 2005, providing training for women in government ministries and parliament. In this recent seminar women and men from civil society organizations, parliament, and the ministries worked together on strategies for building multi-sector coalitions that promote women’s participation in addressing obstacles to a sustainable peace. Outspoken Afghan women are often fighting lonely battles as they struggle to be heard. To be effective they need broader platforms where they can develop mutual support. Conflict analysis and mapping exercises equipped participants with tools to deepen their understanding of the root causes of a range of current conflicts and to develop more effective strategies for intervention. Other sessions focused on practical skills of conflict resolution and on means for bridging ethnic, religious, and regional divides to construct a national civic identity. Capacity-building sessions in advocacy and message management then prepared the participants to present strategic recommendations on security issues to relevant NATO, EU, and US policy makers during roundtable discussions held on the final day.

Peaceful democratization in Afghanistan is being sorely tested on numerous fronts. A dynamic partnership between Karuna Center and the Initiative for Inclusive Security resulted in a seminar that offered Afghan participants a broadened understanding of security, one that goes beyond issues of immediate safety. Ultimately, true security depends upon the full inclusion of all citizens, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, or class and also requires strategies that address the causes of conflicts at their deepest roots.

Read more about Karuna Center activities in the following trip report: Afghanistan, September 2007