The author of this week’s blog is Jackie
Paling, SIGBI Assistant Programme Director for Violence and Conflict
Resolution. Jackie has travelled extensively around the world and says that her
experiences have provided her with a truly excellent education. A regular
visitor to Afghanistan, Jackie takes out humanitarian aid and supports various
projects out there. A retired engineer, she often uses her creative skills to
help Afghan women with their handicrafts.
I am now back in
Afghanistan and visiting the women’s “safe house” mentioned in my previous blog “The worst place in the world to be a woman?”.
The women are very pleased to see me, and graciously
thank me for the gifts of knitting and crochet needles, wool and other items. But I notice once more the sadness in their eyes. The violence that these women
have experienced is not just physical violence, but also psychological
violence. No wonder they feel worthless. What is their future? What are their
dreams?. Indeed this is a question I ask many Afghan women I meet.
Yesterday I was in a different women’s safe house.
However, the atmosphere was the same, a mixture of sadness, resignation,
acceptance and boredom. The days seem endless again. The women here feel both
hopeless and helpless. I hope that by helping such women with handicrafts, I
can build up a little of their self-esteem, getting them to try out new things
and achieve them.
I listen to their stories and try having a conversation with
them about other issues affecting Afghan women, and I tell them that many other
women round the world, including organisations like Soroptimist International,
are working to help them. Women’s rights are alien to most of them. In this
country, there are stories everyday of violence against women. There was a recent
case of a young wife who was murdered by her husband just for bearing a girl
child.
After more than 30
years of conflict, Afghanistan has been left with one of the worst records in
the world for education and literacy. Under the current Afghan Constitution,
all children have the right to free and compulsory education up to a certain
grade. Great efforts have been made by International and Afghan organisations
to ensure that Afghan children may enjoy this right. Much progress has been
made in the reconstruction of the education system and provision of schools.
However many problems still exist. Although literacy rates among women and
girls have improved (and the rates do vary depending on the source), they only
reach a maximum of about 18%, and much less in many parts of the country. Traditional attitudes mean that many
Afghan girls are being denied an education.
This has not been helped by the recent
attacks on girls’ schools. In the past two months, those opposed to
educating girls have been closing schools with
intimidating security threats. Perhaps the most
insidious acts have been the poisoning of girls and staff in a number of
schools around the country. Many of the
victims had to be hospitalised. No
conclusive evidence has been released yet but it is thought that either chemical
substances were sprayed into the classrooms or used to contaminate the school
wells. That is a violation of international humanitarian law and the
right to education. If
this continues, we may yet see a resurgence of home-based schools.
In March this year, the Ulema Council, a tribunal of
religious leaders, along with extremist groups made the following declaration: “Men are fundamental and women are secondary.” They also added that
women should avoid mingling with strange men in various social activities such
as education, in bazaars, in offices and in other aspects of life. This caused much consternation for human rights activists and
organisations working to secure the rights of Afghan women. The worry is that
the hard-earned progress made since the fall of the Taliban ten years
ago is now at risk.
Last
October saw the 10th Anniversary of western intervention in
Afghanistan. To mark the date, an International Conference was held in Bonn,
Germany, where Ministers and Special Representatives from 100 countries
discussed their commitment to Afghanistan in terms of aid and military involvement for
the next 10 years. At the first Bonn Conference 10 years ago, promises were
made also about the protection of women’s rights.
The
Afghan Women’s Network, a large network of women’s organisations use green
scarves to symbolize their strength and unity. The Green Scarf Campaign was
launched last October in the run up to the main Bonn Conference, to show
solidarity with these women and to call on world leaders to ensure that any
political settlement would guarantee Afghan women’s rights, and a role for women in the peace process. Photo-wall petitions were initiated,
and in the UK, Soroptimists attending
their Federation Conference in Brighton had their photos taken
with green scarves. These photos accompanied the UK Foreign Minister to Bonn.
Two
weeks ago, NATO held its latest summit in Chicago, attended by
representatives from 50 countries. At
the summit, leaders signed a pact to officially end the war in Afghanistan in 2014. However nothing
was mentioned about what will happen to Afghan women after troop withdrawal. Advocates for Afghan women’s
rights sprang into action. Amnesty International organised a “Shadow Summit”
which ran alongside the NATO one. Prominent Afghan women, including Afifi Azim,
Director and Co-Founder of the Afghan Women’s Network, spoke about the role of
women during the transition process and the conversations NATO should be having
about Afghan Women’s rights. Were any Soroptimists in attendance? I would love to know!
Whatever
the outcome after 2014, we as Soroptimists must not desert these women. We must do all we can to ensure that
Afghan women’s voices are heard.
And
back in the safe house the women seem momentarily happy as they discuss
different crochet patterns and help each other with their handicraft. I ask
them how they feel about recent comments. One woman retorts – “Men are fundamental are they? We are just as
fundamental! If it wasn’t for us, who do the men think would bear and care for
their children?"