Recently, I attended a two day conference, organized by AWN and another organization, Equality for Peace and Development, EPD, and convened by over one hundred women activists from across Afghanistan. The conference took place last weekend, ahead of this past Tuesday’s Kabul Conference. Its organization was prompted by women concerned about being overlooked and ignored by the Kabul Conference as well as the over all Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program. Women in Afghanistan are worried their rights sit on the trading block as the Afghan government attempts to make its way toward a peace settlement.

In response to the blatant exclusion of women from yet another international conference on Afghanistan, the women’s conference provided a forum in which women from across the country joined hands in voicing not only concerns, needs, and priorities, but also that without thought to women’s role in peace building, Afghanistan will never rise on its feet.

The women came with serious concerns and criticisms of the current state of affairs in not just the country, but in provinces, cities, and villages from which they hail. Many were skeptical over the words of certain ministers who spoke on the panels, and they posed tough questions and tougher criticisms against the government’s handling of many issues.

They called on the Afghan government and the international community to remember Afghan women both in the decisions made on peace, and to give due space for them to voice their concerns and ideas on the road ahead. Activists want a real commitment made to the women of Afghanistan in order to move forward toward any peace and security.

I should point out that several leading documents signed by the Afghan government protect women’s rights and support economic empowerment of women, including the National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA), the Afghan Constitution, and the Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS). Women have also contributed to a number of international forums, including the Dubai Women Dialogue (January 2010), Civil Society Conference in London, Afghan Women’s Forum, and Role of Women in the Peace Jirga (May 2010).

Despite this degree of presence on the international and national scene, women are shut out of the decision-making and policy creation that goes on in other areas but especially in building an inclusive peace settlement with warring parties, the government, and Afghan society.  Women’s achievements still stand in contrast to the violence, discrimination, and intimidation many face, due both to endemic cultural practices and to the conflict that contributes severely to the terrible plight of women in Afghanistan.  They continue to face tenuous circumstances and in many parts of the country continue to bear the brunt of the upheavals and brutality of the conflict.

A new report finds that women face terror and repression in areas that have been recaptured by the Taliban. And while they account for approximately 48% of the Afghan population, women are also often ignored or treated with extreme caution by policy makers. International and national policy makers often ignore or treat with little regard commitments such as tenets of the Afghan Constitution supporting women’s inclusion, and priorities set in ANDS and NAPWA.

Furthermore, while international and Afghan policy makers and governments speak on behalf of women when it suits their agenda, adequate inclusion of women in international and national forums still has much to be desired. Women have been ignored at every international conference on Afghanistan, and the Kabul Conference was no different.

Activists were not shy to say they were ignored by national and international decision-makers.  Suraya Pakzad, founder of Voice of Women of Afghanistan (VWO)in Herat, and an AWN member, spoke plainly, “We have not been consulted… we want to be involved in the policy making. We do not just want to have our presence serve purely as a symbol”.

The two-day women’s conference focused on women’s role in peace building and reintegration, discussion of the follow up of First Women’s Council recommendations on NAPWA as an important benchmark in achieving women’s development, and place reflection and consensus on Afghan women’s concerns, needs, and priorities for the outcomes of the Kabul Conference. At the end, it produced a conference statement with key recommendations on five governance cluster areas – agriculture and rural development, human resource, economic and infrastructure development, security, and governance- to the Afghan government and other policy/decision makers present at the Kabul Conference.

By Tuesday, after intense lobbying by Afghan women’s groups, only two women beside government ministers took part in the Kabul Conference.  Sima Samar, represented the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), a national human rights monitoring body, and Palwasha Hassan, an AWN member and former candidate for Minister of Women’s Affairs, represented women’s voice from Afghanistan’s slowly budding civil society.

President Karzai at the Kabul Conference also assured that in a bid to make peace with the Taliban, who had brutal policies toward both groups, the rights of women and minorities will not be undermined.  Many seem to be aware that to ignore half the population in development and peace strategy will show to be detrimental to the social, political, and economic viability of the country in the end. However, with all the activism and lobbying efforts of women, the Kabul Conference produced a statement that essentially gave a nod regarding women’s rights, inclusion, and protection, but still has left a deep gap in the inclusion and attention to bringing women into the roles of policy and decision making, especially in terms of building peace in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, where they are far from respected and protected from various sorts of harm and abuse, women hold a very precarious place. In Kabul, women and girls walk about freely, commute to work in minibuses and commuter cars, and most dress in a manteau, loose pants, and scarf. Some women still wear the blue chadari (burqa); some who have returned in recent years from Iran wear the Iranian style black chadar, or those from Pakistan, wear the all-enveloping black burka worn by Pakistani, Arab, and Indian women. I see this very little however in Kabul.

While women work in a variety of professions, shopkeepers are exclusively men, or at least from what I have seen, and women who work do so in various levels of government and civil society organization or as housekeeping in these offices. Suffice it to say, the situation of middle class or educated women is wholly different from women of the rural areas or the poor.  As is the case in many other countries, women in Afghanistan who are activists, who work within government or civil society, hail from the middle class.

The women’s movement in the United States was the product of activism by middle class women and the few men who chose to support them. At its first wave, it was wholly focused on suffrage (a very middle class concern in my mind), and later on equality in the workplace and in the civil/social space. Through it, all minorities and poor women were left on the margins of the women’s movement. It seems to me that similarly, in Afghanistan, the poor woman, the uneducated woman, and rural woman rarely have the chance to voice out their concerns on what are socially, politically, and economically lacking in their lives and their ideas on improvement. They certainly have voice, but we don’t hear it loud enough, and they themselves have no avenues or platforms to raise this voice.

The past decade, many in the international community have focused on “lifting the veil”, as if this is what will help Afghanistan, it’s women and its men and children. In reality, the solution to the problems here is not the veil, but the lack of development—in almost every sector of life. Two weeks ago, I attended a meeting with Ashraf Ghani along with other Afghan women activists. These women’s concerns on inclusion in the political and policy making process were met with his usual suggestions of improving the situation of the rural and poor class through education and broader inclusion in economic power.

In truth, development and so called post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan is a joke. Not only are the roots of conflict often ignored in policy creation, but the most significant reasons as to why young men join the insurgency in Afghanistan and why women are subjected to horrible living conditions and abuse are sidelined to be addressed at a later date. Women activists here are told by some in the international community to work for short term goals.

Again, the reality is nothing in conflict can be resolved if we simply look for quick fixes. Yes, change comes incrementally, but without a clear vision of the end goal, women activists will merely be echoes in the so-called reconstruction game being played in Afghanistan. Without concrete plans, once the international community packs up to leave Afghanistan, sooner or later, or once compromises are made in return for peace, what women have built through their own activism, and through Afghan and international support, will unravel.

A variety of women’s groups, and a few UN bodies present in Afghanistan have focused on the impact UN resolution 1325 has made in the country. As I’ve said, I’m working on compiling a report on this for AWN. Despite the ineptness of the government, and the nonchalance of the police, the situation for Afghans has become better in the past few years. Women are faring better in many ways, but also continue to face immense obstacles. While the experience of urban and rural women are certainly different, some issues remain the same across the board. I keep asking what have women really gained despite at least constitutionally being guaranteed the human rights and protections of citizenship. In real terms, there are a few programs and plans part of the Afghan government’s work. These include the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA), specific gender components of the Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS), as well as pro women laws like the Elimination of Violence against Afghan Women.

While abuse is universal and exists in every part of the world, the prevalence and lack of accountability attached to it vary. In Afghanistan, women and girls are guaranteed protections and rights by the Constitution, but the ignorance and nonchalance of government and police who should serve to protect effectively silence and curtail women.

To make things worse, where concerned parties should focus on is unclear or twisted with other intentions. For many outside of Afghanistan and a number within, helping Afghan women (or Pakistani, or Iranian, or Arab) consists things like ‘liberation’ and ‘lifting the veil’. This is old news to most of us. And while the United States decided to invade Afghanistan in part claiming to ‘free’ women from oppression, including being free from the now popular blue burqa, here, women don’t speak in these terms. It is not that they don’t speak of their oppression or unaware and this is why something like a scarf is not the hot topic of town. It is because they are aware of their problems that the banality of so-called feminists abroad concerned for Afghan women and their burqas that is ludicrous.

After a recent conversation with a woman I met at a meeting, I tell myself it is not freedom-from, but freedom-to that women activists are seeking in Afghanistan. The freedom –from is focused on warding off and going away from a certain sort of reality. It is focused on doing away with any and every outward aspect of society that is negative toward women. While this is good in many ways, especially on the surface, freedom to not only places the struggle of women in positive terms, it also engineers a message that says Afghan women are not against their own society or country, but are in fact for its improvement. Women’s inclusion in social and political life of the country is couched by many women here in this way. Freedom-to does not negate the fact that most women who seek changes for themselves and their sisters, mothers and daughters, (and for their society as a whole) do not at the same time cast off their religion, culture, or identity as Afghan women. They hold these aspects as important and valuable. Instead, here what freedom-to exhibits is the desire to commit a better way of life for women while clearly still a part of the society. In other words, the majority of women here are not looking to be free from wearing a headscarf. The woman’s struggle here is more for choice and voice on her own terms.

I think in general (and sorry for the generalization), people here feel threatened when non-related males speak to or engage in any manner women in public. I am aware it is not about a lack of education or over zealousness of faith either. Many things I see as part of Afghan culture for example are in actuality antithesis of Islamic ideas and ideals. The absurdity of how much women protect themselves or are protected by men from outside eyes is also when I realize how American I am in this milieu and how the Afghan culture of the diaspora is a hybrid product of America (or Europe, Australia, etc.) and the Afghanistan many left behind 30-20 years ago.

Recently, I mentioned taking part in a working group made up of civil society groups and representatives of government and judiciary regarding gender, peace, and security. An interesting point made at this discussion was the porous labels many place on the situation in Afghanistan. Some people choose to discuss or view Afghanistan in a post-conflict scenario, as if because the Taliban and their Pakistani and Arab supporters were ousted from Kabul, it means the avenue for reconstruction and peace is open for business. They wonder why it’s taking so long for Afghans to come around, for the country to get its act together, and why Taliban elements are still on the loose. In reality, the war that began in the countryside and the resistance in the cities in 1979 has continued in turns and twists into the present. The presence and meddling of neighboring states and the West has continued and this has only helped to support and exacerbate the corrupt elements within the country. It seems everyone knows what is good for Afghanistan except Afghans, apparently. And what’s good for Afghanistan is apparently what is in the interest of Iran, Pakistan, China, and the Western states, but of course, this is a basic fact in the region and we must all know this. Today, people in the city of Kabul live out of harm’s way relative to the south and east of the country. Close to Kabul Province, in neighboring provinces, Taliban hold a presence that leaves no doubt that Afghanistan is a country in conflict, and compromise with not just the Taliban but with those who support them, will leave large swaths of the Afghan population dissatisfied and denied their due justice. When lives and rights of people are involved, compromise is not always the best thing. The biggest body politic to lose in the wake of severe compromises is the Afghan woman. Women today are not only afraid of the current insecurity and perpetual impunity that serves for governance and justice here, but what may become of their lives and their rights if government negotiations take a turn that sacrifices the women for peace. The Afghan government and many decision makers of countries whose fingers are dabbed in red seem too easily swept into trading what they feel is least important to both peace and stability of Afghanistan and of the region. One of the most controversial outcomes of the the London Conference in January 2010, was the suggestion of a peace conference. Women voiced this concern long before plans for reconciliation, and have more urgently been lobbying against compromises on women’s rights and gains. AWN is among the leading organizations lobbying against drastic changes against women’s rights. There are plans for a conference in the upcoming weeks which will hopefully give attention to the lack of inclusion of women in the peace process and to the threat women face by negotiations.

This past week I became more involved with AWN’s work on UNSCR 1325. The resolution’s ten year anniversary is October 31, 2010, and many around the world are focusing on the progress made on its commitments. UNSCR 1325 is a 2000 UN resolution focused on women, peace, and security. UNSCR 1325 reaffirms the importance of the role women can and do play in all aspects of peace (peacebuilding, peace negotiations, post-conflict reconstruction, etc.), recognizes the detrimental impact of violence and conflict on women, and urges the increased role, participation, and perspective of women in peace and security.

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When the wind picks up, a fine rinse of dust covers every surface available. I pass the Kabul Polytechnic Institute, site of the recent peace jirga (jirga-ye solh) and Kabul University, an army training barracks, and dozens upon dozens of ramshackle shops selling everything from fresh baked bread to books and stationery. There is construction in many places, and the beautification of most streets rests in the hands of those living there. Rose bushes are quite abundant in many parts of the city, including traffic circles and road dividers, and in the garden of our office. I’ve begun working on compiling a report on UN Resolution 1325.

In the early morning, Kabul is on the move. Away from the news and certain circles working here, one can easily forget that there is a war still going on. But in every aspect, Afghanistan is still in conflict. The roads are full of compact cars, small and large commuter buses, police trucks, and the occasional military or Red Cross/Red Crescent vehicle. Waves of men and women head off to every level of work, in cars that climb the mostly broken, unpaved roads. Some areas are paved, and others, especially those smaller streets with homes on either side, still echo the tumult of the years of war that rocked Kabul, and the physical decay that occurs when there is bigger fish to fry.

When I arrived in Kabul last week, many roads were closed off around the city with police trucks for the peace jirga (peace council meeting). Many people I’ve talked to have looked at this attempt at reconciliation with pessimism, but there is still hope that something will give and peace will return throughout Afghanistan.
And like the city, Afghan women are on move, for their inclusion and are unwilling to let go of their rights. They are constantly pushing for more space for themselves, their sisters, mothers, and daughters. Recently, women managed to fight tooth and nail to gain and maintain a presence at the peace jirga. The Afghan Women’s Network took part in the jirga, weaving its members into the many committees and groups formed for discussion during the meeting. While what has developed as a result of this peace jirga is much to be seen, women at the jirga were at the least vocal and distinct in what they were advocating– women’s rights in the public and private, and women’s participation in peace building.

In a few days, I will be arriving in Kabul to begin work with the Afghan Women’s Network, a group I highly admire and hope to learn a great amount from and contribute whatever I can. I am hoping to gain a better understanding of what women in the general population and women activists in their work are facing in the current environment of insecurity and conflict.

I have been in touch with my main contact person from the Kabul office. We have figured out a preliminary work plan, and we will iron it all out once I’m in the country. In the meantime, I can tell you I will be assisting the advocacy department in identifying key issues that can be resolved or improved through various strategies. I will be working with AWN to organize awareness sessions on UN resolution 1325 related to women, peace, and security for AWN members; and drafting a report in Persian and English, among other responsibilities. The details of all of this will come to be much clearer in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I have been keeping up on news about Afghanistan and brushing up on Persian. The language component will no doubt come in handy as Persian is one of two official languages of Afghanistan!

I am eager to begin, after which I will have much more to tell you!