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Balancing Traditions
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Few people missed the symbolism of burkha-clad female voters in lines along sidewalks, and across Afghanistan, awaiting their say in the country’s parliamentary elections on 18 September 2005.
Female candidates were also conspicuous, backed by strong international support and by the constitution, which reserves 25% of the seats in Parliament for women. Many articulate and enlightened women scored decisive electoral victories, testament to their courage and Afghan voters’ trust. It was a sound retort to those who criticized what they labeled “western-style affirmative action.”
Yet these same women, literally shrouded in tradition, embody the complexity of actively pushing for change in gender roles in Afghan society. Doing so must balance the new with the old, and boldness with caution. There must be a long-term and patient effort at building the capacity of Afghan officials for handling gender issues.
“We have to be aware not only of how to push, but also of how to sit back,” says Yoshie Yamamoto, a consultant to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) technical assistance project designed to build the capacity of staff in Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs. It is important to keep in mind, she says, that while “mainstreaming” gender in a country like Afghanistan, one must be proactive and receptive at the same time.
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is responsible for leading government efforts to advance the role of Afghan women. It recognizes the need to build understanding and capacity throughout the government for gender analysis as a critical contribution to broad-based ownership and commitment. The ministry advocates legal and physical protection for women as well as increased involvement of women in decision-making processes.
ADB is providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to help enhance the quality of life of Afghan women as well as to ensure their integration into all development sectors. The grant has helped build the ministry’s capacity for research, policy, and planning, and helped clarify the ministry’s goals, roles, and strategies.
Other donor agencies, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the United Nations agencies, such as the UN Development Programme, UN Population Fund, and UN Development Fund for Women, have provided the ministry with complementary capacity development assistance.
Ms. Yamamoto has been part of an ADB team of two international and three local consultants working in two teams. One is concentrating on building staff capacity in administration and finance and streamlining institutional frameworks, while the other is bringing skills to staff in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to analyze women’s status and condition in Afghanistan, and to use statistics as a policy and advocacy tool.
“Specifically, we are talking about 50–60 people with a lot of energy, but who are new to the system and lack skills after decades of war,” she says.
Gender relations have changed in Afghanistan’s urban centers. Many Afghan women returned from Pakistan or Iran, some of them with English language skills, with a bigger view of the world. In Kabul and Herat—and elsewhere—society is more socially dynamic. “But in rural areas very little has changed,” says Ms. Yamamoto.
Afghan women generally have suffered many years of severe and institutionalized gender discrimination, with a strong division of roles and segregation of men and women. Women generally have mostly domestic roles in the private sphere, and men operate in the public sphere. Yet gender roles vary considerably by age, education, class, wealth, and ethnicity.
“ We have to be aware not only of how to push, but also of how to sit back "
- Yoshie YamamotoStatistically, Afghan women clearly lag behind. Only 12.7% of Afghan women are literate, while maternal mortality in Afghanistan is the highest on earth. One Afghan woman dies every 30 minutes from pregnancy-related causes. Gender discrepancy on measures such as life expectancy, education, poverty, and others is among the world’s worst, according to the 2004 Afghanistan Human Development Report.
Part of the work under the technical assistance grant will go toward setting up a statistics unit within the ministry to provide a clearer picture of how things have—or have not—changed.
One concern, says Ms. Yamamoto, is that electoral politics have also brought some complications. Ministers and other senior government staff are not willing to take political risks relating to women for fear of alienating voters. “Such caution makes discussion about gender issues—much less mainstreaming of gender across sectors and throughout Afghanistan—very difficult.”
Building understanding and broadening the role of women in Afghan society is a long-term goal, says Ms. Yamamoto. However, she stresses the importance of building capacity in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to ensure its survival as a strong proponent for greater gender equality. There is no shortage of politicians who would like the ministry to disappear, or to only undertake “women’s projects,” so failure risks further marginalization of Afghan women.
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