TALKING POINTS

The guest today is Surya Sobhrang, Deputy and Acting Minister of Women’s Affairs.

International Women’s Day
During the last briefing I brought to your attention the fact that International Women’s Day is observed every year on the 8th of March. We have two posters (Beijing at Ten) here marking a very important meeting which began on the 28th of February and runs until the 11th of March in New York. The event is called “Beijing at Ten”. The reason it is called that is because of an international conference on women which was held in Beijing 10 years ago. Ten years later there is an evaluation of the situation of women around the world, and the way ahead.

In an attempt to mark the day, and also to show you how women issues, gender issues are present in every area of activity, we tried to prepare a briefing today where all notes will have a gender angle so that we try to show in practice how gender issues are really present in all spheres of life.

We all consider the 8th of March an important day. For the United Nations there can be no solution to social, economic and political issues without the full participation and empowerment of women.

Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his message on the International Women’s Day says that “study after study has taught us that there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women. No other policy is as likely to raise economic productivity, or to reduce infant and maternal mortality. No other policy is as sure to improve nutrition and promote health. No other policy is as powerful in increasing the chances of education for the next generation. And I would venture that no policy is more important in preventing conflict, or in achieving reconciliation after a conflict has ended.”

Although progress has been made, discrimination against and abuse of women continues. Here in Afghanistan, the problems are manifest. Human rights abuses against women such as domestic violence and forced marriages are high, and many women in this country suffer from poor access to legal resources, and exclusion from public life.

In the last year alone, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) recorded 110 cases of self-immolation by women trying to escape forced marriages and domestic violence. And as little as three years ago, 98 per cent of women in Afghanistan had no formal identity papers or proof of citizenship.
There have been advances, though.

Afghans have enshrined gender equality in the Constitution (Article 22) and ensured that women have 25 per cent representation in the Lower House of parliament (Article 83) and 17 per cent representation in the Upper House of parliament (Article 84). They also ratified, without reservation, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Children (CEDAW) in 2003. In 2002 the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) was established to promote the advancement of women.

Speaking of institutional development, one cannot forget that the first woman provincial governor in the history of Afghanistan was appointed, just a few days ago, and that is Dr. Habiba Sorabi the former Minister of Women’s Affairs.

But more needs to be done. The United Nations continues to assist in terms of capacity building. The MoWA has been strengthened over the last three years with continued UN support and donor commitment - currently the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Asia Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have seven advisers integrated within MoWA.

At the provincial level, MoWA is in the process of establishing Women’s Development Centres (WDC) that will link resources with women’s needs and priorities at the community level, particularly in the fields of literacy, health, vocational training, income generation, legal and psychological support.

UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) has also recently launched a project to provide capacity building support to 15 provincial Departments of Women’s Affairs. Key components include providing skills and training in public administration, and workshops on ‘Women’s Participation’ in the upcoming parliamentary elections – the major theme for this year’s International Women’s Day in Afghanistan.

Deputy Minister Surya Sobhrang will tell you more about the activities commemorating International Women’s Day here in Afghanistan, but I will highlight a few:

· On March 12th, the Ministry of Education and UNICEF will be launching a major national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of educating all children in the run-up to the start of the new school year at the end of the month. Click here to view the UNICEF fact sheet on education which gives you information on the number of girls enrolled in schools, the question of female teachers, problems still being faced, and the plans ahead.

· The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is providing technical and financial assistance to MoWA’s Department of Health to hold a one-day seminar of ‘Reproductive Health and Rights’ and a two-day family planning campaign in Kabul, both scheduled for March 6th. This will be followed by a mass campaign on ‘Reproductive Health and Rights’ in Bamyan Province, supported by UNFPA, the World Food Programme (WFP), and JICA.

· In the western region, UNICEF is supporting the Department of Women's Affairs in Herat, Bagdhis, and Farah provinces to hold mobile information forums to advocate for girls' education and to print a special newsletter for women from March 8-11. In the northern provinces, in Faryab, Balkh, Jawzjan and Saripul, UNICEF is working with the Departments of Women's Affairs to hold a series of roundtable discussions and dramas on the issue of girls' education which will be recorded on International Women's Day and broadcast on provincial television and radio.

· UNIFEM and MoWA are producing two one-minute television and radio spots which will be aired on Radio and Television Afghanistan (RTA), and independent radio stations across Afghanistan. The first TV spot celebrates International Women's Day. The second is part of a larger UNIFEM-MoWA campaign to encourage women to apply for government positions.

Click here to read the Secretary-General’s message on the International Women’s Day in English, Dari, and Pashto.

Women speak up at NDI training sessions for women political candidates
As we talk about women’s participation in the political life of the country, I wish to mention again the workshops being organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in support of the electoral process which is being led by the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB). They have been conducting seminars and training sessions, in Kabul and throughout the country, for both women political activists and also women who are intending to become candidates, both within parties and as independents. Here are some observations from those meetings:

· Women are enthusiastic about the prospect of the upcoming parliamentary elections, as these local and provincial elections are thought to be ‘closer to home’ for them, dealing with issues which affect themselves and their families on a practical level;

· Women independent candidates face several major challenges in running for the Wolesi Jirga: 1) access to the financial resources required to compete in a large geographical area; 2) access to local and provincial media; and, 3) access to community groups and other networks at a provincial level.

· Now that voters have had the experience of voting in the Presidential Election, and realize that there are safeguards in place to ensure a truly secret ballot, many women hope for and expect significant voting for female candidates, and for parties whose issues reflect the needs of women in Afghanistan;

· While all women candidates require training in the techniques of campaigning, most require the basic personal skills such as public speaking, speech-writing, leading discussions, and debating. These sessions have seen many women ‘open up’ and start discussing and debating issues - often for the first time in a public setting.

Training sessions were held in Kabul and Mazar last week. This week the National Democratic Institute’s training is being held in Jalalabad.

Elections Civic Education: Lessons Learned from the Presidential Elections
Last Wednesday (March 2), following the guidance from the JEMB Public Outreach Office, an Elections Civic Education meeting was organized by The Asia Foundation. The event was held at the Foundation for Culture and Civil Society.
Attending this meeting were a number of NGO’s who were active civic education participants for the Presidential Election or have made significant plans to be active participants for the coming Parliamentary elections. The aim of this meeting was to discuss the lessons learned from previous elections civic education activities and ways to improve future civic education activities.

Some of the “lessons learned” reaffirmed the fact that messages need to be tested for both effectiveness and appropriateness and that messages need to complement each other so as to strengthen the message’s credibility; there needs to be more in depth and frequent training for Civic Educators; and finally for potential candidates, there needs to be a greater emphasis on the rigors and realities of what it means to be both a candidate and a parliamentary member.

As I talk about civic education let me note that one of the many positive impacts of last year’s efforts in civic education was the fact that 41 per cent of the 10.5 million Afghans who registered to vote during the October 9th Presidential Election were women. Forty per cent of those who turned out to vote were women.

Heavy Weapons collection complete in Panjshir Valley
The Panjshir Valley is now free of all known working or repairable Heavy Weapons. Last Friday the ANBP (Afghanistan's New Beginnings Programme) collection team gathered the remaining Heavy Weapons to bring the total to 115. Originally the region was surveyed to have 110 Heavy Weapons, however five additional Heavy Weapons were discovered.

The Heavy Weapons are all deactivated and in a secure compound in Jebel Seraj.

Nation wide there are now 8,630 Heavy Weapons collected.

As of today all Heavy Weapons in seven regions of Afghanistan have been collected and secured. The seven regions are Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Gardez, Mazar-e Sharif 7 Corps, Bamyan, and now Panjshir.

There are two areas of the country where there are significant numbers of recently discovered Heavy Weapons. They are the Shindand and Farah areas where there are about 60 Heavy Weapons, and the Kunduz region with about 160 to 165 Heavy Weapons. ANBP expects to make the collection within the next few weeks.

The two other remaining regions are Parwan, and the 8 Corps area of Mazar-e Sharif.

In terms of total soldiers disarmed, as of today the figure stands at 42,862.

Women’s involvement in DDR process
Of the more than 42,000 AMF personnel who have been disarmed and offered reintegration opportunities by the ANBP, so far two are women.

Both entered the DDR process within days of each other in early October.
The first to enter the program was 35-year-old Bubany Khair Andesh. She worked as an officer in 234 Regiment in Kabul.
The second woman was lieutenant colonel Qutsia, a 48-year-old officer nurse from 95 Division in Mazar-e Sharif who had worked in the military for 25 years.

As these two have moved away from military life, the Ministry of Defence have informed us that another 35 women have joined the Afghan National Army (ANA). Twenty-five are working in health while the remaining 10 are in operations.

One million girls out of school
Two education-related events took place last week. I will tell you about them and their relationship with girls and women:

· On March 3, a primary school in Chardara (Kunduz) was inaugurated. A German non-governmental organization (NGO), WIFA, funded the project worth $65,000. While girls' enrolment in primary schools has increased year by year since 2002, UNICEF estimates that more than 1 million girls are still not attending primary level classes.

· In Gardez (Paktia), as part of an on going teacher training programme implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), 52 teachers completed training. UNICEF tells us that during the last year 889 teachers have been trained, 214 of which were women teachers.

Questions & Answers:

Question: Improvement on elections, any news on the date?

Spokesman: I don’t think there is a date yet. As you know the date will be decided upon and announced by the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB). I believe they are collecting all the facts that they need in order to make a sound decision on the date of the Parliamentary Elections.

Question: What is the relationship between UNAMA and UNOPS in terms of the elections?

Spokesman: The JEMB is supported by the United Nations. The United Nations has a number of agencies that are specialized in specific areas. UNAMA continues to play a very active role, including appointing the international members of the JEMB, as I mentioned at the last briefing. UNDP has a very important role in securing the funds from the donor community that will make this whole process possible, and UNOPS plays an essential role as the UN institution that provides the structural support for all this to happen; personnel, finance, accounting, transport, and logistics. So what you have is the UN system providing support to the elections in Afghanistan with different agencies focusing in the areas of their expertise.

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