Author: Sayed Hussain Hussainy

One of the major concerns is the issue of ignoring women’s rights and achievements. Some women's rights activists in Baghlan have recently expressed their concern with the slogan "We will not retreat to the past." In peace-related matters, women’s achievements attained through hard-work should not be ignored or sacrificed", says Royina Raisi, president of New Season Community, in an interview with CSHRNCSHRN: Which issues should be discussed in peace talks with regards to women? Raisi: Women’s rights to education and employment should be preserved following a peace agreement. These rights are enshrined both in Islam and the constitution, leaving no reasons for school gates to be closed. Referring to the composition of the negotiating team and the insignificant presence of women in politics, Ms. Raisi said that they should be given equal share of opportunity based on their merits, talents, and abilities. Moreover, the team should be comprised of women who can represent all women and defend from their rights.CSHRN: Can female members of the negotiating team represent Afghan women?Raisi: The current composition with limited number of women, five members only, cannot represent women, because they are affiliated to parties and speak just for their benefits. Naturally, they cannot represent women who have paid sacrifice for years.CSHRN: What will happen if the necessary agreement is not reached in the intra-Afghan negotiations?Raisi: Restrictions might be imposed, especially on women who are involved in the judiciary like us. Taliban have already criticized our activities in this sector. Furthermore, female journalists and women in politics may face difficulties in terms of freedom of speech and thought.According to her, women in Baghlan are still facing various problems, including security, which in some cases prevent them from going to work. "Sometimes, we cannot implement our awareness programs outside the city or even in the…

One of the major concerns is the issue of ignoring women’s rights and achievements. Some women's rights activists in Baghlan have recently expressed their concern with the slogan "We will not retreat to the past." In peace-related matters, women’s achievements attained through hard-work should not be ignored or sacrificed", says Royina Raisi, president of New Season Community, in an interview with CSHRNCSHRN: Which issues should be discussed in peace talks with regards to women? Raisi: Women’s rights to education and employment should be preserved following a peace agreement. These rights are enshrined both in Islam and the constitution, leaving no reasons for school gates to be closed. Referring to the composition of the negotiating team and the insignificant presence of women in politics, Ms. Raisi said that they should be given equal share of opportunity based on their merits, talents, and abilities. Moreover, the team should be comprised of women who can represent all women and defend from their rights.CSHRN: Can female members of the negotiating team represent Afghan women?Raisi: The current composition with limited number of women, five members only, cannot represent women, because they are affiliated to parties and speak just for their benefits. Naturally, they cannot represent women who have paid sacrifice for years.CSHRN: What will happen if the necessary agreement is not reached in the intra-Afghan negotiations?Raisi: Restrictions might be imposed, especially on women who are involved in the judiciary like us. Taliban have already criticized our activities in this sector. Furthermore, female journalists and women in politics may face difficulties in terms of freedom of speech and thought.According to her, women in Baghlan are still facing various problems, including security, which in some cases prevent them from going to work. "Sometimes, we cannot implement our awareness programs outside the city or even in the…

As we approach the peace negotiation with the Taliban and the appointment of men-and-women delegation to it, compromising women’s rights and achievements becomes more concerning. Some women’s rights activists in Kunduz claim that without considering women’s rights, peace is incomplete. Ms. Golestani said that, aside from security concerns, lack of job opportunities and lack of job security are among the issues that women expect to be addressed with the establishment of a peace deal. “The Head of Women’s Affairs is the only government post run by a woman which is symbolic. While a significant number of women in Kunduz are eligible to run Social Deputy of Kunduz, they cannot dare to run because of threats. Instead this office is held by a man for several years.”CSHRN: How do you assess women’s presence in the governmental offices?Golestani: When women are not in key decision-making positions having the same authority as men, it cannot be considered as their bold presence in the offices. Currently women just work for a living. She adds that since women’s rights is an important part of the peace negotiation with the Taliban, women in Kunduz urge the negotiators to ensure nothing remains ambiguous with regards to their rights and clarify all Taliban conditions. For instance, if the Taliban respect women’s right to education, the conditions for respecting their rights should be clarified as well.CSHRN: What are the security problems for women, especially for employed women of Kunduz?Golestani: Opposition presence during the nights, threatens both life and job of well-known working women. Therefore, they cannot live far from Kunduz Square. She adds lack of job security for women as another challenge and says that “Women face insecurity not just because of the existence of moral issues and physical harassment in their workplace, but gender discrimination and…

Although Bamyan has always been mentioned as one of the safest provinces in the country, especially for women, it seems that in some parts of the province, insecurity, and extreme ideology have become a serious problem for women and girls in this province. Zakia Rezaie, Bamyan's Director of Women's Affairs said that in some districts of the province, girls are not allowed to study above the primary school level. She added that about forty-seven percent of girls in Bamyan now attend school, but the number of dropout of female students in the high school level in some districts increases each year.In an interview with the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (hereinafter referred to as "the Network"), the Director of Women's affairs in Bamyan said that they have special programs of increasing girls' participation in the education sector. But their programs are hampered by insecurity in some districts sometimes. "The Bamyan Department of Women's Affairs, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, is holding an annual campaign to increase the enrollment of girls in schools. We are making the necessary arrangements with security officials before the program is implemented, and if it is impossible to eliminate the risk, we do not often visit some of those insecure areas."The feeling of not being safe not only bothers women in insecure districts and villages of Bamyan, but it also troubles working women in unsafe working environments.Network: What problems do Bamyan women have at work?Rezaie: Some women complain about physical and psychological harassment. Also, due to the traditional structure of society, some offices are male-oriented making the working environment difficult for women. Moreover, women suffer from lack of facilities which are recognized as their rights in the law. For instance, there is no kindergarten in some offices for their children. Despite…

Since the selection of members of the peace negotiation in Doha, not only the disproportion between male and female members of the peace delegation is under question, the absence of civil society representatives from the peace talks is also highly worrying.In an interview with the CSHRN, Ms. Saqib added that despite the efforts to integrate women into the composition of the peace delegation, the absence of civil society representatives, journalists, and other women's groups is alarming. "Although the female members of the negotiation team are committed to women's rights, they primarily represent various political parties, and priority for them would be their political interests" So if the composition is not revised, the rights of women will remain at stake. " The imbalance in the number of male and female representatives in the composition of the negotiating team is also one of the issues that have been criticized by some experts, said Ms. Saqib. War and peace are usually masculine. Despite the fact that women are heavily impacted by war, they are usually marginalized in peace discussions. "Women can play an important role in peace negotiation as they constitute more than half of the population and they are the main victims of war. If women's role is ignored, the peace settlement will not be sustainable. "Network: What are women’s expectations from peace negotiations?Saqib: First and foremost, women expect that a ceasefire is agreed upon. And, the right to participate in social, political, economic, and educational activities are among women’s other demands. Finally, they expect that a mechanism is in place which protects the human rights of women.Ms. Saqib argues that corruption and unsafe working environment are among other challenges that women expect to get rid of in the post-peace political system. "Corruption and unsafe working environment sometimes force women…

As a teenager with tremendous desire to work Wahida found herself living in a remote village dominated by the government’s armed opposition. Her neighbors not only discouraged girls who worked but also threatened them. She said that those challenges not only discouraged her to work but rather made her more determined.Belonging to a family with political and military background, Wahida constantly faced objections for disgracing the reputation of the family by working out of home. Following Wahida’s persistence to work out of home, her family decides to leave their ancestor’s land and move to Kabul where she could achieve her goals.While in Kabul she still feared her kin’s vengeance. Despite her young age and her relative’s disbelief in her, she moved forward with determination starting with participating in a short-term training course to work in media. She was so young that the person in charge of the training center jokingly said that you want to be trained for children programs? In her first experience on a live radio program, she avoided using her real name to the audience and used “Hila” as her pseudonym.Wahida now called “Hila” worked as radio presenter for several years. In order to avoid financial dependency, she walked the distance between her school and the radio office. Upon her graduation from school, she decided to become a reporter. A media office in Kabul was running a training program for journalists those days. Wahida joined the program. After three months of training and mentorship, she became a journalist.She joined a media outlet and worked for four years now using her real name. While she was preparing reports on corruption and war the victims, she received death threats. Nonetheless, Wahida continued her work and received a medal from the president for one of her reports on…