Author: Sayed Hussain Hussainy

According to Ms. Rezaei, in 2017, when Afghanistan was experiencing better days than the past, she decided to fulfill her long-held dream of having an independent job. She ceased the opportunity to build a coffee shop. Despite the fact that there existed the fear of societal reactions and security issues, the desire to achieve a lasting dream gave her the courage to overcome fear and continue her work. Ms. Rezaei said that although she has prevailed over anxiety and apprehension, there exists many restrictions including customs of the society, and security. For instance, due to security issues, we have to close the coffee shop early every day, and we cannot hold cultural and music programs. She spoke of the irritating atmosphere where its residence distrust women and their abilities. "When I was searching for a place for the coffee shop, most of the landlords, as soon as they found out that I was the owner of the business, did not sign an agreement” said Ms. Rezaei, “However, there are those who are happy seeing women’s work and success.” Regardless of all the challenges that she faces, the coffee shop is well-received and people of different backgrounds including students, employees, and artists enjoy the atmosphere. Meeting people of different groups is a unique experience for her. Ms. Rezaei says that so far she has not considered closing the coffeehouse under any circumstances, including the global phenomena of Coronavirus; because in addition to loving it, she does not want the management abilities of women to be questioned. The start of a peace negotiation with the Taliban has caused major concerns for women, and has increased the fear that their achievements and years of sacrifices might be ignored. Ms. Rezaei has not ceased working under any circumstances but, the peace talk…

She speaks of her interest to work in media and of her family’s resistance to it. She said that the public’s negative image of media was the main reason of her family’s opposition to her activity in this sector. Moreover, people did not allow their daughters to work in the media. Killing journalists made it even worse.Sodaba Nasiri  has a bachelor’s degree from economics department, and has participated a training in journalism. After graduating from school at the age of sixteen, she overcame her family’s fear by starting her job dubbing in a private television. Although she passed the exam for the position of newscaster, she had to start dubbing because of her young age. She temporarily quitted her work, to pursue her education. It has been three years since she restarted her work in media as a women’s rights activist and director of economic programs. Despite the fact that women working in media tolerate harassment and the accusation for promoting inappropriate social behavior by majority of the  people, she appears on television as newscaster. Moreover, women face harassment in social media which harms them psychologically. She added that she has been constantly harassed on social media. to the degree that it created distrust between her and her family.  Another challenge of working in a media is that there is no social or financial insurance for the employees. She had to sign a contract stating that the media she worked at had no responsibility whatsoever with regards to her life or financial insurance.The most serious challenge for employed women is not the security threats posed by the Taliban or ISIS, but the people who are supportive of their ideologies. She said that she knew from the beginning that her work might be disrupted considering security threats which is serious…

As the time for inter-Afghan talks approaches and the citizens insist on a permanent ceasefire, officials at the Ministry of State for Peace are announcing the government's efforts to remove obstacles to peace talks.In an interview with the CSHRN, Najia Anwari said that since ceasefire from the beginning of negotiation is the demand of all Afghans, the government of Afghanistan is working to eliminate obstacles to the progress of peace. She added that the peace agreement should lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities and pave the path for peace and reconciliation in different parts of society.CSHRN: Does the government’s negotiation team have the necessary preparation and capacity to participate in these talks?Anwari: The peace negotiating team was created after extensive consultations with politicians and influential Afghans. Men and women of diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds who are educated, professional, experienced, and are politically supported are considered to form an inclusive structure.According to her, the team has worked to improve its skills and strengthen the necessary capabilities since its inception.CSHRN: What have been the government's plans to strengthen the quality of the negotiating team so far?Anwari: High quality training programs have been established with the aim of strengthening the skills of negotiators and information in various sections has been prepared to increase technical capacity and strengthen the content that the members of the negotiating team should possess with respect to peace.At the same time, she added that conducting the recent meetings with the people and receiving their views and suggestions on the peace process have added to the richness of the information of the members of the negotiating team.CSHRN: What issues related to women will be discussed in the talks?Anwari: It is too early to talk about, but the government and the Ministry of Peace Affairs are holding…

Gender discrimination has always been discussed as one of the serious social problems, especially for women. Women in various provinces, including Badakhshan, see this phenomenon as a barrier to their social activities and believe that the problem will be partially resolved after peace agreements."Gender discrimination is one of the biggest concerns for every woman in Afghanistan and is rooted in society," said Elena Ghiasi in an interview with the CSHRN.  “Currently, there exist sexual attitudes towards women, and the possible peace agreement will be political and social, in which case these problems will be partially eliminated."CSHRN: Where do you think the root of this problem is?Ghiasi: These problems take its roots from family, and then it expands in the society; restrictions in families are imposed by husband, father, or brother. In the absence of these restrictions, however, even women who lack the necessary confidence can participate in training to strengthen their self-confidence and put their abilities to use. According to Ms Ghiasi, women in this province are mostly employed in the handicrafts, livestock and agriculture sectors.CSHRN: What other problems do women in Badakhshan have?Ghiasi: The presence of armed opposition in rural areas has been challenging and violating women's rights. Although better than before another problem is the access to welfare facilities, which is more concentrated in the urban areas and women in the rural areas have not been provided with sufficient services.CSHRN: You mentioned that with the accomplishment of peace, women's problems will be solved to some extent, however, what are the women's concerns about the outcome of the peace talks?Ghiasi: Women are concerned about retreating to the past and losing their achievements of the past two decades. They are worried that the role of women in various fields will be ignored.According to Ms Ghiasi, the existence of…

One of the major concerns of Afghan citizens, especially women, about the possibility of the Taliban gaining power in the aftermath of the peace talks is their lack of respect to women’s rights. Some analysts  believe that the Taliban's strict view is their identity. "It is incomprehensible that the Taliban are ready to change their radical and extreme views," said Ahmad Zia Rafat, in an interview with the CSHRN, " if they give up extremism, they will become a movement  without identity." Mr Rafat added that the Taliban could not relinquish the beliefs they had been propagating for years to gain so many followers, and would therefore insist on believing them. Taliban’s view of women is essential to their identity.   CSHRN: Given what you have said about the immutability of Taliban’s view of women, do you think women will experience the era of Taliban? Rafat: If the Taliban are given the opportunity and the share of power, they will undoubtedly disrupt the progress of democracy in Afghanistan; that is, even if there is no government like the Taliban era and they cannot stop the progress of democracy, they will at least delay it, which will be a serious damage to Afghanistan. CSHRN: What is the government's red line on women and what issues regarding women should be discussed in the negotiations? Rafat: Any rights enshrined by the constitution and guaranteed by other laws, is the government's red line and must be accepted. When it comes to women's rights, it does not only mean  right to education, but also that women can do whatever men do in the societyincluding being able to work in various fields such asarts. According to Mr. Rafat, accepting any restrictions on women's rights in peace talks will further increase the Taliban's restrictions and…

Referring to peace talks and expressing concern about the fate of women's rights in post-peace society, a number of scholars believe that not only is it the inalienable right of women to exercise their rights and work in various fields after the peace agreement, but society also needs women to thrive.In an interview with the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (hereafter referred to as “Network”), Sediqi Lalzad said that Afghan women, as citizens of the country, have rights that should be taken into account in a post-peace society.  Lalzad added that women have the right to attend public affairs as their inalienable rights. The society also needs women in the fields of medicine, education and police. It should also be noted that women's activity in society is a right that religion has provided for them.Network: What is your assessment of what has happened so far in the peace talks?Lalzad: We believe in peace in the country; but the success of these talks also depends on how honest the politicians are and how well the countries involved in Afghanistan's affairs can play their part for a better Afghanistan. There is no doubt that achieving peace has its phases and there will be challenges. But if the Afghan government, the Taliban and the institutions that mediate act in good faith, peace can be achieved. The reason for the deadlocks is that Afghanistan has experienced war for forty years and it cannot be ended in two days or two months. But despite being a time-consuming process, it is promising, provided that the international partners play their part well.Network: Given the Taliban’s history, do you think that the negotiations will have a positive outcome?Lalzad: Women are in a different position than they were during the Taliban’s rule. They are aware of…

Born and raised outside Afghanistan, Farzana Nawabi recognized Afghanistan from her father’s memories, which described the difficulties of living especially for women in Afghanistan. As a young actress, she thought that living in such a place, she might not be able to walk outside her house, let alone working. In 2011, when she returned to Afghanistan, it was a much better place than what she had imagined. “Seeing Afghanistan by myself, I found it very different from what I had learned from my father’s memoir and televisions. Girls could go to school, women dressed however they desired, and they had the right to employment, which I enjoyed,” said Ms. Nawabi.She said that she has been interested to become an actress since she was a child and now, she has finally achieved it. She is currently a singer and an actress. She is planning to continue her education in the field of arts. Ms. Farzanah says that her profession is valuable and useful for the development of the country, and she wants to serve the people as much as possible through her profession. “I would like to promote the intellectual development of thousands of girls who have buried their dreams in their hearts because of war and poverty” she said.Although she has achieved her dream and is working in her favorite field, she believes that cinema and the presence of women is not yet completely acceptable to the society. She said that women who work in the cinema often face threats from people.“I was standing on a corner of the main streets of the capital and I was about to cross the road when suddenly a car with several passengers stopped and one of them said in a harsh tone, “are you the one who works on television?” Without…

She is studying International Relations and has worked in several judicial institutions in the country. She will represent Afghan youths at the United Nations Security Council. She said that, as a young Afghan girl, her presence in such an important meeting is of great value, and that she will try to have  a positive  influence on her audience by presenting reasonable and logical speeches and argumentations.In an interview with the CSHRN, Ms. Zadran, Afghanistan’s new youth representative to the United Nations, said that she has planned to present a logical diplomatic speech to convince the UN  for its continuous support towards Afghanistan.CSHRN: What is the mission and responsibility of youth representation at the United Nations?Zadran: Representing youth at the United Nations is a one-year volunteer  mission. During this one year, we communicate with girls and boys from different provinces, online or in person, and gather their views on key issues in the country. We are focused on the issue of peace; because its importance overshadows all other issues. At the UN meetings, we will present the views of the youth written in a  statement. Eventually, the response of the participants at the forum will be shared with the youths. Another main responsibility is to advocate for youth-related policies reforms including reducing youth unemployment, and improving quality of lives of youth.CSHRN: How can youth’s presence benefit the peace talks?The negotiating team is very political and is influenced by the government. I think that in this political game, youths are under-represented. Unfortunately, the negotiating team members are not sympathetic to the people, and act based on the government’s plans.CSHRN: What is your prediction of peace outcome?Zadran: At this point, we should not leap to any conclusions. A positive or negative result cannot be ensured.  However, I must say that there…

Experts believe that, in peace negotiations with the Taliban, more general concerns should be agreed upon first. They maintain that democratic and human rights values are among the elements that if Taliban respect, women’s right will be available as a sub-element. "It is not yet evident whether or not the Taliban will agree with us on respecting values such as democracy, human rights, equality, cultural diversity and religion. If so, women's rights including their political participation in power will be attainable as a subset of these values." says Mohammad Yasin Negah.CSHRN: Do you think the Taliban's view has changed about women?Negah: From my perspective, Taliban views have not changed on many issues including women rights, democracy, election, republic system and equality. This group is still radical, extreme and violent. It would be naive to believe that Taliban’s views of women rights and democratic values have changed.CSHRN: It is probable that in order to reach a peace deal with the Taliban, the government may accept some restrictions with regard to women’s rights. What restrictions do you think they would be?Negah: As supporters of the government of Afghanistan, we must defend democracy, election and women’s rights as our red lines. We are in a rightful position and we must not retreat in any way. If the ransom process begins, the restrictions will increase. The Taliban may long for hoisting the flag of their Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan and wish to re-establish a violent and lawless government. Therefore, we have to fight such a mindset and reject any restriction.CSHRN: Do you think the government team has the necessary ability to negotiate?Negah: The negotiation process requires negotiation knowledge and skills including the art ofChallenges the opposite side and maneuvering delicate margins. However, I believe that the government’s negotiating team does not have…

The Taliban’s continued killings and bloodshed following a peace deal with the United States of America, has turned the group to an unreliable partner. Experts believe that guarantees offered by the group to fulfill its commitments under a peace agreement in particular with regard to women’s rights is not sufficient.Farid Ahmad Amiri, a socio-political activist, told the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) that the only way to ensure Taliban do not violate their post-negotiation commitments, especially on women's rights, international community must offer guarantee. "The agreement that will be signed between the government and the Taliban must also entail signature of international community, international human rights institutions and countries that support democracy and freedoms."Network: Experts believe that there is a difference of opinion between the political leaders of the Taliban and the Taliban on the battlefield, will the negotiations reach a favorable outcome?Amiri: I think it is naive to expect a lasting peace after the peace deal. A fragile peace may be established, but the conflict may still continue as some members of the Taliban may either form new fronts or join other terrorist groups due to the differences of opinion among them.Network: What do you mean by the differences of opinion among Taliban members?Amiri: Some numbers of the Taliban are extreme and view conflict as the only viable option, while others are committed to peace. Some of the Taliban fighters are foreign nationals who fight the government of Afghanistan, will continue to fight by joining the ISIS or other terrorist groups. However, a large number of Taliban members who are under the influence of their political leaders, if properly managed, could join the peace settlement. Women's rights and freedom of expression are among the values ​​that Mr. Amiri believes are in danger of being ignored…