Thematic Report

Active presence of the civil society & human rights network of Afghanistan «In Afghanistan International Conference in Bonn»

Bonn conference which gained great importance in current situation, defines the role of international community in betterment of security and support of Afghanistan after 2014. This conference which was held in Bonn city of Germany with the huge participation of international community, acquired international coverage, the conference also acquired a lot of significance for the people of Afghanistan . The most important message of this conference is the commitment of the international community for the future of Afghanistan . In this conference, the government of the United States of America , European Union member countries, India Japan, Canada , Australia and all of the engaged countries in reconstruction and security of Afghanistan sent their authorized representatives, expressed their continued commitment of supporting the new system, keeping the values of the democracy, respecting the human rights and the rule of law. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, minister of foreign affairs of the United States of America, expressed her government's support from Afghanistan and insisted on strengthening the civil society, respect for the values of human rights & democracy in her five minutes speeches in this conference. Mrs. Merkel, prime minister of Germany, on behalf of her government as well as on behalf of the European Union called the respect of the human rights, one of the significant preconditions of the states of this Union for supporting Afghanistan . Other participant countries focused on a legal system, based on Afghanistan constitution that reveals the importance of the conference for the people of Afghanistan. Civil society congregation was held one day before this conference in Bonn, 34 representatives of civil society who were democratically elected by the civil society organizations of the country has participated in this conference. In civil society congregation in Bonn , 10 members of Civil Society & Human Rights…

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CSHRN was adopted as the main partner by Tawanmandi ORG

Since 2010, the human rights organizations decided to create a supportive box (fund) for supporting the civil society institutions in Afghanistan in order to coordinate some practical and constructive programs for strengthening the civil society institutions in the country. The Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Swiss are the states that work to bringing together the international help and supports in strengthening the civil society institutions; therefore they have managed many consultative meetings with civil institutions since 2010. The outcome of these meetings is establishing Civil Society Understanding and Supportive center by the name of «Tawanmandi». Tawanmandi has commenced its operations since 2012, and coordinated its activities in three stages. The first stage was forming organizational capacities. During this period, managerial and administrative guidelines and standards were created. The second stage was the early phase of supporting, during this stage a number of civil society institutions were technically and economically supported by Tawanmandi. The third stage of Tawanmandi's activities was concerning with selecting the main partners in different fields. Human Rights is one of the key issues in the programs of Tawanmandi in Afghanistan. In order to better recognize its main partners, Tawanmandi has assessed monitoring, managerial and administrative programs of many organizations. Monitoring groups of Tawanmandi have evaluated and observed the organizational, managerial, administrative and executive structures of the organizations that provided their proposals for strategic partnership with Tawanmandi ORG. In the meantime, Tawanmandi has evaluated their strategic programs and policies, and as a result, CSHRN has successfully passed the evaluation process and was formally recognized as the main partner of Tawanmandi in the field of strengthening human rights in the country. CSHRN's executive programs in cooperation and coordination with Tawanmandi will be started from 2014. These programs will be concerning with human rights advocacy, capacity building…

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Training of trainers educational program & Human Rights Educational School on UN Security Council Resolution 1325

The program that was attended by 95 trainers of CSHRN from 20 provinces was conducted in Safi Landmark Hotel, Kabul. The goal of the program was to train expert and experienced teachers in the field of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and exchanging and sharing of experiences among CSHRN's trainers and other national structures working on the field of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). This program was organized based on the educational manual on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 prepared by the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN). During this educational program, despite discussing regarding the role of women in peace-building, security, increasing capacity-building and familiarity with the activities of various structures in this regard, the trainers have also initiated significant debates about the opportunities and challenges facing women in the process of state-building, institution-building and strengthening peace. In order to converge in the process of implementing this program, more and more coordination amongst the civil, governmental, media and academic institutions was emphasized during this educational school. During the program, the Afghan Women Network (AWN), War Child Canada, the High Peace Council (HPC), and Humanitarian Assessment for Women and Children of Afghanistan (HAWCA) have shared their programs, experiences and find outs with the participants of the program. The Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN) is to organize some widespread programs regarding the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 by its experienced and expert trainers across the country.

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Submission by Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) For Eighteenth Session of the UPR Working Group

(January - February 2014) Of the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review Afghanistan The Eighteenth session of the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) working group will be held from 27 January 2014 to 07 February 2014 examining the human rights records of 14 States including Afghanistan. Afghanistan will send a delegation composed of different governmental officials from different ministries and state institutions to engage in a dialogue with other States on the human rights situation in Afghanistan. During the interactive dialogue between recommending States and Afghanistan, the States will be asking questions and making recommendations, and the Afghan delegation will be regularly taking the floor to answer the questions and comment the recommendations. Probably, most of the recommendations and questions will be inspired by stakeholders submissions to the UPR Working Group. The Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN) for the first time submits an assessment of human rights situation under UPR reporting mechanism. The CSHRN has already submitted its report to UPR Working Group and made certain recommendations for action by Afghanistan as State under Review (SuR). The report gives an overview of the achievements and challenges since its first UPR review in 2009. And, it also assesses the scope and level of implementation of the recommendations made during its previous review. Here is the copy of CSHRN's UPR shadow report. Click the PDF Icon to Download.

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10 Women’s Rights Defender Organizations have strengthened and updated their Strategies

Based on the capacity development programs, the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan has initiated reinforcement educational programs of the 10 women's rights organizations in connection with the strategic programs of the member organizations of the network. Based on this program, the 10 active member organizations of the Network which have a valuable and important role in the society have been recognized and their strategic programs have been improved and strengthened. The program was organized in three phases: the first phase was conducting the educational program. During this phase, the officials of the mentioned institutions were trained and capacitated by the secretariat of CSHRN with the support of the strategic experts of the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). During the strategic educational program, strategic background, strategic management, and strategic activities have been focused. The role of the civil society in the structure of the political system and its importance in the political strategic system has been widely discussed in the program. In this program, the international experts made efforts in presenting some good instances of other countries as great lessons and experiences to be acquired by the 10 mentioned organizations. Beside, the program has provided the opportunity for these organizations to learn the way of using the strategies and arranging and implementing their programs accordingly. The second part of the program was engaged in updating and renewing the strategic programs of the mentioned organizations. By using the find outs of the first stage the 10 women's rights defenders organizations have coordinated their strategic programs in a joint program and presented them to the secretariat of CSHRN. The find outs and the information of the first phase helped them define their strategic goal and as active civil organizations specify their mission. The third phase of the…

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Strategic Capacity building is one of the major components of CSHRN’s programs

Like other social and governmental bodies, the civil society of Afghanistan also needs strategic capacity building. Most of the civil institutions are operating through their daily plans. This caused the programs to remain without any target and strategic background. On the other hand, this shortage has challenged the convergence among the civil society institutions. That's why training and capacity building has been emphasized and expressed as its important working outcome in relation to its strategic find outs by the civil society and human rights network of Afghanistan. Based on this program, the civil society and human rights network of Afghanistan offered educational manual of strategic planning. A working group composed of strategic experts who worked about one year on this educational manual and finally completed it with the support of the international experts especially the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). Civil society institutions can organize and implement their strategic programs according to this educational manual. The manual is mainly focused on strategic background, vision and the key components of the strategic management. This education manual will play an important role in developing and improving the executive programs of civil society institutions. Based on this educational manual, CSHRN has conducted educational programs of «training the trainers» in all over the country. During this educational program, trainers of CSHRN's member organizations in 24 provinces have been instructed and acquired these guidelines in a systematic way. Under this program, the human rights Summer School in relation to strategic planning for civil society institutions was held in Kabul. Human rights trainers from other provinces were invited in this educational school in order to share their find outs and experiences with each others, and discuss the ways and approaches of improving and using the educational manual. The participants of the school have…

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International Humanitarian Law Promotion in the Framework of CSHRN’s activities

International Humanitarian Law includes states commitments for securing war victims, supporting prisoners of war, serving the war victims and states obligations in reducing civilian casualties. The international humanitarian law has been defined & interpreted in the four conventions of Geneva 1949. These conventions have been approved by the United Nations under universal general rights. Hence, all states parties of the United Nations are obliged to include the provisions of these conventions in their national laws and accordingly form some structures and mechanisms for applying the international humanitarian law in their political and social lives. These conventions are very crucial for states still in conflicts and war. Afghanistan is a country where the international military forces are widely operating. The military forces of nearly 40 countries are here to fight against the international terrorism. During the last 12 years, we were witnessed of huge civilian causalities in which women and children were the main victims. With regret that civilian causalities became one of the main challenges during military operations in Afghanistan . In order to promote the culture of responsibility among the national and international military forces, it's very crucial and important to generalize the international humanitarian law. Developing and promoting the international humanitarian law was one of the main programs of the Civil Society & Human Rights Network of Afghanistan (CSHRN) in its 4 th phase and has therefore conducted some constructive dialogues among the civil society institutions. Based on these dialogues, civil society institutions requested CSHRN to initiate capacity building programs regarding the humanitarian law for its member organizations. According to this proposal, CSHRN's secretariat has conducted some joint meeting with its member organizations during which a working group of Afghan experts for preparing the first draft of the educational manual regarding the international humanitarian law was…

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CSHRO develops the educational manual on the international mechanism of human rights

The Civil Society and Human Rights Organisation (CSHRO) organizes its educational manual on the international mechanism of human rights. Afghanistan State as member state of the United Nation has ratified several international human rights conventions. Its important that the state of Afghanistan deliver periodic reports of the human rights situation to the UN system based on the requirements of these conventions. The same time the civil society response to the international human rights convention is also dependence on the state report to the international human rights structures. The CSHRO works to provide an educational manual on the international mechanism of human rights for the civil society actors, Afghan state institutions and human rights activists. The manual will be produced during upcoming one year. Based on the strategy of CSHRO on May 24 th a consultative gathering of CSHRO member organizations will discus the structure and methodology of the manual. During the gathering a working group of Afghan civil society experts will be designed. The working group will work in collaboration of Danish Institute for Human Rights experts to develop the first draft of educational manual. The DIHR experts will provide international experiences to the working group. The CSHRO Executive Secretariat facilitates the activities of working group. The working group shares the first draft of the manual to member organistions and some national experts to enhance the quality of the manual. The final draft of the manual will be presented to member organizations during the second consultative gathering on January 2013. The second gathering of CSHRO will approve the manual. The manual will be printed by CSHRO. A team of trainers will be trained by CSHRO in order to train manual in Kabul and provinces of Afghanistan . The international mechanism of human rights manual will be disseminated to…

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The civil society representatives have met with the President of Federal Republic of Germany

On October -16th -2011 his Excellency Christian Wulff the President of Federal Republic of Germany met with representatives of Afghan civil society umbrella organizations in the Chair of the AIHRC in German Embassy in Kabul city. During the meeting Mr. Michael Steiner the Especial Representatives of Afghanistan and Pakistan affaires, Mr. Rudiger Konig the Ambassador of German Federal Republic and Mr. Shoayab Azam the Councilor of the Political Affaires of Germen embassy were part of German delegation. Dr. Sima Samar Chairwomen of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Mr. Mohammad Naim Nazari the Executive Coordinator of Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN), Mis Samira Hamidi Chair women of Afghan Women Network (AWN), Mr. Azizi Rafee Director of Afghanistan Civil Society Forum (ACSF) and Said Rahim Satar the Deputy of Afghanistan NGOs Coordination Bureau ANCB represented Afghan civil society in the meeting. During the meeting the representative of civil society of Afghanistan informed the German delegation about challenges, strength and threats of the civil society institutions. The Afghan civil society also explained the role of civil society in strengthening of legitimate and democratic state in Afghanistan. During the meeting, representatives of civil society appreciated the role of German Federal Government in reconstruction of Afghanistan and its support to civil society in promotion of human rights and democratic values in Afghanistan. President Wulff on behalf of German people and state expressed his support to the Afghan people and the Afghan civil society. He said that the people of Germany will continue to support Afghan people after 2014 when the international military forces leave Afghanistan. President Christian Wulff pays an official visit to Afghanistan to meet with President Hamid Karzai and the German military forces in Afghanistan.

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CSHRO mission in Herat met with the Governor of Herat about reduction of family violence in Herat province

By Ramin Ahamadi On 25th of January the Civil Society and Human Rights Organization mission to Herat together with CSHRO secretariat in the west region met with Dr. Dauod Saba the governor of Heart concerning reduction of domestic violence against women in Herat. Participants of the meeting Mr. Malek Sitez, the Program Manager of CSHRO, Mr. Naim Nazari, the Executive Secretariat of CSHRO, Mr. Wazir Ahmad Khorami, the Liaison Officer of CSHRO, Mrs. Aziza Khairandish, the Coordinator of CSHRO in the West, Mrs. Khalida Khorasnd, Program Adviser of CSHRO in the West and Mr. Ramin Ahmadi, Admin Officer of CSHRO in the west region, expressed their gratitude to the governor of Heart for the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting Mr. Malek Sitez, explained the overall programs of CSHRO. He informed the governor of Herat about CSHRO campaign of reduction of violence against women. On behalf of civil society organization and human rights activist Mr. Sitez expressed his support to the intelligent and value-based governor of Heart Mr. Daoud Sabah. Mr. Daoud Sabah the governor of Heart expressed his kind attitude and generally support to CSHRO programs concerning their campaign to decrease violence against women. Mrs. Aziza Khairandish, CSHRO, west coordinator submitted the analyze of CSHRO concerning reduction of violence against women. The analyze was made during the last year by a group of CSHRO researchers. According to the research a join coordinating committee will be formed by civil society and governmental bodies concerning family violence in Heart. The committee will work in a close collaboration with the governor of Herat. The committee consist of representatives of Governor, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Civil Society and Human Rights Organizations, Department of Ministry of Women Affairs in Herat, Department of Police in Herat, Department of Justice Ministry in…

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