The e-Newsletter of the Gender Network August 2014 | Vol. 8, No.

2

Afghanistan: Gender Equality Issues and Opportunities
By Shaima Zakhilwal
1



Afghanistan has 34 quite dissimilar and disparate provinces, with widely differing economic,
social and cultural histories and development interventions. The Afghanistan population is
around 30 million, 49% of whom are girls and women
2
. Afghanistans Human Development
Index (HDI) value for 2013 was 0.468, ranking it at 169 out of 187 countries. Overall,
Afghanistan is near the bottom of the Gender Inequality Index of UNDPs Human Development
Report (2013), ranking 150th out of 187
3
.

The last several years have seen an increase in womens participation in education, health, and
employment. According to the National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Report 2011/12, the
labor force participation rate is 18.5% for women and 80% for men. Women own only 1.87% of
land, and face restrictions on mobility, resulting in only 8% of women being involved in wage
employment outside the agricultural sector
4
. However, these increased opportunities are
concentrated in Kabul and major cities. The rural areas have yet to experience similar progress.
Furthermore, access to economic and productive resources has remained limited for women.

One of the most notable achievements in gender equality has been the
advancement in womens health. The key advances since 2005
include: a lower maternal mortality ratio; a lower fertility rate; an
increase in qualified female health professionals; and a wider network
of health facilities capable of providing reproductive healthcare.
Afghanistans maternal mortality ratio has decreased to 460 deaths per
100,000 live births 2013, down from 1,600 deaths per 100,000 live
births in 2002
5
. Despite these improvements, there are clearly still a
number of challenges for women in the health sector including access
to health care, limited qualified human resources, skilled birth
attendants and contraceptive use.

Another sector in which there has been some notable progress for girls is education. The
number of girls attending school at each level of education has increased significantly,
particularly at primary level, with more modest increases at secondary levels. The expansion of
the Government's network of schools has enabled an increase in the number of female
teachers, a factor that has an impact on girls' school attendance, especially in higher grades.
According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), enrollments for primary and secondary education
for 2012-2013 reached 8.99 million students, out of which 3.6 million (40%) are girls
6
. However,

1
Gender consultant, Afghanistan Resident Mission
2
Afghanistan Central Statistics Office 2011-2012 Report http://cso.gov.af/Content/files/Population(2).pdf
3
UNDPs Human Development Report (2013)
4
The statistics provided is substantiated by NRVA 2011/2012 for Afghanistan carried out by the Central Statistics Organizations
(CSO).
5
The statistics provided is substantiated by NRVA 2011/2012 for Afghanistan carried out by the Central Statistics Organizations
(CSO).
6
The statistics provided is substantiated by NRVA 2011/2012 for Afghanistan carried out by the Central Statistics Organizations
(CSO).
2
education in Afghanistan suffers from qualitative challenges in the content of the curriculum, and
the capacity among teachers, many of whom are not certified. The challenges remaining are
significant and wide ranging, and include access to appropriate education facilities, community-
based education opportunities, and school security issues.

Afghanistan has made considerable strides over the past few
years, adopting numerous policy frameworks and national
legislation, including ratifying the Convention for the Elimination of
all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), passing
Violence against Women (EVAW) legislation and adopting the
National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA).
However, violence and discrimination against women and girls
remain high in Afghanistan. Over 4,500 cases of violence against women and girls were
reported to the Ministry of Womens Affairs (MoWA) from 2012 to 2013
7
, indicating that there
are still significant challenges and issues to be addressed by both the Government and various
communities. Studies confirm that VAW in Afghanistan is exceptionally high- up to 87.2% of
women have experienced some form of gender based violence. Different forms of violence are
prevalent including physical, sexual, psychological, and economic violence, and forced and
early marriages, exacerbated by the additional burdens of the dowry system. An estimated 57%
of marriages are forced, and 46.3% of girls marry before the age of 18
8
.

Afghanistan ranks 36th in the world in the representation of women in parliament (27% of the
National Assembly), owing largely to legal temporary special measures which reserve seats for
women in the national legislature; and 20% of seats in the Provincial Councils . However,
women are under-represented in the judiciary and executive branches of the government,
including in diplomatic and administrative posts, as numerous obstacles remain to womens full
political participation. Physical security, social constraints, illiteracy and financial resources are
further constraints that limit womens ability to participate in the political and peace process.
However, in the 2014 elections, womens turn out as voters has been estimated at around 36%,
a total of 297 women ran for provincial councils, and three out of sixteen (10.8%) competed for
vice-presidential seats.
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The relatively high level of womens turnout in Afghanistans 2014
presidential and provincial councils elections suggests that there may be a space for overall
government programs to advocate for womens political empowerment, participation and
emancipation.

See associated presentation.
_____________

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy
of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this
paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's
terminology.







7
Minister of Women Affair Report 2012-2013
8
World Bank Report 2013: Women's Role in Afghanistans Future - Taking Stack of achievements and Continued
9
Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan: http://www.iec.org.af/