Women's Economic Empowerment in Afghanistan, 2002-2012
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Women’s Economic Empowerment in Afghanistan, 2002-2012 Information Mapping and Situational Analysis November 2013 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Synthesis Paper Women’s Economic Empowerment in Afghanistan, 2002-2012: Information Mapping and Situation Analysis Dr. Lena Ganesh with Massouda Kohistani Rahim Azami Funding for this research was provided by the November 2013 UN Women Afghanistan Country Office 2013 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Editing: Toby Miller Layout and Design: Michael Monts Cover Photograph: Photo taken by Roya Mahtabi, Guzargah, Kabul. AREU Publication Code: 1312 © 2013 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AREU. Some rights are reserved. This publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted only for non-commercial purposes and with written credit to AREU and the author. Where this publication is reproduced, stored or transmitted electronically, a link to AREU’s website (www.areu.org.af) should be provided. Any use of this publication falling outside of these permissions requires prior written permission of the publisher, the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. Permission can be sought by emailing [email protected] or by calling +93 (0) 799 608 548. ii Dr. Lena Ganesh Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit 2013 About the Author Dr. Ganesh is an anthropologist researching and working on gender, particularly in areas of armed conflict. An architect with professional media experience, her other areas of research experience and interest concern violence against women, gendered exclusion within traditional hierarchical social structures, and the historical and extant gendered uses of space. About the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) is an independent research institute based in Kabul. AREU’s mission is to inform and influence policy and practice through conducting high-quality, policy-relevant research and actively disseminating the results, and to promote a culture of research and learning. To achieve its mission, AREU engages with policymakers, civil society, researchers and students to promote their use of AREU’s research and its library, to strengthen their research capacity, and to create opportunities for analysis, reflection and debate. AREU was established in 2002 by the assistance community working in Afghanistan and has a board of directors with representation from donors, the United Nations and other multilateral agencies, and non-governmental organisations. AREU currently receives core funds from the Embassy of Finland, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Specific projects in 2013 are currently being funded by the European Commission (EC), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Women, as well as the Embassy of Finland. AREU would like to extend special thanks to UN Women for making this publication possible. In particular considerable gratitude is due to Dr Mamadou Bobo Diallo, Economic Specialist, UN Women HQ New York and Mr. Asela Kalugampitiya, along with Rim Aljabi and Hassan Fahimi of UN Women Afghanistan, for their inputs in reviewing the paper. Finally, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to Anil Chandrika, WESR Specialist at UN Women for his tireless efforts and dedication to this project. Women’s Economic Empowerment in Afghanistan, 2002-12: Information Mapping and Situation Analysis iii 2013 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Preface In the recent socioeconomic cultures of Afghanistan, as in those of most countries since the Industrial Revolution’s introduction of the artificial division between production and reproduction, women’s participation in the labour economy, whether reproductive or productive, has been invisible and unaccounted for. In parallel, socio-cultural practices specific to Afghanistan—that have often been an uncertain mix between the Shariat code and those customary laws followed by different ethnicities and tribes—have adversely affected women and girls’ living conditions. As a consequence, women’s practical and strategic needs have not been addressed by consecutive regimes. At the same time, little of the discourse on women’s human rights has advanced beyond the more recent rhetoric around “gender empowerment” to materially and politically improve the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan. This Report looks at the current status of the women of Afghanistan. It juxtaposes the many international agreements, laws and strategies that Afghanistan has effected in the past decade with women’s current human rights and economic status. As a parallel tool in understanding the whole, the report then looks at community contexts and the gender norms prevalent within them to assess the ways in which women’s participation in an economic opportunity project has affected their empowerment, agency, decision-making and status within their families and communities. The Report concludes with recommendations evolving from the analysis and offers an understanding of the ways in which policies and processes can work in limited ways at the programming and implementing levels. While streamlining can offer greater efficiency, there is a need for greater emphasis on effective and accountable programming for longer-term economic empowerment strategies. This is all the more urgent given the impending transition of security responsibilities and its associated concerns on the bartering away of women’s recently (re)gained rights to placate conservative factions. The programming and resource utilisation could be better sensitised toward a cogent gender-oriented strategy that contributes to women’s equal participation in the development of Afghanistan, and equally importantly, as equal citizens of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. iv Dr. Lena Ganesh Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit 2013 Foreword The economic empowerment of women in Afghanistan will not only contribute to greater personal income independence, but will also play a vital role in efforts to secure equal rights for women and the removal of gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioural patterns. The creation of an enabling environment for women to engage with market mechanisms will further the development of our country, and individuals, communities, and society as a whole will prosper as a result. AREU has worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development on a variety of research projects, and we hope that this positive and productive relationship will continue to grow. Knowledge is our most precious yet most overlooked resource, and organisations such as AREU have been instrumental to our acquiring this knowledge as well as to the dissemination of the learning it has engendered. This research paper contributes to a body of work that serves to enhance our understanding of the economic role of women within a wider contextual framework, and underlines the socio-cultural barriers and policy deficits that remain to be addressed. Wais Ahmad Barmak Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development Government of Afghanistan October 2013 Women’s Economic Empowerment in Afghanistan, 2002-12: Information Mapping and Situation Analysis v 2013 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Foreword The past decade has brought with it many changes in Afghanistan, some encouraging and others challenging. For Afghan women and girls progress has been made towards creating increased opportunities and choices but these progresses are still modest and can be difficult to sustain. During 2010, UN Women supported the preparation of the Women Economic Security and Rights (WESR) Strategy, which aims to strengthen the various domestic and international rights frameworks the government has endorsed with the aim to guarantee Afghan women a multitude of economic rights. As part of this strategy a research was commissioned to create a body of knowledge that can be used for evidence based advocacy. UN Women is now presenting the results of this study in the report “Information Mapping and Situational Analysis on Women Economic Empowerment 2002-12” which focus mainly on women’s economic rights. The report includes information on a variety of knowledge products on how wage, land, and trade policies in Afghanistan impact Afghan women’s ability to build economic assets. Through this research, it is envisaged that all the development actors both national and international as well as government and non-government entities will benefit immensely on identifying and recognizing the economic needs of Afghan women. This study is done in two parts, the first part being the Information Mapping. This part looks into developments and interventions around women’s economic status in Afghanistan post 2002, including on international resolutions and governmental strategies, legal amendments, procedures and mechanisms. Reviewing gendered developmental and economic indicators, it maps the ways in which women’s access to human rights and to economic engagement have been addressed, or not, in this past decade. The second part details out Situational Analysis. It contextualises the first part by focusing on the views of women participants