Women's Role in Afghanistan's Future : Taking Stock of Achievements and Continued Challenges

Abstract

This report assesses the overall
 situation of women in Afghanistan across key sectors, acting
 as a follow-up to the report published by the World Bank in
 2005 entitled, Afghanistan: National Reconstruction and
 Poverty Reduction-Role of Women in Afghanistan's
 Future. What can be seen from the sectoral chapters (namely
 in health, education, work and employment, and legal rights
 and voice) included in this report is that, in sectors where
 concerted and coordinated efforts have been made among a
 collection of key actors (including the Government of
 Afghanistan, the donor community, NGOs and civil society,
 significant improvements have been achieved. Where
 well-planned systems have been designed and consensus has
 been garnered for the support of these systems, services are
 indeed reaching more women and girls, and communities are
 becoming more accepting of these services. What is also
 shown in the report is the innovative function that NGOs and
 civil society actors have played in some of the sectors
 discussed, developing new mechanisms to include and reach
 women. The report also highlights areas in which significant
 improvement has been lacking, and a systematic approach to
 addressing some issues is still missing. The prevailing lack
 of reliable data makes understanding the issues faced by
 women in these sectors challenging. Each chapter in the
 report concludes by distilling key recommendations for the
 future, whether based on successes to date, or based on a
 lack of progress and critical gaps in specific areas. While
 specific issues can be identified as critical within each of
 the above sectors, what is also notable is that some issues
 cut across all sectors as prevailing barriers for women. One
 of these consistent themes is that the lack of female
 professionals in key areas poses a barrier to other women
 and girls accessing these services. Another cross-cutting
 impediment for women is insecurity, or the perception of
 insecurity. In each chapter, issues of regional inequality
 and disparity between rural and urban areas can be seen
 across key indicators. In addition, barriers such as a lack
 of mobility, limited transportation options, inadequate
 infrastructure that omits women-friendly features, and the
 prevalence of early marriage, tend to be repetitive
 cross-cutting barriers. Finally, the report concludes framed
 through the lens of the upcoming transition years in
 Afghanistan, when the Government of Afghanistan will take
 over more and more direct management of services and security.