Women in Transition-Exit Afghanistan

"A leading Afghan public policy researcher says this will have an impact on the perspective of women"

At a recent conference in Sweden on Women in Afghanistan Dr Saeed Parto introduced a report based on a survey done by the Afghan Public Research Organisation, AAPRO. 

The research was done to gather a woman’s perspective of what will happen to the country when the national forces are fully in charge. 

Dr Parto says most women feel the Afghan army and police will be able to insure their safety, and that they are not afraid to leave their jobs. 

But how many women have paid employment? 

More and more, says Dr Saeed Parto, and many are finding new strength from it.

”Unless you have economic muscle, you really cannot contend as a female, and the females that have acquired economic muscle have been far better able to pursue or maintain their dignity and to argue for how things should be changed.”

Dr. Parto gives a typical example of how they’re starting to assert their rights in the marketplace.

”In trading, in marketing of products they make themselves, like saffron, they have to deal with chauvinistic men who say that selling is not a woman’s job. You have to go home and just produce the saffron and leave the selling to us and they say: absolutely not. We want to do the selling as well.”

Speaking at the conference was a well-known NGO, the Swedish Afghanistan committee who have been in Afghanistan for over three decades.

They have 6000 Afghans employed in its projects, many of them women. 

Emancipation for women was a Western agenda, says director Anna-Karin Johansson.

”That women take part in the political life and have a voice in the parliament, that was something that has been driven by the new constitution in Afghanistan. And that was negotiated with very strong pressure from the western powers.”

Afghanistan held an election earlier this month. 

But many say this will not likely make the situation safer... as international NGOs are pulling out due to the recent killings of foreign workers. 

This was the last report by Swedish Radio Asia correspondent Nils Horner last month. 

He was shot dead in Kabul by the extremist group. 

For all foreign journalists, it’s a message to leave. 

But the Swedish government aid agency SIDA has committed to stay for at least another decade. 

Spokeswoman Eva Johansson says it’s for the development of the country. 

”It’s important for us to build on a long term commitment and we’re looking here at the situation for women and democratic development. So I think that if anything, it puts even more urgency on supporting a very weak state, and a weak country where people’s rights are marginalized.”

In this year’s election, for the first time ever a female candidate Khadija Ghaznawi tried to ran for president. 

But the election commission took her off their list with no explanation. 

Many praised her attempt as a bold step forward for women’s emancipation. 

30-year-old Vanessa Satter fled with her family from war-torn Kabul during the rule of the Taliban. 

She spoke recently with her relatives back home... 

They say the security situation has gradually become worse... many educated middle class families have fled to Europe for safety. 

Vanessa says the most important step to get women involved in the development of the country is to create a safer environment. 

”They don’t want to go out, today, they don’t want to work. Not because they don’t want it,  not because they don’t have the opportunity from their husbands, but just because they don’t feel safe.”

• Sweden
• Afghan
• women right
• security
• Ric Wasserman
• eng