Afghanistan Archive

Afghanistan is a resource rich country with reserves estimated to worth around 3 trillion USD which almost have remained untapped. Afghanistan is prompt to invest in its extractive industry to cover the state expenses and budget deficits and to fund its development projects to alleviate poverty in the country.

This manifesto shares the thoughts, expectations, concerns and recommendations of Afghan women in relation to women’s political participation, their role in security sector as well as their engagement in peace process in Afghanistan.

Responsible Democracy: The richness of Afghanistan in natural resources has great potential for conflict. Since 2012, the Heinrich Böll Foundation therefore moved deliberately in this politically sensitive terrain.

Within the framework of the project “Regional Civil Society Engagement in Green Dialogs. Promoting Peace and Stability through Equitable Resource Management”, the offices of Heinrich Böll Stiftung in Pakistan and Afghanistan successfully conducted a Vision Workshop for a seed group of the Regional Green Dialogs Network. The workshop aimed at increasing mutual understanding and developing a joint vision and a plan for future action. Intellectuals, experts and activits from both countries (Pakistan and Afghanistan) participated in the event and reflected on how to promote peace and stability in the region through equitable natural resource management, especially looking into water and energy.

In 2015, the hbs head office in collaboration with regional offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan arranged a delegation visit to Berlin and Brussels from to discuss country situation, women parliamentarians performance, gender equality, peace building, shrinking spaces for women rights activism, and share the findings of the comparative study “Unmaking Political Patriarchy through Gender Quotas?” with a wide range of stakeholders at the European level.

The research project highlights the national level parliaments and critically reviews quota designs, practices and experiences of women parliamentarians on both quota seats as well as general seats. A delegation of women parliamentarians, together with civil society activists from Afghanistan and Pakistan, went on a visit to Berlin and Brussels to discuss the first key findings.

Afghan Women have had a long journey in terms of their rights and socio-political participation since the Taliban downfall in 2001. As Afghanistan has just entered into a new decade of transformation, the main questions related to women, peace and security remain: What has been built to ensure women’s protection and participation over the last decade? And what strategic approach could consolidate gender equality in the decade to come?

Current Afghan politicians must allow and help young politicians to assume better roles in the country’s political system so that we can move towards an ideal society with modern politics.