Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

This paper seeks to examine the issues of gender inequality and women’s human rights in Afghanistan by looking at the developments in the fields of education, political participation and economics over the past 12 years. This complex issue will be studied by assessing what has been achieved on paper so far, and how much of that has been implemented successfully. The author concludes that if Afghan women are empowered to make meaningful contributions to deciding the country’s post-conflict development priorities, and are listened to by their male colleagues in the political, economic and social contexts, the country’s socio-politic and economic development prospects will be improved. To this end, the author suggest that the international community should increase its development-focused support to post-2014 Afghanistan by prioritizing education, the protection of civil and human rights, and economic and social development by underlining the strong connection between women and development.

Authors: Gulsah Gures
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