Yesterday, the UN took a stand against the gross violation of children’s rights to education made by anti-government groups recently. At the same time, several UN bodies, among them UN Women and UNFPA, condemns the exclusion of women in security related areas, and demand that NATO and the Afghan government implement resolution 1325 by actively ensuring the security of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Women involvement in decisions regarding security
Women’s and girls’ security situation is nothing but deficient, claims several actors in the country. Representatives from UN Women, UNFPA and UNAMA (The UN Assistance mission in Afghanistan) condemn this fact, and criticise the leading security actors in the country for their insignificant efforts to include women in decision making processes regarding security. Laurent Zessler from UNFPA argue that “it is important that the international and national community puts every effort into breaking the silence and ensuring that the voices of women and girls are heard and that the necessary services are put in place to support those women and girls”.
A challenge for Afghanistan; is women the solution?
In 2014, the responsibility regarding the security of Afghanistan will be switched from NATO to the Afghan government, which poses a great challenge in maintaining a sustainable security sector. The spokesperson of UN Women in Afghanistan, Solrun Gisladottir, urges that women must be involved in the country’s security matters since women undertsand the security mechanisms within their communities. She stresses that it is of the utmost importance that women and women’s organisations are included in regarding the security situation before and after NATO leaves their responsibility in the hands of Afghanistan.
