Report - United States Department of Defense

UNCLASSIFIED
Despite the complex cultural and logistical challenges associated with better integrating women
into the ANSF, there has been incremental progress regarding the role of women within the
police and the armed forces. Some of the success witnessed in the past decade surpasses that of
other countries in the region. As a result of this effort, gender training is now in place across
much of the ANSF, harassment and violence against women are being addressed, educational
projects for women are being established, and political will is present in certain areas. Gender
integration policies exist in both the MoD and MoI, but need improved implementation. Support
from ANSF leadership is essential to improving the recruitment and treatment of women in the
ANSF.
Many challenges remain, however. The recruitment and retention of women remain difficult; the
primary obstacle is likely family-related issues. Other impediments to sustainment have been
identified, such as a lack of challenging assignments upon graduation, accounts of sexual
harassment and violence, and difficulties concerning separate housing and bathing facilities.
Recruitment of women for the ANA, AAF, and ANP continues to fall short of the MoD and MoI
female recruitment goals of 10 percent of the ANA and AAF, and 5,000 for the ANP. NTM-A
consistently promotes female recruitment and gender integration in its interactions with the
ANSF. Despite this, gender integration has been slow to take effect. The MoI is continuing
Gender and Human Rights training and Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) programs.
The MoI Ten-Year Vision incorporates Gender and Human Rights to gain the trust of local
communities.
Cultural perceptions of Afghan females serving in the ANSF can still be problematic. Women
can play a key role in establishing trust between community and police. The Police Pillars are
using known “celebrity” voices in Afghan culture to promote the image of the ANP as being an
employer of choice for Afghan women and their families. Although great strides have not been
evident in the recruitment of women into the ANP, the deputy Minister for Administration has
announced that he will host a Gender Recruiting Strategy Conference in spring 2013 to garner
support from the religious leaders who are highly influential in the community.
To help increase the recruitment of women into the ANA, and to help safeguard women’s rights,
the MoD, with assistance from NTM-A, has begun to stand up the Directorate of Human Rights
and Gender Integration (HR&GI). The MoD had assigned a major general as the director and an
AAF colonel to the deputy position; both are actively working to increase the Directorate’s
tashkil from five to 36 positions. In a positive sign, the number of women taking the test for
acceptance into the National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA) increased from 47 to
97. Of particular note, MoI conducted a recruiting campaign for SOF and received 34 female
applicants, of whom seven were accepted.
The recruitment and retention of women in the ANA and ANP is an element of the U.S.-
Afghanistan Bilateral Commission’s Democracy and Shared Values Working Group. Progress
on this issue was addressed by the U.S. State Department’s Assistant Secretary of State for
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner and Deputy Assistant Secretary Jane
Zimmerman in working group meetings in Kabul in February and May of 2013. The Embassy
regularly engages the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MOI, and MOD on this issue.
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