National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan - The Secretary ...

POLICY
FRAMEWORK
As the Government of Afghanistan, our commitments to our women constituents are embodied in
many legal instruments and international treaties to which we are a party. This section briefly
summarizes the binding obligations and frameworks 24 that shape the Afghan Government‘s
gender policies, and how the NAPWA draws from and synthesizes into one framework all
women-specific commitments made by the government under the Constitution, MDGs, CEDAW,
BPFA and the benchmarks and strategies outlined in the Afghanistan Compact and I-ANDS.
Declaration of the Essential Rights of Afghan Women:
Signed by President Hamid Karzai in January 2002, this
declaration provides that there be equality between men
and women, equal protection under the law, institutional
education in all disciplines, freedom of movement,
freedom of speech and political participation and the right
to wear or not to wear the burqa or scarf. 25
The Bonn Agreement: This agreement served as a
foundation for the establishment of sustainable and
democratic governance in Afghanistan, and recognizes
that the participation of women and attention to their
rights and status are both a requirement and a vision of the
national peace and reconstruction process.
The Afghan Constitution: Article 22 of the Constitution 26
outlaws discrimination and declares that women and men
are equal in rights and duties. This article guarantees that
the entire Constitution and all its provisions apply to both
women and men on equal terms. In addition, it recognizes
that the means and opportunities for women to benefit
from all Constitutional guarantees may be less than that of
men. This provision therefore serves as a constant
reminder that equality and non-discrimination are
DECLARATION OF THE
ESSENTIAL RIGHTS OF AFGHAN
WOMEN
Section III
The fundamental right of Afghan women, as for all
human beings, is life with dignity, which includes the
following rights:
1. The right to equality between men and women
and the right to the elimination of all forms of
discrimination and segregation, based on gender,
race or religion.
2.The right to personal safety and to freedom from
torture or inhumane or degrading treatment.
3. The right to physical and mental health for women
and their children.
4. The right to equal protection under the law.
5. The right to institutional education in all the
intellectual and physical disciplines.
6. The right to just and favorable conditions of work.
7. The right to move about freely and independently.
8. The right to freedom of thought, speech, assembly
and political participation.
9. The right to wear or not to wear the chadari
(burqa) or the scarf.
10. The right to participate in cultural activities
including theatre, music and sports.
24 Please see ―Key References‖ in the Annexes for full bibliographic details of the documents discussed in
this section.
25 For the full text of the Declaration, visit http://www.feminist.org/afghan/declarationtext.asp
26 ―(1) Any kind of discrimination and privilege between the citizens of Afghanistan is prohibited. (2) The
citizens of Afghanistan - whether man or woman - have equal rights and duties before the law.‖
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 2004 (unofficial English translation).
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