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

In attaining this goal, the following objectives will be pursued within the overall framework of
the government‘s work:
a) Promote a gender perspective and women‘s participation throughout the security
sector;
b) Support the development of a culture of peace, justice, and respect for human rights
with equal participation of women and men;
c) Develop security measures with a special focus on individuals and institutions that
are engaged in the promotion of women‘s advancement and delivery of public
services to women; and
d) Strengthen the level of communication and cooperation between and among
legislative, the judiciary and the security sector in order to ensure the protection of
women‘s rights and the availability of recourse for women at risk and survivors of
violence.
3. ISSUES AND CONSTRAINTS
A number of issues and constraints stand in the way of attaining the above goal and objectives:
3.1 Lack of gender perspective in the security sector
The security sector lacks an institutional culture that is sensitive to women. As a result, the
strategies developed to address insecurity and organize Afghanistan‘s security services are often
formulated without provisions for women‘s needs. Emphasis on legal accountability,
transparency, and human rights, particularly women‘s rights, in training programs for the military
and police continues to be negligible despite the positive intent of addressing human security. To
eliminate deeply rooted discriminatory practices and improve protection of women and girls,
gender needs to be taken up at strategic and program levels of the security sector.
3.2 Low representation of women in the security sector
The number of women in the Ministries of Interior and Defense are too few, and women in these
ministries are too outranked, and too marginalized to be able to influence the processes and
substance of decision-making. There is a need for a critical mass of women, no less than 30
percent 31 , across ranks and positions in order to have a compelling presence in the work of the
sector.
One of the main reasons for the low representation of women in the security sector is the lack of
interested and qualified women to serve in the police and military. Families also discourage their
female members from joining the security sector due to perceived risks, low pay, and concern
over society‘s inacceptance of females being in a predominantly male apparatus of the
31 This benchmark of 30% is the ideal mass of women required across ranks and positions for women to
effect positive change in the security sector. If Afghanistan attains the 20% increase in the number of
women involved in security service delivery in 10 years set out by NAPWA, Afghanistan will be on its way
towards reaching its commitment of having 30% women in the security sector in 15 years.
26