Praagya Singh<\/p>\n
Peace talks between the United States and Taliban come as a harbinger of hope in Afghanistan. However, the Afghan government is not happy with the on-going negotiations with Taliban. They fear that these talks will give legitimacy to Taliban and power sharing with them will not be easy as it seems. On the other side, the lack of participation of women in these talks is also a factor which is raising concerns in the Afghan society. Afghanistan, as a society has evolved with respect to the role played by women, which has become increasingly significant. Today, women are seen in the role of ministers, ambassadors, deputies, district chiefs and in other high ranked positions.1 Data from the United Nations Development Program show that gender inequality has dropped by ten percent between 2005 and 20172.<\/p>\n
Women have strengthened their political, economic and social presence through efforts to advance their status and respect for their rights. Girls have been able to go to school, while women have become members of parliament, governors and police. Despite gradual improvement, women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan remain a serious concern. Women\u2019s participation in politics is low at both local and national levels. Illiteracy and a general sense of insecurity felt by women are still common. According to the WPS index which provides measures of various indicators on women\u2019s rights, well-being and empowerment, Afghanistan ranks at the bottom, in the 152nd position out of 153 countries.3 \u201cAfghanistan, as a society has evolved with respect to the role played by women, which has become increasingly significant. Today, women are seen in the role of ministers, ambassadors, deputies, district chiefs and in other high ranked positions\u201d Since 2010, when President Hamid Karzai organized a three-day National Consultative Peace Jirga to pave the way for a political settlement, women, who comprised almost 20 percent of the peace Jirga, demanded that they be included in peace processes. As a result, nine women were appointed to the 64-member High Peace Council that came out of the gathering of tribal leaders. Women\u2019s groups since then have proactively consulted with women across the country to identify their needs and expectations regarding the peace process and communicated their findings to the Afghan government, political leaders and the international community. However, women representation in Afghan peace talks has been next to none. The absence of Afghan women in the talks failure of political correctness. It means that women in the country do not know what the future holds for their lives; the days of Taliban oppression of women could return if they do not guarantee that women\u2019s rights, enshrined in the constitution, will be upheld in any future power-sharing arrangement. The absence of women and their voices in the process casts doubt on the type of peace that these talks would bring to the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaihana Ahmadi, a police officer in Kabul, said \u201cthe Afghan women were tired of the war and they wanted peace in the country \u2013 a peace which could protect women\u2019s achievements and freedom\u201d.<\/p>\n
STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE.<\/strong><\/p>\n Retrieved from; https:\/\/www.sipri.org\/commentary\/blog\/2019\/unpacking-afghan-peace-talks-inclusion-women-process-and-achieving-durable-peaceHistory has shown us how the exclusion of women in peace processes has serious repercussions for women\u2019s rights post-conflict. Many cases of exclusive peace processes also provide examples of fragile peace at the expense of women. For example, the Sudan-South Sudan peace process shows how exclusion and marginalisation of women has led to gender-blind institutions in the post-war period\u2014women in South Sudan remain largely absent from decision-making and political power. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provides another example: low levels of women’s participation in the peace process and gender inequality, among other factors, partly contribute to legal discrimination and violence against women.8 In Afghanistan, where women\u2019s rights remain fuzzy, failure to consistently address women\u2019s opportunities and rights will reinforce gender injustice. Including women at the negotiating table and in consultations beyond the formal talks is a necessary step towards a lasting and legitimate peace in Afghanistan. Raihana Ahmadi, a police officer in Kabul, said \u201cthe Afghan women were tired of the war and they wanted peace in the country \u2013 a peace which could protect women\u2019s achievements and freedom\u201d.<\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n Praagya Singh Peace talks between the United States and Taliban […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cas-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8307,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8305\/revisions\/8307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/jsia\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nhttps:\/\/theconversation.com\/a-peace-agreement-in-afghanistan-wont-last-if-there-are-no- women-at-the-table-111820<\/li>\n