The Hon. Minister of Women’s Affairs

The Hon. Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hussn Banu Ghazanfar, is leading the Delegation of the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Beijing + 15 in UN Headquarters, New York.  Here, the Commission of the Status of Women would be undertaking a fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty third special session of the General Assembly.

The Afghanistan Country Report states that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA), even fifteen years after its adoption, continues to serve as a powerful tool for advocacy and development planning for the women of Afghanistan.

The Minister, in her address yesterday (2 March 2010) said the achievements of Afghanistan are few and modest. ‘But, if you will consider the extremely daunting layers of obstacles in the context within which these achievements were realized, you will greatly appreciate that we have gone this far,’ she added.

Afghanistan took up the implementation of the BPFA on March 23, 2005, immediately after it sent a delegation to the Beijing + 10 meeting of the Commission of the Status of Women.  Minister, in her speech, outlined the achievements and reiterated that they were “foundational to an enduring approach to women’s empowerment and gender equality.”

On behalf of the Afghan Government, she appealed to the gathering for support in five areas: Education for strategic leadership in various fields; Deployment of female nurses and midwives to Afghanistan; Establish institute on women in Islam; Creation of jobs for women; and Support to the South-South technical exchange of women professionals, deemed extremely important to the improvement of Afghan women’s status.

She pledged “to ensure the sustained implementation of the commitments” made in the past years.  “We will (i) pursue the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA), (ii) work for aid effectiveness around gender equality, (iii) forge alliances with gender initiatives of other Islamic countries in the region, (iv) strengthen accountability on gender, and (v) promote greater involvement of men, boys, and the ‘influentials’ in the implementation of our gender equality commitments,” she concluded.

The Afghanistan Country Report on the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcome of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly (2000) presents the changes that had taken place in Afghanistan in the Last five years since the Beijing+10.