Afghanistan: Is the U.S. Breaking Its Promise to Women?

by Charlotte M. Ponticelli and Shea Garrison
October 8, 2020 at 4:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16611/afghanistan-women

That the U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February promised a U.S. withdrawal of troops by May 2021, but did not address women's rights, may signal a bad start.
Over the past 19 years and three administrations, U.S. support has made an undeniably significant contribution to improving the lives of Afghan women and girls. There is abundant evidence across the board -- in women's political participation, economic opportunities, education, and health.
Despite the "lessons learned" of the Promote boondoggle, the fact that women have gained a stronger voice and attained the remarkable progress they did, was due in large part to programs supported by the United States and our allies.
A great example is how Afghanistan has been able to rebuild an education system that had basically stopped functioning. In 2001, about 900,000 students were in primary school -- almost all of them male. Today, more than 8 million students are in school, and though more must be done, nearly 40 percent of them are girls. The statistics tell the story. According to leading economist Larry Summers, educating girls "may well be the highest return investment available in the developing world."
Some might regard these women as "exceptions to the rule" but in reality they are exceptional women who -- thanks to US support -- have worked long and hard to change the rules. And when they move forward, the rest of the world moves with them.
Continued U.S. investment in Afghan women and their families is the right and strategic thing to do -- not just for Afghanistan but for our own national interests, those of our new allies in the region and for all of the Free World.

Shukria Barakzai, a Member of Parliament in Afghanistan, says that justice and equality for women within the framework of the Afghan constitution must remain a "red line" in any negotiations with the Taliban. Pictured: Afghan men and women walk past an election billboard for Shukria Barakzai in Kabul on August 26, 2010. (Photo by Shah Marai/AFP via Getty Images)

While the world watches the Afghan government peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar, the Trump Administration continues to roll out its signature initiative to advance the role of women in peace negotiations. Ironically, for the U.S. government and its noteworthy agenda on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), Afghanistan is where, as they say, the rubber meets the road. The world will know how serious the U.S. is about implementing WPS when we see how Afghan women fare in the coming months. That the U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February promised a U.S. withdrawal of troops by May 2021, but did not address women's rights, may signal a bad start.

Over the past 19 years and three administrations, U.S. support has made an undeniably significant contribution to improving the lives of Afghan women and girls. There is abundant evidence across the board -- in women's political participation, economic opportunities, education, and health. But now, in the midst of the current political uncertainties in Afghanistan, and ongoing security issues, we seem to be witnessing a rush out the door, a push for ending America's "longest war", and a growing questioning about whether our support ever really made a difference in the first place.

Promote, the $216 million project in Afghanistan, touted as the largest "Gender Equity" program of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has been called a failure and a waste of taxpayers' money. This program, launched during the Obama administration, is occasionally trotted out by leading voices as a significant contribution by the U.S. to the cause. However, as a 2018 report by the leading oversight authority on Afghanistan reconstruction has shown, the U.S. has relatively little to show for it.

Despite the "lessons learned" of the Promote boondoggle, the fact that women have gained a stronger voice and attained the remarkable progress they did, was due in large part to programs supported by the United States and our allies. A great example is how Afghanistan has been able to rebuild an education system that had basically stopped functioning. In 2001, about 900,000 students were in primary school -- almost all of them male. Today, more than 8 million students are in school, and though more must be done, nearly 40 percent of them are girls. The statistics tell the story. According to leading economist Lawrence H. Summers, educating girls "may well be the highest return investment available in the developing world."

While numbers are important, it is the human faces behind the work we can never forget: the young women journalists who produced the Emmy-nominated film "Afghanistan Unveiled"; Habiba Sorabi, the first woman governor in Afghanistan; the head of the Afghan Midwives Association who delivered 2,000 babies in secret during the Taliban regime... the list goes on. Some might regard these women as "exceptions to the rule" but in reality they are exceptional women who -- thanks to US support -- have worked long and hard to change the rules. And when they move forward, the rest of the world moves with them.

Our challenge now is to support our Afghan sisters in sustaining this progress and to make sure that their rights are not left on the negotiating room floor. As Shukria Barakzai, Afghan Member of Parliament, put it, justice and equality for women within the framework of the Afghan constitution must remain a "red line" in any negotiations with the Taliban.

Afghan women have proven themselves to be capable, resilient, courageous, and strong, but they need the continued help of the U.S. and the international community to sustain the progress made and to ensure that the protection of their basic human rights firmly remains part of the deal. With only four women (all from the Afghan team), out of a total of forty-two Afghan government and Taliban negotiators, the stakes have never been higher. The gains Afghan women have made could easily be reversed should the Taliban gain the upper hand in the current negotiations. Afghanistan is still considered one of the most dangerous countries in which to be born a woman.

The U.S. promise to Afghan women has been clear and consistent: "We are with you, we will not abandon you." Now, as America's "longest war" continues to wind down, we cannot afford to change that message to "Sorry, you're on your own."

Continued U.S. investment in Afghan women and their families is the right and strategic thing to do -- not just for Afghanistan but for our own national interests, those of our new allies in the region and for all of the Free World.

Charlotte M. Ponticelli is Senior Fellow at the American Council on Women, Peace, and Security, and former Senior Coordinator for Women's Issues at the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Shea Garrison is Senior Fellow at the American Council on Women, Peace, and Security and Affiliated Faculty and Policy Fellow at George Mason University. Follow them on Twitter at @AC_WPS

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Comment on this item

8 Reader Comments

Elena • Oct 9, 2020 at 13:41

It is not up to the United States military to engage in social engineering in other countries. The United States made no such "promise" to the women of Afghanistan to ensure they were treated well by their husbands, to give them an education, to give them proper medical care and to make sure they were well represented in their government. The U.S. military is there to neutralize threats to the United States and for no other purpose. The women of the Islamic world have the responsibility of improving the status of women even if it means sacrificing their own lives. That is how it is done. One generation makes sacrifices for future generations. Islamic culture is cruel to be sure, but women are not without some power. No country can survive without them. They are half the population and their role is very important. They need to use their power to improve their lives and not depend on outside forces to come and save them from their own society.

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Edward Decker • Oct 8, 2020 at 23:01

Why do the authors expect US service personnel to put their lives at risk in order to promote and ensure "women's rights" in a third world Muslim country like Afghanistan? Trying to transplant western cultural concepts like democracy and individual freedom in a Muslim country like Afghanistan has proven to be a failed policy. Afghanistan is a country ruled by unstable tribal factions. It is tiring to read authors who write their articles about what America must do to insure the "rights" of foreigners who we are in armed conflict while they are safe at home in Washington, D.C. out of harms way.

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jule • Oct 8, 2020 at 22:36

There are so many countries that do the same and even worse than Afghanistan to women (and Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindu, gays etc.) This leads me to suspect there is some other reason for this article. Every Muslim country has atrocious Human Rights abuses. Pakistan, Turkey, Africa, all of them.

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Hans Lembøl • Oct 8, 2020 at 06:45

Afghanistan is, basically, a Muslim country. In such countries, women have only two rights, to shut up and to obey any man. It's a pity, but that is, mainly, the way it is in Afghanistan, Iran and other places.

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jule

Hans Lembøl • Oct 10, 2020 at 00:49

So what do you think is the obsession with making a presence in this country instead of all Muslim countries?

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Hans Lembøl

jule • Oct 10, 2020 at 18:26

@Jule: The problem is as follows: If the US withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, it is obvious that the Taliban takes over. Afghanistan is back to square one and two trillion USD and God knows hove many lives of American soldiers and Afghans have been lost to no avail.
Furthermore, the US will be seen as a loser. The political consequences hereof could be catastrophic.
If the US does not withdraw, the end of the American military presence is not to be seen as the war cannot be won and peace won't come to Afghanistan.
So the US finds itself between a rock and a hard place in Afghanistan. President Trump no doubt wants to withdraw the troops, which would be the right thing to do, no matter the loss of face, as the alternative - an eternal unwinnable war - is even worse.
The lesson is this: From an American point of view, President Trump's policy of discontinuing the American role of acting as the world's policeman is absolutely right. Is has cost the US trillions of Dollars and thousands upon thousands of American and other lives and made nobody apart from the military industry happy.

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william carr

Hans Lembøl • Oct 11, 2020 at 06:11

Apart of course from the 1000% increase of children in school of which over 3 million are girls. They have been given a taste of democracy which is the only way forward however much they may deny it. You cannot take that away

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Hans Lembøl

william carr • Oct 11, 2020 at 08:02

Sorry, William. It's true that they have been given a taste of democracy, but as soon as the Taliban takes over, they will be locked up in slavery again as it was seen the last time Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban. But should this oblige the US to stay in Afghanistan forever with all the consequences?

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