Gender & Justice

Supporting Women’s Engagement in Peacebuilding and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict: Community-Led Approaches

Women around the world face significant challenges to their participation in peace building processes. Even national legal frameworks around women’s peace building or the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) often do not filter down to the community level.

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Overview

A two-year project funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), this project involves 6 participating countries.

In Afghanistan, UNIFEM is undertaking a two-year project as a part of the global initiative following the Induction Seminar in Uganda [below], attended by all six participating countries. While little information exists on the true extent and severity of SGBV, indicative studies suggest that:

  • 82% of cases in a UNIFEM study on violence against women were perpetrated by family members, and
  • sexual violence accounted for 25% of violence against women cases examined.

Some of the types of SGVB experienced during the conflict were:

  • Abduction during the Taliban era (which continues to occur);
  • Child and widow forced marriages;
  • The abduction of boys.

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Objectives

With a budget of US$1,170,000, the objectives of the UNIFEM programme in Afghanistan are:

  • To support women’s capacities to engage in peace building and prevent conflict at the community level;
  • To support women at the community level in preventing SGBV and responding adequately to the needs of survivors.

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Partners

UNIFEM is working with the following partners to implement this programme:

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The Induction Seminar in Uganda

Four UNIFEM Afghanistan staff members attended an induction seminar in Uganda organized by UNIFEM International. The purpose of the seminar was to instigate a global framework for knowledge sharing and lessons learned both between the partner countries and globally, as well as the development of a workable programme for all six participating countries. (See the sidebar for information on participating countries.)

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The Baseline Report

As a result of the seminar, a final log-frame has been drafted for UNIFEM Afghanistan and a baseline has been developed, including a monitoring and evaluation format. This baseline report will...

  • help identify possible partners for community participation in both the peace process and the elimination of SGBV,
  • establish the feasibility of the indicators within the log-frame, and
  • provide the basis for a sound monitoring and evaluation system.

The report will be available on-line shortly.

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Activities

The Afghanistan programme is being implemented in selected communities within the provinces of Parwan (Central Region) and Nangarhar (Eastern Region) in Afghanistan. At the same time, activities are undertaken at the national level to further support provincial-level work.

Some key activities of this programme include:

  • Creating space for dialogue among women activists and local, national and international stakeholders to discuss women’s participation and the inclusion of their priorities within all peace and security dialogues and processes.
  • Providing support to Provincial Council members in fulfilling their role to eliminate customary practices contrary to Sharia law and to ensure the respect of women’s human rights.
  • Establishing a Special Fund to provide small grants to innovative community-led SGBV protection and prevention initiatives.
  • Unveiling women's oral histories, to the extent possible, in order to reveal the history of Afghan women from the late 1970s to the present.
  • Establishing a paralegal programme to provide assistance to women in remote areas, in order to enable them to have their rights upheld in communities and within the justice system.
  • Establishing two referral centres to provide support to women victims of violence and coordinate other support services for women provided by relevant stakeholders in order to further empower women.
  • Operationalizing a VAW database by providing technical support to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) and producing an annual report from this data.
  • Supporting the establishment of transitional houses for the protection of women released from prison who have no immediate possibility of returning to their communities.
  • Amplifying Afghan women’s voices by documenting the gender-specific dimensions of violence during conflict and in its aftermath.
  • Providing technical support to the development of gender sensitive legislation and policies at a national level needed for legitimizing and supporting activities in the communities.

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Anticipated Changes

Through these activities, UNIFEM anticipates the following changes in women's lives:

  • Increased reporting of incidents of violence against women;
  • Increased access to justice;
  • Improved protection mechanisms for women in distress;
  • Growing awareness and a decrease in tolerance of violence and injustice;
  • Relevant laws and policies put in place and;
  • Women leaders who are empowered to promote peace and justice.

UNIFEM expects that these positive changes will contribute to supporting the women of Afghanistan in building peace and preventing violence against women at the community level.

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