Afghan Women’s Network respond to the outcomes of the Bonn conference
This statement is from Samira Hamidi, Afghanistan Country Director of the Afghan Women’s Network. Views expressed are the author’s own.
“The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the International Community, met yesterday in Bonn to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2001 Bonn Conference. We, the advocates of AWN appreciate the Conference Conclusion on the International Afghanistan Conference in Bonn.
From the past three days AWN Advocates have been lobbying and discussing with policy makers from number of countries as well as media on their concrete recommendations on peace and reintegration, good governance, transition and international community’s commitment post 2014. The key recommendations were launched in the form of an Afghan women Declaration as an outcome of year consultation with 500 women representing 500,000 women across the country. The key recommendations are an inclusive peace process to be monitored by independent women led institution, successful transition making women’s security as one of the key indicators and continuous support to Afghan women’s empowerment to keep the 10th year’s achievements and further focus on empowering them nationally. The conference conclusion focuses on the issues of Democracy, Human Rights, Women’s Rights, and respect to Afghanistan Constitution, inclusive Afghan led peace process and international community’s ongoing support.
The AWN Advocates believe that the Conference Conclusion strongly convey the message from international community on their long term support to Afghan people from Transition to Transformation Decade. However, the conclusion lacks the clear message on the action and implementation. For example, the Conclusion’s section on Security focuses more on the international military exit strategy, terrorism and narcotics issues, but it lacks any focus on the security needs and concerns of ordinary Afghan women and girls. AWN has been calling for clear monitoring and planning to respond to any negative trends in women’s mobility, violence against women or their participation in decision-making. Both the government of Afghanistan and its international allies would need to focus on how the implementation will take place. “