Afghanistan

The first woman to run an Afghan city stars in a moving new documentary. But once NATO leaves next year, the Taliban will surely crack down on women like her.

(Read article at: The Daily Beast)

Saira Shakeeb Sadat wants her district, Khwaja Dukoh, to change. Surrounded by mud walls, the dusty hamlet in the remote northern Afghan province of Jawzjan is home to about 5,000 families. The isolation means security is good here, but little aid has reached the town.

But Sadat wants to make a difference, and now she has her chance: last month she was appointed Afghanistan's first female district governor.

(Read more at: AlJazeera)

The Forum on Women, Peace and Security in Afghanistan, 4-6 December 2012, jointly supported by the N-Peace Network and the Research Institute for Women, Peace and Security (RIWPS), was attended by women Members of Parliament and more than 80 women representatives of the Provincial Peace Councils and the High Peace Council from some of the most conflict-ridden parts of the country.

The US House of Representatives voted 406 to 10 yesterday to pass an omnibus bill that will provide security and economic assistance to Afghanistan and will limit funds given to warlords in high-level offices. The bill includes the major provisions of the Afghan Women's Empowerment Act, including the authorization for three years of $5 million for the Afghan Ministry for Women's Affairs, $10 million for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, and $30 million for Afghan-led non-governmental organizations that are providing assistance to Afghan women and girls.

Nazari, an Afghan parliamentarian, is the driving force behind the country's first political party dedicated to women's rights and issues. She launched National Need on February 19 at a ceremony in Kabul, saying the party hopes to put women's rights at the forefront of the national political debate.
To read the full article, please visit the Radio Free Europe's Website.

Suspension of Female MP One Year Ago Is Setback for Democracy.One year after her illegal suspension, the Afghan parliament should reinstate Malalai Joya to office, Human Rights Watch said today.

Hamid Karzai has been accused of trying to win votes in Afghanistan's presidential election by backing a law the UN says legalises rape within marriage and bans wives from stepping outside their homes without their husbands' permission. A briefing document prepared by the United Nations Development Fund for Women also warns that the law grants custody of children to fathers and grandfathers only.
To read the full article, please visit Guardian's Website.

Afghan women protesting against a law said to legalise marital rape have been pelted with stones by conservative opponents in Kabul. The group of up to 300 women faced a barrage of abuse and small stones from a counter demonstration up to twice the size of their protest. Sections of the new law, which rules on marital relations, divorce, inheritance and family matters for the country's Shia Muslim minority provoked international alarm when passed last month.