European Parliament

Texts Adopted by Parliament

Provisional Edition : 13/12/2001

Human rights: Women in Afghanistan

B5-0763, 0766, 0776, 0784, 0790 and 0802/2001

European Parliament resolution on women in Afghanistan

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on Afghanistan and, in

particular, on the situation of Afghan women and the Declaration of the

Afghan Women's Summit held in Brussels on 4 and 5 December 2001,

- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

- having regard to the measures taken by the Afghanistan Support Group in

Bonn on 5 and 6 December 2001 for the coordination of the humanitarian and

development efforts for Afghanistan,

A. stressing that the Taliban regime has perpetrated the most deliberate

form of violation of women's rights in recent history, imposing an

apartheid

based on sex that has denied women's identity itself,

B. whereas there are almost 5 million Afghan refugees abroad, mostly in

Pakistan and Iran; whereas the majority of these refugees are women and

children,

C. having regard to the high mortality rate among women and children,

D. whereas it is estimated that less than 5% of Afghan women can read and

write, while the literacy rate for girls reaching school age during the

period of Taliban rule is substantially lower, standing at approximately

1-2%,

1. Welcomes the agreement reached at the UN talks on Afghanistan in Bonn

on

5 December 2001 and the fact that the transitional government thereby

created will include, at least for the time being, two women, one of them

as

deputy prime minister;

2. Calls for women's rights to be fully guaranteed by the new

Constitution;

calls on the interim Afghan authority to implement as quickly as possible

measures making provision for free movement, education and health care for

women and allowing them to work, and to adopt laws recognising equal

rights

for men and women in all areas;

3. Warmly welcomes the planned establishment of a Ministry for Women's

Affairs within the new Government, as well as the announcement that the

special commission provided for under the agreement for the organisation

of

a Loya Jirga will ensure the presence of a significant number of women at

the constituent assembly to be held in six months' time;

4. Welcomes the request made by the participants in the UN talks on

Afghanistan to the UN Security Council to consider authorising the early

deployment of a UN-mandated force to Afghanistan, which should assist in

the

maintenance of security for Kabul and the surrounding areas and could, as

appropriate, be progressively expanded to other urban centres and areas of

the country;

5. Suggests that the UN appoint a woman rapporteur for gender equality

with

the task of supervising compliance with the undertakings entered into

concerning women during the transition and reconstruction process in

Afghanistan;

6. Calls on all the political forces to recognise the role of women, in

particular by instituting specific programmes encouraging women to take

part

in political activity, both as voters and as candidates in elections at

all

levels;

7. Reiterates its belief that the interim authority and the other bodies

set up must make formal provision for the inclusion of local civil

organisations, especially women's organisations, and must respect the

rights

of the person and international humanitarian law;

8. Calls for girls and women to have full access to programmes for

education, health care, jobs and job training and housing, and stresses

that

these programmes must reach women in disadvantaged rural areas, widows,

and

women who are disabled, displaced or illiterate;

9. Calls for the granting of international aid for the reconstruction of

Afghanistan to be made conditional on the participation of women in

decision-making and in the use of such aid;

10. Calls on the donor countries and, in particular, the EU to ensure

that

Afghan women are the direct beneficiaries of between 25% and 30% of the

economic aid provided for reconstruction in Afghanistan;

11. Calls on the Afghan authorities and the international organisations

to

take rapid steps to set up medical structures which can meet the specific

medical needs of women and children in Afghanistan and in the refugee

camps;

12. Calls on the authorities concerned to ensure that widows and single

women can benefit from the future programmes for the construction of

shelters and housing;

13. Recommends the establishment of specific programmes for women who

have

been the victims of violence;

14. Recommends that the new Afghan authorities consider setting up

education programmes for young men who were enlisted in combatant groups

at

a tender age and have never known family life;

15. Calls on the neighbouring countries to actively secure the Afghan

refugee camps and to isolate and bring to justice the extremists who

violate

women's fundamental rights;

16. Insists that the perpetrators of the crimes against humanity which

have

been committed in Afghanistan, especially against women, have to be

brought

to justice;

17. Proposes that International Women's Day 8 March 2002 be declared

'Afghan Women's Day';

18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council,

the

Commission, the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States and the

applicant countries, the UN Secretary-General and the interim government

of

Afghanistan.