Asia

In December 2011, ten years after the Petersberg Conference, the future of Afghanistan will be discussed anew. How can Afghanistan increasingly become militarily, politically and economically more independent? And where does the Afghan parliament and civil society stand in this year’s Bonn Conference? Will they be included? Or will they – as is so often the case in international conferences – be excluded?

The number of attacks by the Afghan army and police on their own citizens could increase strongly when the international forces withdraw. This fears e.g. the NGO Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC), a longtime partner of the HBS.

The violence against women and girls in Afghanistan continues to rise. For this reason, the Afghan Women's Network turns in an open letter to political leaders and urges them to act.

Even though the working conditions for Afghan journalists are slowly improving, a free reporting is still not possible and many of them have to take high risks for reporting. Furthermore, the Afghan officials prefer talking to Western correspondents rather than with representatives of local media outlets.

Over the past three years, Rights & Democracy has been directly involved in the reform of family law in Afghanistan. In this publikation four authors reflect the central themes: the evolution of reforms in 20th century Afghanistan; the participation of civil society in the legislative process in the post-Taliban era; the marriage contract and registration of marriages; and the gap between the theoretical discourse and practice with regards to protecting the rights of women.

Again and again the government of Hamid Karzai has shown that she has no interest to fight corruption seriously. Now the Afghan youth wishes to speak. They have seen the progress made by the peoples movements in the Arab World. They oppose the ideology of the Taliban, demanding an end to corruption and Karzai's withdrawal.

Maria Bashir, an Afghan female prosecutor, fights corruption and domestic violence and promotes the right of Afghan women to work.

Abasin Azarm was born in Kandahar Afghanistan in 1983. He has managed and run several radio projects in Afghanistan and worked there as a journalist for over 9 years. Now he talks about the changes in his country and the freedom of speech.

Many people in Afghanistan believe it is shameful for women to play any sports, especially football which is thought to be men’s sport. Yet over the last years female football is on the raise in Afghanistan. It all kicked off with the establishment of Afghanistan’s first female football club in 2004.

Afghan civil society has become remarkably strong and self-confident over the last years. It is impressive how much power and sovereignty my male and female counterparts here in Kabul show. It is necessary to further support the efforts of Afghan human rights activists. Women’s rights are a priority for them.