Asia

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.

Never will women’s rights be sacrificed in talks with the Taliban and never will the Afghan government close women shelters. These are the promises President Karzai made to his people in the middle of a heated debate on women’s rights in Afghanistan. These are two major commitments. Judging by the overall political trends in the country, it might not be easy to stick to them.

It is young people at the heart of the Arab revolt who are rebelling not for jihad but for freedom and democracy. Nevertheless, bin Laden's death opens up huge opportunities worldwide. President Barack Obama needs to follow up on the promise he made in Cairo, two years ago, when he pledged to build bridges to the Muslim world. 

Wedding ceremonies have become ruinous for many Afghans. A new law now aims at limiting the expenses. The good intention of the initiative is tarnished, however, because the draft at the same time sanctions heavy governmental interference into personal affairs.

Environment protection is one those issues that require education and discussion. Perhaps, a lot of parents do not consider environment issues significant enough to be taught because they think that the children themselves might know about it once they are grown-up. Or, they might think that it is the responsibility of schools and teachers to educate the children on these issues.