Fact Sheet
UNIFEM Afghanistan Activities
GENDER AND JUSTICE
The Gender and Justice programme works to ensure gender perspectives are integrated into all aspects of legal and judicial reform, and works with government to assist it to meet its international obligations to protect human rights of men and women equally as provided under international conventions and treaties.
- Engendering governance & peace building: support to women political leaders (parliamentarians, provincial council members, women’s associations and civil society) in an effort to increase women’s access, participation and influence in politics.
- Increasing women’s access to justice, especially in rural areas: Legal aid, legal counseling, paralegal services, gender mainstreaming within the police force, working with Ministry of Justice in support of a legal aid system etc.
- Gender mainstreaming within legal and judicial processes: Comparative analysis of all civil and criminal laws from a gender perspective (Law mapping); working with Supreme Court and Attorney General’s office to create a protection system for women victims of violence; working together with civil society and policy makers for lobby and advocacy for reform of discriminatory laws.
- Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW): Managing a Special Fund, together with UNHCR and UNFPA for EVAW; supporting activities for prevention of VAW (awareness raising, research, data collection/documentation, advocacy, training of policy makers, religious leaders, community leaders etc.)
Go to the Gender and Justice Programme homepage »
Women, Peace and Governance
In the effort to introduce gender equality as a central component to good governance — including peace, reconciliation and security sector reform in Afghanistan's post-conflict setting — UNIFEM Afghanistan is...
- supporting efforts of women in legislative and policy reform that safeguards women's and girls' human, social and political rights,
- facilitating the coordination of a broad based advocacy network for women's full participation in peace and development deliberations and
- opening opportunities for women's voices to be heard and perspectives accounted for in high-level deliberations around peace, reconciliation and statebuilding.
Go to the Women, Peace and Governance Programme homepage »
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Community Empowerment and Economic Development Unit supports women’s economic security in six provinces of Afghanistan through provision of small grants to national NGOs implementing integrated projects. This programme has also supported local and international micro-finance institutions to provide savings and loan services to vulnerable women. A total of 12,660 women and girls have benefited from various projects since 2003.
- 600 women have been attending courses in psycho-social focusing that help women who face trauma as a result of war
- 1,388 women and girls have participated in integrated computer and English programmes providing them with basic skills in word processing and English
- 1,100 women trained in adult literacy and health & hygiene
- 1,060 women trained in health education and legal advisory issues
- 4,796 women trained in literacy, health education and rights awareness
- 895 women have received loans through micro-finance institutions
- 550 women received training in poultry and health hygiene
- 1,381 women have received training in vocational and income generating activities i.e. tailoring, Patu weaving, handicrafts (carpets, bag making), poultry, embroidery, food processing, glass making, shoe production, bee- keeping, beauty salons, animal husbandry, flower making, soap production and vegetable production.
- 800 women received training in capacity building
- 90 women trained in civil rights education
Since June 2007, UNIFEM has focused on supporting NGOs implementing livelihood projects that integrate adult literacy, health & hygiene, and legal rights.
- 60 women are receiving training in the adult literacy and hygiene programme.
- 30 women are receiving training in food processing, drying fruit and literacy.
- 70 women are receiving training on bee-keeping and adult learning.
- 30 women are receiving training in honeybee keeping and adult learning.
- 40 women are receiving training in computer and English literacy.
- 40 women are receiving training in elementary animal husbandry course, distribution, primary health education and literacy.
- 70 women are receiving training in literacy, poultry and health education.
- 250 women are receiving training in the micro-finance project.
- 550 women are receiving training on the use of internet through internet service for 24 months to explore information on their income generating skills.
- 380 girls/women are receiving training in an educational programme for women of Hizatkhail community.
Go to the Community Empowerment and Economic Development Programme homepage »
INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING
This programme focuses on institutional capacity building of government institutions and ministries for engendering all processes, systems, policies, programmes and budgets, and ensuring equal response of governance institutions to the needs of women and men.
This is implemented under the auspices of the Ministry Of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) as lead ministry for supporting and advising government in its gender mainstreaming efforts
- Technical Assistance in the development, implementation and monitoring of a ten-year National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA) and mainstreaming gender in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and implementation of benchmarks of the Afghanistan Compact.
- Pilot Projects within NAPWA include policy development for equitable access of women in transportation and strengthening women’s leadership in the civil service. Currently, there are 14 pilot projects under implementation.
- Joint projects with the Ministry of Haj and MOWA in developing key messages with Shariah experts to address the issues of women, promoting the role of Islamic women scholars in policy making and capacity building of the staff. Coordinate between the Ministry of Information & Culture and MOWA for setting up a distance learning programme through better access to internet services.
Go to the Institutional Capacity Building Programme homepage »
PARTICIPATION IN JOINT PROGRAMMES
UNIFEM is currently a partner in several UN - Government of Afghanistan joint programmes, including: Maternal Mortality Reduction, the Afghanistan Integrated Functional Literacy Initiative and the Girls Education Initiative.
UNIFEM also supports the Literacy Initiative For Empowerment (LIFE) 
and works together with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) , the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and others on joint initiatives.
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
UNIFEM has its head office in Kabul and works in six provinces – Herat, Jalalabad, Parwan, Kapisa, Panshir and Ghazni – with coordination offices in Herat, Ghazni and Parwan.
UNIFEM