Samenvatting

After 2001, nine years after the fall of the Taliban, women's socio-economic position in Afghanistan has hardly improved. To this day, women are subjected to many cruelties such as torture and rape. After the Taliban had been defeated in 2001, the total amount of development assistance by the international community to Afghanistan has increased rapidly. Millions and millions of foreign aid money has been pumped into the country in order to improve and rebuild Afghanistan and to strive for a more coherent democracy. An Afghanistan, where women will be able to obtain fair chances, to participate within their own society, the ability to hold a governmental function, to attend school and the right to proper health care.
UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) and Human Rights Watch point out the "severe problem" of rape in Afghanistan. "Women and girls are at risk of being raped in their house in their village," said UNAMA, and that happens' in all parts of the country, among all social groups. Victims are at risk of being prosecuted for 'adultery'. More than 50% of these women are in prison because of this. Both organizations attribute the decline in women's rights largely to two causes: the return of the Taliban (and thereby increased violence), and indifference with the authorities. Because the government in Kabul is weak, according to HRW, they relie more on "fundamentalist and conservative factions" that are not interested in women's rights. In order to ameliorate the socio-economic position of Afghan women, many international donors are committed to improve this country's situation through their bilateral agreement and development aid. Two key donors are the European Union and the United Nations. Some of them even have established their offices in Afghanistan for over more than 20 years ago. Most of the donor countries and institutions have initiated special programmes to promote a gender balanced society and improve women's situation. Some of them succeeded, some of them failed.
However, the number of women active in State Service, according to the HRW report, declined from 31 per cent in 2006 to 21 percent in 2009. Most of them work at lower positions in departments such as Education, Health and Women. The number of women ministers has dropped from three to one, only the Ministry of Women Affairs is still run by a woman.
According to a report published by UNAMA in 2009, public life is increasingly unsafe for women. Because of the frequently threats and attacks women are more likely to stay at home.