About the Report

During 2011, the Center for Gender and Peacebuilding at the 

U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) brought together a “community 

of practice” focused on examining lessons learned from conflict 

and postconflict programs of support for women in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. This community comprises representatives of 

U.S. government agencies and departments, international and 

domestic NGOs, along with members of congressional staff and 

the U.S. armed forces, and representatives of allied embassies. 

This review of lessons learned is in the context of the recent 

executive order (EO) from President Obama (December 19, 

2011), which emphasizes that it shall be the policy and 

practice of the executive branch of the U.S. government to 

have a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security.1

Most relevant to this effort, the EO recognizes that “promoting 

women’s participation in conflict prevention, management, 

and resolution, as well as in postconflict relief and recovery, 

advances peace, national security, economic and social 

development, and international cooperation.”2

About the Authors

Kathleen Kuehnast directs the Center for Gender and 

Peacebuilding at USIP. Manal Omar directs the Iraq, Iran, and 

North Africa Programs at USIP. Ambassador Steven E. Steiner 

served as a senior adviser in the U.S. Department of State’s 

Office of Global Women’s Issues. Previously, he was a senior 

adviser in the Office of Trafficking in Persons and director of 

the department’s Iraqi Women’s Democracy Initiative. Hodei 

Sultan is a senior program specialist in USIP’s Center for 

Conflict Management’s Afghanistan Program. 

2301 Constitution Ave., NW • Washington, DC 20037 • 202.457.1700 • fax 202.429.6063

Special Report 302 March 2012

© 2012 by the United States Institute of Peace. 

All rights reserved.

Contents

Women’s Rights in Afghanistan and Iraq 2

Methodology 3

Lessons Learned 4

Recommendations 5

Conclusion 6

Kathleen Kuehnast, Manal Omar, Steven E. Steiner, 

and Hodei Sultan

Lessons from Women’s 

Programs in Afghanistan 

and Iraq

Summary

•	 As Afghanistan and Iraq enter a difficult transition period, women in these countries are 

increasingly vulnerable to having their rights and opportunities set back at least a generation. Deteriorating security in both countries also places women on the front lines again. 

•	 In Iraq, the women’s rights movement has stagnated, quotas protecting women’s political 

inclusion risk being eliminated, and efforts have stalled to revise Article 41 of the Iraqi 

Constitution, the problematic article that relates to personal status laws.

•	 In Afghanistan, women continue to be largely excluded from the peace process, and 

reconciliation efforts with the Taliban could undermine the significant gains women have 

achieved since 2001. 

•	 Advancing women’s empowerment is an essential priority for the transition in each country 

as it can contribute directly to sustainable stability. The current transition period represents 

a critical time to assess lessons learned from U.S. engagement in both countries, particularly regarding women’s programming. 

•	 Undertaking such an assessment is timely and important given serious budget constraints 

facing the foreign affairs community, potential donor fatigue, and limited resources.

•	 By identifying common challenges and best practices, these lessons can carry over into 

future programming for women in conflict and postconflict zones, thus making such projects more effective. 

•	 The lessons learned and best practices that emerge from this project will inform implementation of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security.

United States Institute of Peace www.usip.org

SPECIAL REPORT
2 

Women’s Rights in Afghanistan and Iraq

Afghanistan and Iraq are now at critical turning points and face many challenges to achieving sustainable peace. Both countries face ghosts of the past, including struggles between 

religious and secular forces, resistance to power sharing, and tensions with regional neighbors. Women in both countries made initial strides forward but recently find themselves 

increasingly vulnerable to having their rights and opportunities rolled back. 

Since 2001, Afghan women have made great strides. According to Amnesty UK, Afghan 

women currently constitute 27 percent of seats in the lower house of parliament. In the 2010 

parliamentary elections, 40 percent of voters were women.3 In the health sector, programming focused on maternal health has helped infant and child mortality rates decline by 22 

percent and 26 percent respectively since 2002. The percentage of USAID-funded healthcare 

facilities that report at least one female healthcare worker has risen from 26 percent in 2002 

to approximately 82 percent in 2010.4 Education and vocational training programs for women 

have contributed to an increase in school attendance. Of the seven million children attending 

school in 2010, 37 percent were girls. This percentage was virtually zero under Taliban rule. Literacy and numeracy skills training have reached more than 94,000 women in twenty provinces. 

In the economic realm, women’s programming emphasizing economic growth opportunities 

has supported 2,300 enterprises owned by women, helped establish 400 new businesses, and 

trained more than 5,000 women in local handicrafts, value chain, and fine arts businesses. 

Women comprise 60 percent of the country’s agricultural workforce.5 These statistics represent 

the remarkable progress Afghan women and the government of Afghanistan have made over 

the past ten years, including landmark advances such as the adoption of a 25 percent quota for 

women in Parliament in the national constitution, and the adoption of laws and policies to combat gender-based violence and advance gender equality.6 However, the challenges that Afghan 

women still face are considerable. A recent study by the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs and 

women’s groups reports that approximately 57 percent of girls in Afghanistan are married before 

the age of sixteen. The estimated literacy rate for women is 15.8 percent, and nearly 90 percent 

of women in the rural provinces are illiterate.7 Women also remain significantly marginalized in 

peace and transition efforts. 

Until the 1980s, Iraqi women appeared to fare better than their counterparts across the 

Middle East. Yet to date they have paid the highest price with regard to violent religious 

extremism, and dwindling educational and economic opportunities. With the increase in 

violence, many Iraqi women find themselves more isolated, as many have lost husbands, 

brothers, fathers, and sons. An estimated one million widows and female heads of household in Iraq are disenfranchised. Politically, women in Iraq hold 26 percent of seats in the 

national parliament. In the educational sector, the adult literacy rate for females between 

2005 and 2008 was 80 percent.8 According to UNESCO, women are particularly affected by 

illiteracy, especially in rural areas, where close to 50 percent of women between the ages 

of fifteen and twenty-four are illiterate compared with 20 percent of women living in urban 

and metropolitan areas.9 Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, international organizations and governments had all-around good intentions to improve women’s rights. A UN 

report noted that “women’s rights and gender equality became symbolic issues for Iraq’s new 

national agenda.” However, as security continued to deteriorate, the focus on improving 

women’s rights shifted to other pressing priorities, leaving the women’s rights movement in 

Iraq stagnating. Many are concerned that the quotas protecting women’s political inclusion 

are at risk of being eliminated, and the effort to revise the problematic Article 41 of the 

Iraqi Constitution is stalled. Article 41 addresses personal status laws, and allows religious 

groups to govern their own personal status matters. Critics of the provision are concerned 

that it may further infringe upon women’s rights.

The views expressed in this report do not necessarily 

reflect the views of the United States Institute of Peace, 

which does not advocate specific policy positions.

To request permission to photocopy or reprint materials, 

e-mail: permissions@usip.org

About the Institute

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, 

nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress. 

Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent conflicts, 

promote postconflict peacebuilding, and increase conflict 

management tools, capacity, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with 

knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by its direct 

involvement in conflict zones around the globe.

Board of Directors

J. Robinson West (Chair), Chairman, PFC Energy •

George E. Moose (Vice Chairman), Adjunct Professor of 

Practice, The George Washington University • Judy Ansley,

Former Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser under President George W. Bush • Eric Edelman,

Hertog Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, Johns Hopkins 

School of Advanced International Studies • Kerry Kennedy, 

President, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human 

Rights • Ikram U. Khan, President, Quality Care Consultants, 

LLC • Stephen D. Krasner, Graham H. Stuart Professor 

of International Relations, Stanford University • John A. 

Lancaster, Former Executive Director of the National Council 

on Independent Living • Jeremy A. Rabkin, Professor, 

George Mason School of Law • Judy Van Rest, Executive Vice 

President, International Republican Institute • Nancy Zirkin,

Executive Vice President, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

Members Ex Officio

Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for 

Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor • James N. Miller, 

Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy •

Ann E. Rondeau, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy; President, 

National Defense University • Richard H. Solomon, 

President, United States Institute of Peace (nonvoting) 
 3

Methodology

With the troop withdrawal in Iraq complete and an international economic crisis resulting in budget cuts, politicians are keen to show a weary electorate progress for the funds 

that have been spent in Afghanistan to date. Along with these heightened challenges, the 

international community faces potential donor fatigue and limited resources. It is now more 

important than ever to work together across agencies and organizations to advance women’s 

empowerment from the outset of the transition in each country and to maintain pressure on 

national and provincial governments on issues of concern to women. This programming calls 

for reinvigorating the agenda and broadening the base through focused media campaigns 

making the public case for the urgent need to support women in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Center for Gender and Peacebuilding of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has brought 

together a “community of practice” focused on examining key lessons learned from programs 

of support for women in Iraq and Afghanistan.10 This community includes representatives 

of U.S. government (USG) agencies and departments as well as international and domestic 

NGOs and civil society organizations working in support of women in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

The community also includes congressional staff, members of the U.S. armed forces, and 

representatives of allied embassies. Advancing women’s empowerment is an essential priority for transitions in conflict countries, as it can contribute directly to sustainable stability. 

By gleaning best practices and lessons learned, the working group aims to strengthen the 

effectiveness of programs that support and empower women in Afghanistan and Iraq and to 

carry these lessons learned into other conflict and postconflict settings. 

After interviewing numerous USG officials and NGO representatives individually, USIP 

convened this community of practice in order to bring the expertise of each organization 

into a common framework and to seek a general consensus on best practices. Seven roundtable discussions have been held to date. In May 2011, participating USG offices and NGOs 

gathered at USIP to hold a preliminary discussion of lessons learned and best practices. In 

June, this community met in the Rayburn House Office Building, teaming up with key staff 

from the newly formed bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Afghan Women to strengthen 

cooperation and share preliminary conclusions with congressional staff. In July, the community held a roundtable discussion at Georgetown University with thirteen Afghan women 

entrepreneurs brought to the U.S. for training by the Institute for the Economic Empowerment of Women. 

From October 2011 through January 2012, participating USG offices, members of the 

U.S. military, academia, and NGOs convened in several more roundtable discussions at USIP 

to further discuss and refine lessons learned and best practices. One of these meetings 

featured two NGO leaders from Iraq who lead projects supported by the USIP Iraq Priority 

Grant Program. Susan Arif Maroof, director of the Women’s Empowerment Organization, 

and Zainab Sadiq Jaafar, director of the Al-Mustaqbal Center for Women, promote women’s 

participation in Iraqi society as peacebuilders. Using means such as documentary film, they 

provide mechanisms and strategies to combat discrimination and violence against women 

in Iraq. These leaders emphasize the important role civil society organizations play regarding women’s programming in conflict and postconflict zones. As Maroof notes, the mere 

existence of civil society organizations like hers can bring awareness of women’s issues to 

the government’s attention and create greater influence for these issues to be addressed, 

including through legislation or amendment to existing discriminatory laws. Exerting such 

pressure is often vitally important, as political will to improve the rights of women is currently lacking in Iraq. 

Maroof and Jaafar’s experiences implementing programs on the ground in Iraq exemplify 

and support several lessons that have been identified in working group discussions. Both 

Advancing women’s 

empowerment is an essential 

priority for transitions in 

conflict countries, as it 

can contribute directly to 

sustainable stability. 
4 

women stress education and training for women as pivotal to raising self-reliance and awareness of rights. Equally important is to actively engage men at all levels in the struggle, 

whether in government, religious, or civil society sectors. Both women also recognize the 

value of networking with other organizations that work on similar causes, particularly in 

expediting service delivery and combining scarce resources to achieve common objectives. 

Lessons Learned

A series of meetings among members of the working group yielded several key lessons 

learned from programs of support for women in Afghanistan and Iraq. These lessons identify not only major gaps and challenges to be improved in future programming but also key 

stakeholders who should be regularly engaged moving forward.

•	 In the economic arena, women in both countries must not be relegated to the lowest paying sectors. In general, there is a lack of outreach to the private sector to form strategically 

targeted public-private partnerships.

•	 Large gaps in educational and vocational training must be addressed. More focus is needed 

on nontraditional occupations for women such as engineering and business programs. 

Training in specialized skills is also important. Vocational programs can address the gap 

between nonspecialized skills training and aspirational programs, which may not be easily 

accessible to a broad cross-section of the population.

•	 In Iraq, sectarian-based political parties dominate the political sector. Women in the political arena, including members of parliament, have not been able to establish a political 

platform; they also have not been able to reach out across party lines to form coalitions 

with members of other parties on issues of common concern. As a result, the women’s 

caucus in the Iraqi Council of Representatives has not reached the level of effectiveness to 

which they aspired, leaving Iraq with a lack of a formal platform such as a national action 

plan to implement UNSCR 1325 on women, peace, and security. 

•	 Rule of law and access to justice programs for women often have met severe setbacks and 

will require increased attention and focus.

•	 More training is needed in both countries to educate police and judicial officials on issues 

of human rights and women’s rights, particularly gender-based violence.

•	 In Iraq, women have been unable to adequately address the significant divide between 

secular and religious women activists. The religious divide is one of many areas of division 

among Iraqi women, making it difficult to persuade them to work together for a common 

cause, or even to gain consensus on key issues.

•	 Women in Afghanistan and Iraq face constraints in reaching out beyond urban elites 

to nonelite women, specifically women at the grassroots level in provinces and remote 

areas of both countries. Youth, particularly those under twenty-five years of age, also feel 

disenfranchised and disconnected due to a lack of sufficient outreach, limited jobs, and 

limited rights. 

•	 Reaching out to men and engaging them in efforts to improve the status of women has 

been limited in both countries. While it remains essential to have empowerment programs 

that focus primarily on women, there is also convincing evidence that women can often 

make quicker strides forward when their male counterparts support them. Outreach to men 

is critical, emphasizing the need for inclusive postconflict engagement. 

•	 Culture and religion have been used to either legitimize or delegitimize efforts to support 

women in their education, economic access, or political engagement. Programming must 

While it remains essential to 

have empowerment programs 

that focus primarily on women, 

there is also convincing evidence 

that women can often make 

quicker strides forward when 

their male counterparts 

support them. 
 5

account for the nuances of customary and religious laws that affect women, including marriage, inheritance, and personal status laws. 

•	 Corruption, organized criminal activities, and lack of governance are all serious detriments 

to effective implementation of programs in both countries. Further attention needs to focus 

on how international programs can help prevent corruption and identify possible partner 

organizations that are committed to working on transparency.

•	 Due to the constantly shifting environment in both countries, programs for women need 

to be adaptive, woven in with the local context, and maintained over an extended period 

to achieve a sustainable impact and outcome.11

•	 Although it appears that women’s rights in both countries are suffering setbacks, it is 

still essential to continue preparing women, especially in basic skills development. All 

international programming must include short- and long-term exit strategies so that skills 

development and capacity building transfer to local ownership. 

Recommendations

With the benefit of insights from the community of practice, the following recommendations are some widely embraced best practices for efforts to support women and to ensure 

inclusive peace processes in Afghanistan and Iraq.

•	 Develop a holistic approach to programming and training. Women in both countries have 

stressed the need for more training that brings together key areas such as political empowerment, negotiation, advocacy, leadership, as well as technical and vocational training. 

•	 Empower civil society. Developing the capacity of the local population, including civil 

society organizations, to take ownership and hold other actors accountable in the posttransition period is critical. 

•	 Assist in linking provincial and national level women. Building bridges and trust between 

women at the national and provincial levels is important to foster greater cooperation, find 

common ground, and build associations among them.

•	 Bridge the divide between ethnic and sectarian groups. Bringing women of different ethnic 

and sectarian groups together for training enhances their ability to understand one another 

and eventually work together and be agents of change and peacemakers in divided communities. This practice in turn helps reduce the ability of political parties and other entities 

to manipulate ethnic/sectarian differences.

•	 Engage men in women’s programming. Programs geared toward empowering women have 

proven to be more successful when men are included as a part of the training. Engaging 

men in women’s programming and employing men who champion human rights to provide 

training in more conservative communities where women have fewer rights and opportunities have yielded more productive program outcomes.

•	 Make use of media to enhance women’s role in peacebuilding. Media continues to dominate 

as a powerful messaging tool in the postconflict environment. Engaging men and women 

in media (print, television, and radio) training on the important role women can play in 

peacebuilding is a vital innovative tool. 

•	 Ensure equitable geographic programming distribution. Programming focus must be distributed consistently within each country. The greatest needs remain at the provincial 

and local levels. Seeking local community investment and working with the community 

to enhance the capacity of civil society organizations at the provincial level is pivotal for 

the future.

Programming must account 

for the nuances of customary 

and religious laws that affect 

women, including marriage, 

inheritance, and personal 

status laws. 
6 

•	 Establish international networks between Afghan and Iraqi women. While it is important to 

bring together individuals from different ethnic and sectarian groups within each country, it is also equally important to establish networks across both countries and between 

women in Afghanistan and Iraq for peer-to-peer capacity building, mentoring, and leadership development.

•	 Pay it forward. Women who have received training are encouraged to “pay it forward” in 

their communities by passing on the knowledge and skills provided to them through mentoring and supporting other women.

•	 Monitoring and evaluation. Establishing practical, concrete, and realistic goals at the onset 

of program implementation is a must. As budgets dwindle, it is more important than ever 

to measure the additive value of each program and its impact on the ground. 

•	 Mainstream women’s issues. Ensuring that men and women are able to contribute to building a peaceful society must be the basis of all international bilateral and multilateral policy 

agendas. Addressing only half the population in the postconflict environment will result in 

a nonsustainable peace process. 

Conclusion

Though the United States might not be involved again in conflict situations exactly like 

Iraq or Afghanistan, the community of practitioners that developed and supported women’s 

programming in these countries still remains engaged on these issues. This community is 

also looking ahead to projects in other conflict countries. Engaging in an ongoing critical 

assessment of women’s programming will ensure that future programs do not repeat prior 

mistakes and instead build on lessons and successes of the past. 

In support of the important role women play in peacebuilding, President Obama signed 

an executive order (EO) on December 19, 2011, that institutes a U.S. National Action Plan on 

Women, Peace, and Security. The EO requires that the U.S. seek to ensure women’s participation in conflict prevention, management, and resolution as well as in postconflict relief 

and recovery, and advances peace, national security, economic and social development, 

and international cooperation. The EO also recognizes that sexual violence, when used as a 

tactic of war or as a part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians, can exacerbate and prolong armed conflict and impede the restoration of peace and security. This EO 

emphasizes the centrality of women, peace, and security issues to the administration, and 

commits the U.S. government to promote these goals. 

The working group on lessons learned and best practices remains active in 2012. From 

these meetings, USIP continues to glean best practices and lessons learned from women’s 

programming in Afghanistan and Iraq that will enable international agencies and organizations to develop more effective programs. USIP is also engaged in setting the stage for 

a learning symposium with Afghan and Iraqi women that will take place in spring 2012 

in Turkey. The symposium will bring together a diverse group of Afghan and Iraqi women 

leaders from national and provincial levels of civil society, government, education, and the 

private sector to share information and establish a concrete platform for considering lessons 

learned and best practices moving forward. In addition to these recognized leaders from 

Afghanistan and Iraq, several women leaders from Libya will also participate. 

The objective of bringing together this diverse group of leaders will be to review the 

lessons learned and best practices that the community of practice has developed thus far, 

generate new lessons learned based on the contributions of the symposium participants, and 

prioritize these lessons and practices. Following the dialogue, a framework will also be established for an ongoing information-sharing forum among these women leaders in their work. 
 7

Notes

1. For a description of the U.S. National Action Plan, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/emailfiles/US_National_Action_Plan_on_Women_Peace_and_Security.pdf.

2. The executive order can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/19/executive-orderinstituting-national-action-plan-women-peace-and-security

3. Amnesty International, UK. Campaign Theme: Women’s Rights in Afghanistan. Issue brief. London: Human Rights 

Action Centre, 2011. http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_21770.pdf. 

4. U.S. Agency for International Development/Afghanistan. Gender. Issue brief. December 2010. Print.

5. Ibid.

6. For more information about women’s rights in Afghanistan, see Nina Sudhakar & Scott Worden, “Real Change for 

Afghan Women’s Rights: Opportunities and Challenges in the Upcoming Parliamentary Elections,” U.S. Institute 

of Peace, August 2010, http://www.usip.org/publications/real-change-afghan-womens-rights-opportunities-andchallenges-in-the-upcoming-parliamentar; and Palwasha Hassan, “The Afghan Peace Jirga: Ensuring that Women 

are at the Peace Table,” U.S. Institute of Peace, May 2010, http://www.usip.org/publications/the-afghan-peacejirga-ensuring-women-are-the-peace-table.

7. United Nations. UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. UN Women Urges Full Participation 

of Afghan Women in the Road Ahead from Bonn. December 5, 2011. Web. January 10, 2012. http://www.

unwSomen.org/2011/12/un-women-urges-full-participation-of-afghan-women-in-the-road-ahead-from-bonn/.

8. UNICEF. “Iraq–Statistics.” UNICEF–UNICEF Home. March 2, 2010. Web. Jan. 26, 2012. http://www.unicef.org/

infobycountry/iraq_statistics.html.

9. UNESCO. “UIS Statistics in Brief- Iraq.” UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2011. Web. Jan. 26, 2012. http://stats.uis.

unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121.

10. For further information about the Center see: http://www.usip.org/programs/centers/gender-and-peacebuildinginitiative.

11. For further elaboration of an action-oriented agenda on women, peace and security, see Women and War: Power 

and Protection in the 21st Century, edited by K. Kuehnast, C. Oudraat, and H. Hernes, USIP Press, 2011.
Of Related Interest

•	 Women and War: Power and Protection in the 21st Century edited by Kathleen Kuehnast, 

Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, and Helga Hernes (USIP Press, 2011)

•	 Gender, Conflict and Peacebuilding by Kimberly Theidon and Kelly Phenice with Elizabeth 

Murray (Peaceworks, September 2011)

•	 The Other Side of Gender: Including Masculinity Concerns in Conflict and Peacebuilding by 

Kathleen Kuehnast and Nina Sudhakar (Peace Brief, January 2011)

•	 The Role of Women in Global Security by Valerie Norville (Special Report, December 2010)

•	 Real Change for Afghan Women’s Rights: Opportunities and Challenges in the Upcoming 

Parliamentary Elections by Nina Sudhakar and Scott Worden (Peace Brief, August 2010)

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Institute of Peace

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reports can be found on our Web site 

(www.usip.org), together with additional 

information on the subject.