WRITTEN QUESTION E-1003/02

by María Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (PSE) to the Commission

(12 April 2002)

Subject: Honouring the commitments made to women in connection with the Afghanistan reconstruction process

What action has the Commission taken (or is it intending to take) in order to ensure that Afghan women are involved in the decision-making process and in determining the use of the financial aid granted by the EU to Afghanistan for reconstruction purposes, and that they are the direct beneficiaries of between 25 % and 30 % of that aid, as called for by the European Parliament on 13 December 2001?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(4 June 2002)

As the Honourable Member will be aware, the factions in Afghanistan agreed on 5 December 2001 in Bonn/Petersberg an Agreement on provisional arrangements in Afghanistan pending the reestablishment of permanent government institutions.

This Agreement contains numerous specific references to the role and participation of women in the Interim Administration and the Emergency Loya Jirga and recognises that the interim arrangements set out in the Agreement are intended as a first step towards the establishment of a broad-based, gender sensitive and fully representative government .

In its dealings with the Interim Administration, the Commission has consistently made clear to the authorities that compliance with the terms of the Bonn/Petersberg Agreement is a fundamental conditionality of its support to the reconstruction process in Afghanistan. To this end, the Commission has committed up to EUR 2 million to set up the Emergency Loya Jirga in conformity with the Bonn principles. The work of the Emergency Loya Jirga Commission is being closely monitored by the Commission and the other international community representations present in Afghanistan.

As the Commission has made clear in response to previous questions from Members of the Parliament on this subject, the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan has been a specific concern over many years and its humanitarian aid programme has implemented health, education, nutrition and employment projects aimed at refugees, internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups have consistently contained significant components which addressed the plight of Afghan women.

With regard to its own current interventions in the reconstruction phase in Afghanistan, the Commission has sent expert missions into the field to make proposals for initial quick impact projects in the areas of education, rural development/food security, urban regeneration. A health sector mission is still in the field. A gender specialist accompanied these missions, with the specific objective of ensuring that gender issues and the need to improve social conditions and opportunities were fully taken into account from the earliest stage of the project cycle.

The expert's proposal are now being incorporated into programme design. For example, one of the interventions for urban recovery under the already approved Initial Recovery Programme foresees the rehabilitation of a number of hammans in several cities. This will provide women with often the only possibility to wash and with the opportunity to meet with other women outside of their direct family. Another project includes a health education and community-based sanitation component, through the establishment of a network of women to work as health and sanitation educators and community mobilisers to work in a number of urban districts.

The Commission is also intent on mainstreaming a number of gender concerns into the second Recovery Programme (EUR 70 million) expected to be approved in the fourth quarter of 2002. Specifically, interventions in health and provision of infrastructure will address contraints faced by women in urban and rural areas.

Regarding emergency humanitarian aid provided by the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), women have always been implicated in various types of projects, even in the Taliban era: all medical and nutritional projects funded by ECHO aim to treat malnutrition among children under five years of age, as well as monitor the health status of women, in particular lactating and pregnant women. Usually, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) organise elementary hygiene education for women.

NGOs have access to all beneficiaries, women included, and can employ women as local NGO personnel in medical related programmes, in spite of the fact that separation between the two genders has to be strictly observed. Medical NGOs play a great role in the medical training of women.

Furthermore, for two years, income generating activities for women, have started to encourage their self-sufficiency, and are increasingly being supported by ECHO. ECHO has financed Food For Work (FFW) projects for men and women through various partners. While men are occupied in land recovery works and city drain cleaning, women are given raw material and knit quilts and sweaters

to be distributed to other beneficiaries. This operation implies that some educated women will first conduct a survey to identify the most vulnerable women, among the widows, handicapped and internally displaced people. This kind of programme ensures the participation of women coming from a variety of socio-economic classes, from educated to illiterate women, each of them using their knowledge and/or manual ability. The programmes have proved successful and will be continued as they provide an immediate impact on people's livelihood.