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views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Directors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented, nor does it make any representation concerning the same.

Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan: The Politics and Effects of Intervention
Lina Abirafeh, PhD

(1) Understanding Gender Politics

o o o o o o

Gender-focused international aid in the aftermath of conflict in Afghanistan Story of an aid intervention: how it is represented & understood Snapshot of a historical moment Lessons applicable to other conflict/post-conflict contexts Social change is a political process Development interventions are political processes with political outcomes

(2) Methodology

Iterative research process: 4 years in Afghanistan, 12 years of engagement on Afghanistan Data from policy-makers, practitioners, participants 2001 2005

Levels of analysis: 1. Media & policy discourses 2. Perspectives of policy-makers & policy implementers 3. Experiences and perceptions of Afghan women and men 4. Comment and feedback from Afghanistan specialists (3) Unpacking Policy

Levels of disconnect in the policy story: 1. Formulation: women without context 2. Intent: social change and transformation
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3. Interpretation: denying agency, sidelining men 4. Implementation: political issues met with technical interventions = no transformation (a political process) Outcome: possibility of negative externalities (4) Placing Women in Afghan History

o o o o

Evolutionary change abandoned for revolutionary change No local foundations, no popular support Honor fuels resistance Enforced modernity brings conservative backlash

(5) Prescribing Aid Solutions

o o o o o o

Supply driven No contextualized understanding No consultation with Afghan women Led by conflict experts (not Afghanistan experts) Differing priorities regarding womens rights Rhetoric and buzzwords without local application

Education: High illiteracy Lack of available schools, security concerns, poverty, discrimination, gender inequality in customary practices Health: Very low life expectancy Maternal Mortality Ratio is one of the highest in the world One million new Afghans are added to the population every year onto an increasinglyweakening economic and social infrastructure Political Participation:

Women are still a minority in public life - marginalized in policy-making and decisionmaking

Livelihoods: Prolonged war, continued conflict, and periodic drought increased poverty and vulnerability, particularly in urban areas Increased corruption deteriorating security Displacement and urbanization brought a transition from agricultural economy - daily survival challenged Women enter new fields to support their families opium production being the most dangerous Urban population in informal employment Increased vulnerabilities due to irregular incomes More women enter into sex work Violence/threats of violence/fear of violence at home and in public spaces Domestic violence and self-immolation increasing Statistics unreliable but strong anecdotal evidence

Violence:

(6) Engaging with Gender

1. Near-total neglect of gender 2. Expose flaws & fallacies from neglect 3. Women as special case to compensate for neglect - womens activity as exceptional, no gender analysis 4. Full integration of gender analysis (7) Seeing Beneath the Bourka

My sense is that Afghan women long for choice. The choice to wear a veil, or a bourka, or nothing at all. The issue extends well beyond the actual fabric of the bourka. It is more important to address the psychological bourka, and its progeny - the fear bourka and the

poverty bourka. Social evolution is a slow process, and our task in this is to offer women the tools with which they can achieve self-sufficiency, a choice, and a voice. Too much focus can push women into a position of defending their culture and it can become a symbol of resistance to tyrannical Western influences against good Afghan women. It also simplifies the complex situation of gendered identities and roles within Afghan culture. By this I dont mean to suggest that women do not have less access to power or control of resources in Afghan cultures but that its too simplistic to suggest that once women remove their bourkas they are free and everything has been made right. (8) Transforming Women

o o o o o

What does this mean? Who defines it? Aid conflated with radical social change Assumption that empowerment is a top-down effort No agreement on meanings of terms - or what they mean for programs Womens liberation used to justify intervention

(9) Promising Liberation

There has not been an overnight revolution, a shift from oppression to liberation. Change does not happen that fast. Also, women are savvy enough to know that the last times there were dramatic and sudden shifts toward a Western model the resultant backlash undid any gains made. There is no need for a revolution, rather for a gradual evolution towards more gender equality. The international community has to do its homework first before going into a country. (10) Depoliticizing Political Interventions

Gender discourse acronym evolution: WID (artificial dichotomy based on sex) to GAD (power and politics): o
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WID more conducive to technical solutions and a standardized aid package

GAD is a process Lost political power and potency when amputated

Words have meanings: o

(11) Examining Policy Texts

Low: o use of the words women and gender, but no or limited understanding of meanings and how to apply them o lack of contextualized analysis for women and gender - despite heavy use of genderrelated rhetoric o little or no mention of Afghan womens agency

Medium: o o brief discussion of the terms - limited understanding of concerns no concrete planning on how to do gender

High: o o o solid understanding of gender and womens issues contextualized understanding of gender in Afghanistan direction for programs and concrete action

(12) Engaging Men

Mens engagement in gender interventions: 1. Men as perpetrators (therefore women as victims) 2. Men as obstacles to womens development, or as negative comparisons 3. Engaging men as vehicles to advancing womens interests 4. The exceptional man as advocate and supporter 5. Men in their own right 2002 speech:

We need a full gender perspective because without men and boys, gender work is not possible Be careful not to provoke a backlash. There are examples of this in Afghan history. Instead let the message slowly come from Afghan women themselves, not the international aid community We cant empower women without empowering men, otherwise there will be a backlash again and it will provoke increased domestic violence. The more disempowered men feel, the more resistant they will be to change. (13) Contextualizing Gender in Afghanistan

Some interventions can be very disruptive. Badly conceived and facile analyses based on the assumption that Afghan women are vulnerable individuals living in a vacuum may eventually isolate rather than reintegrate women. Its important to know and to find out for ourselves what gender means in Afghanistan Gender relations in Afghanistan are complementary. This juxtaposition - men versus women reflects individual rights and a Western capitalist context. This isnt applicable to Afghanistan because traditionally there is coexistence. (14) Engineering Social Transformation

Because gender issues are introduced as womens issues, the whole gender thing is considered to be against the cultural and religious values of the country gender programs need to be transferred to both women and men equally A few basic things should be considered: religious values, cultural values, social structure of society, level of education, and techniques for implementation And, most importantly, empowerment of both men and women cannot happen by outsiders. Men and women should be able to empower themselves to make choices and decisions. (15) Promoting Quick Fixes

Raising a community out of survival mode and into economic stability will be of significant benefit to all members and will thus create a more conducive environment to address
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gender roles and relations. And more often than not, the community and family will address the subject without external interference! (16) Transplanting Democracy

o o

Perceived as Western-imported and imposed ideal Indigenous forms of Afghan democracy and gender equality exist

In Afghan history, we have imported policies from other places. This is why it doesnt work. If we want democracy, we have to go step by step, starting from the beginning, and not running. If we run, we will fall down. We should walk slowly and look around us in order to be successful. Again today, just like before, Afghans are running, running after democracy, running after gender. And when we fall down no one will be able to rescue us. Not even the international community. (17) Comparing Perspectives

Women: o Relations are changing because the world is paying attention to Afghan women. But not all the changes are good. The good changes take a lot of time. In time, we can work with men as equals. o If the men and women together decide on the changes, they will be good. If someone else from the outside makes the changes, no one will be happy with it. Men: o Men were not open minded to let their women work outside but since the Americans came and insisted on this, women are outside. Men only accept so they can solve their economic problems. o International organizations act of taking the rights of men and giving them to women is something bad for men. (18) Demonstrating Agency

The world did not think well of Afghan women, that is why they wanted to help and save them. But Afghan women are stronger than outsiders know. I dont think the image was good. They thought we could not struggle for our rights without their help. We are happy for help, but we want to direct the changes. (19) Rethinking Aid

There is a lot of attention to women on paper, but I am not sure if it is helping women in real life. Promises havent been implemented. They trick both men and women of Afghanistan into believing that the world will come save them and change everything. We all fought for freedom, and now we are told to believe that there is freedom. International organizations have led one woman to a comfortable life and thousands of them to disaster. I have hope, but I have no faith.

o o

(20) Including Men

Men: o o o They have paid their most attention to women and have forgotten men. Every time first a position is given to women. Organizations are not loyal on their promises with men. I do not know what opportunities men have. I see many of them without opportunities. Men need to have opportunities like women now so they can work and feel proud. Men are suffering more than women right now. Men are becoming more aggressive and angry to women because organizations do not give them any attention. (21) Working Drop by Drop

Women: o o o o

Focus on women at the expense of men

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o o

Mens honor compromised by their neglect in aid interventions Perception that values and socio-cultural systems compromised by ideological occupation Differences and diversity as Afghans as not been recognized Sense of disillusionment with the aid apparatus New elements of disagreement, conflict, violence

o o o

(22) Increasing Violence

Men: There is a kind of negative idea among the people on gender that has to be corrected. And some people think that too much goes to women. The communities are sometimes not ready to accept the changes in womens situation. For them it is too much and too fast. One way for men is to use violence. There is a backlash at the speed of change and the focus of foreign aid, women being the focus. The international community came here and want to work only for women. And they dont want to improve the status of Afghan men. Therefore Afghan men start making problems for their sister, their mother, their wife. They start making problems. Apparently men and womens rights are equally distributed but still the violence against women has increased. This talk of rights has just increased the gap between men and women. Women: Men have become sensitive about womens organizations. They believe that these organizations train women to stand against the laws and their husbands. Of course this is not true. It is actually what men think. We want dignity for our men, and then they will treat us better. (23) Imposing Changes

I do not need to remind you that imposing an idea on Afghans is impossible. To bring positive change, the idea should be fixed in an Afghan cultural framework. Gender is the most valid example of this. We should have started by focusing on men because they are the ones traditionally with more power. When men understand the meaning of gender and its importance and how it benefits them women will immediately gain what they deserve. But we have not yet learned from history and we still try to do things the wrong way. Backwards. (24) Repeating Occupations

o o o o o

Parallel made between regime of international organizations and previous occupiers Aid as means by which outsiders gain influence in Afghanistan History repeating Need to understand legacy of occupation Link to present-day resistance to outside interference

(25) Repersonalizing the Political

o o o o o

Gender policies do not operate in a socio-political vacuum Externally-enforced social reforms resisted time and again Historical snapshot of an ongoing institutional and social process Highly political process with political outcomes Not judgment of success or failure even failed interventions have externalities

(26) Applying Lessons

1. Address gender issues dont neglect men 2. Find ways to promote womens empowerment without undermining men 3. Afghan women have agency build on indigenous movements 4. Let afghans decide how to measure transformation/progress 5. Respect context especially Islam 6. Learn history: politics, pace, processes of change 7. Gender is about power a political process
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(27) Imagining Freedom

The world thought they could bring freedom to Afghan women, but freedom is only won from the inside.

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