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Key Text Afghanistan's Parliament in the Making: Gendered Understandings and Practices of Politics in a Transitional Country

Author: Andrea Fleschenberg
Date: 2009
Size: 196 pages (2.43 MB)

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Summary

How can a viable Afghan parliament be developed that will serve citizens' interests and promote peace and reconstruction? What are possible entry points for parliamentary institution-building, particularly regarding female parliamentarians (MPs)? This report from Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and UNIFEM is based on extensive interviews with Afghan parliamentarians during 2007-2008. Women's parliamentary participation is of the utmost importance, but is largely dependent on the overall gendered political and security context as well as the progress of and challenges to state- and institution-building. Nevertheless, female MPs' political effectiveness could be increased through mutual cooperation and networking.

The Afghan parliament is highly fragmented, hybrid, and volatile. It is still under construction in terms of capacity- and institution-building, and legislators are seeking their political positioning. In 2005, for the first time in Afghan history, women entered both houses of parliament in large numbers. Many women entered politics without prior experience on a quota provision due to the support from individuals, political parties, or their own families and/or ethnic groups. Recurrent divides along political, ethnic, linguistic, urban-rural, regional, and historic lines are reflected within the parliament, where women parliamentarians (MPs) are often at the centre of the struggle for power.

In a predominantly male-dominated society with influential conservative veto actors, lack of support for women, lack of security, and with institutions still in the making, female MPs have limited agency and autonomy. This is particularly the case with regard to controversial and innovative political issues (as many women's issues will be perceived).

Female legislators identify lack of support from the government, ministries, and the majority of fellow MPs, plus influential veto actors outside of parliament as the main barriers to asserting and implementing their own political interests.
Patterns of identification prevalent in Afghanistan are varied and coercive. Besides gender, the family, clan, and ethnic background are most important, and an individual's regional heritage and status also play a role. Cooperation between female members of parliament is therefore not very pronounced.
Instead of joining together against the political environment that is curtailing the political, social, and economic freedoms that have only recently been achieved, female MPs are becoming men's bargaining chips in establishing political, ethnic, or regional power structures and agendas.
Female MPs point to their own lack of unity and gender solidarity and even a high level of mistrust. They are divided on women's issues and their feasibility in terms of agenda-setting and policymaking, despite a strong interest and identification with such issues.

Pioneers in a difficult context, Afghanistan female MPs need to be given space to find their own political identity, to find their working and cooperation patterns, and to 'learn on the job'. Recommendations include the following:

Female MPs' joint agenda should focus on non-divisive general issues (rather than specific women's issues). Such focus would support the broadest range of constituents and is most likely to help consolidate women MPs' positions.
Roundtable discussions could be held on selected general issues (education, development and reconstruction, health, youth, or security) to help women MPs establish a joint agenda and then to facilitate cross-gender alliance-building and coalition-making.
Training for women parliamentarians is needed on lobbying, alliance-building, and conflict mediation, plus in-depth information on Islamic law. Research and advocacy organisations of other Muslim countries could be an important entry point for information-sharing.

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Source: Fleschenberg A., 2009, 'Afghanistan's Parliament in the Making: Gendered Understandings and Practices of Politics in a Transitional Country', Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung/UNIFEM, Berlin
Author: Andrea Fleschenberg dos Ramos Pinéu , andrea.fleschenberg[at]yahoo.de
Organisation: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), http://www.unifem.org