In July 2015, the government of Afghanistan launched its first UNSCR1325 National Action Plan (NAP). The main agency responsible for development, monitoring and evaluation of the NAP is the Steering Committee headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It works in collaboration with other government agencies, civil society organisations and international organisations. The NAP is organised under the main UNSCR1325 themes: Participation, Protection, Prevention and Relief and Recovery. Generally, Afghanistan’s UNSCR1325 NAP is developed to address the challenges women face in the aftermath of war and conflict in Afghanistan.
The NAP comes out in a very critical time in Afghanistan to address the aftermath of war in the country. Afghanistan has suffered the scourge of war for decades where women were banned from participating in the public life. Women have experienced tremendous upheaval throughout the history of Afghanistan and have been forced to bear the brunt of over three decades of conflict and insecurity. Women’s human rights deteriorated to unprecedented levels during the conflicts and war as they were denied their basic rights, including access to education, healthcare, and employment. After the collapse of the Taliban regime, women made a number of gains. Nevertheless, much remains to be done to realize women’s full and equal rights.
Unfortunately, Afghanistan’s NAP does not address disarmament issues, or connect the proliferation of weapons with women’s insecurity. It does not include an allocated or estimated budget and there are no other financial resource consideration references within the NAP. Also, there is no clear reference on the mechanism for civil society involvement.