Rebuilding Afghanistan in Times of Crisis

Rebuilding Afghanistan in Times of Crisis provides academics and researchers interested in planning, urbanism and conflict studies with a multidisciplinary, international assessment of the reconstruction and foreign aid efforts in Afghanistan. Our Senior Associate Fellow, Jorrit Kamminga, has written chapter six on Women, Peace and Security.

The book draws together expert contributions from countries across three continents – Asia, Europe and North America – which have provided external aid to Afghanistan. Using international, regional and local approaches, it highlights the importance of rebuilding sustainable communities in the midst of ongoing uncertainties. It explores the efficacy of external aid; challenges faced; the response of multilateral international agencies; the role of women in the reconstruction process; and community-based natural disaster risk management strategies. Finally, it looks at the lessons learned in the conflict reconstruction process to better prepare the country for future potential human, economic, infrastructural and institutional vulnerabilities.

Women, Peace and Security

The uphill battle of transforming Afghanistan through women’s meaningful participation in peacebuilding and security

This chapter first traces the confluence of the protection of women’s rights and progress in Afghanistan. This process was – and sometimes still is – fueled by the simplistic representation of Afghan women in the West, often portrayed as either passive victims of oppression and violence or as active role models or heroes. The decisive moment for linking women’s empowerment and progress in Afghanistan, however, seems to have been the rule of the Taliban (1996–2001). Their notorious oppression of women became part of the justification of the international intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 and a benchmark for results afterward.

The chapter offers some recommendations on how more progress could be made when it comes to the implementation of the WPS agenda in Afghanistan. To break the current deadlock, an operational approach to women’s meaningful participation is put forward to complement the traditional women’s empowerment agenda, which is based on equal rights.

Interested in buying the book? Go to the webshop. Also, read Jorrit Kamminga's latest article in the Clingendael Spectator 'Afghanistan, that is still caught up in the biggest overreaction to terrorism'.

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