Afghan Aid Must Assist Women, the Displaced: Rights Groups

ToloNews

Displaced Afghans and women should be the major concerns for donors giving aid to Afghanistan, human rights groups said Wednesday. Amnesty International said that any aid funding pledged to Afghanistan at a donor conference in Tokyo next Sunday must also help those displaced by decades of conflict and living in miserable conditions. Half a million Afghans who have been uprooted by insecurity live in urban slums, deprived of their right to adequate housing, food, water, health and education, a statement on the group's website said. "The burgeoning problem of displacement is a human rights crisis and could lead to greater instability in the otherwise relatively stable urban areas - the Afghan government and its international partners must address this long-neglected issue," Amnesty's Afghanistan researcher Horia Mosadiq said in the statement Wednesday. The US refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that the number of people displaced inside the country could rise to 700,000 by the end of 2013, Amnesty noted. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that a failure to include women in decision-making processes and high-level policy discussions increases the fear that women's rights might be bargained away in the desire to bring peace through a compromise with the Taliban. HRW said on it website that donors in Tokyo should make it clear to the Afghan government that continued international support will be linked to further progress on women's rights. Furthermore, they should ensure that adequate funding remains available to support schools, clinics, hospitals, shelters and other essential services. It noted that half of all Afghan girls are not in school, very few finish high school, and attacks on girls' schools are common. While women in public life or working outside the home face threats and sometimes violence. The meeting in Tokyo on July 8 of will bring together as many as 70 international organisations and donors with the aim of securing aid commitments for Afghanistan after 2014 when most Nato troops will withdraw from the country. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he is seeking $3.9 billion in annual international assistance to rebuild the country's economy at the Tokyo conference. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will attend the high-level international conference, Japan's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.