Two Years of the Taliban’s ‘Gender Apartheid’ in Afghanistan

Two Years of the Taliban’s ‘Gender Apartheid’ in Afghanistan

Thursday, September 14, 2023

By: Belquis Ahmadi;  Scott Worden

Two years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the human rights situation in the country is abysmal, with women and girls experiencing the worst of the regime’s policies. There is growing evidence that the Taliban are committing the crime against humanity of gender persecution of women and girls, an assertion Human Rights Watch made in a new report. This summer, the World Economic Forum slated Afghanistan last of the 146 countries it ranked in a study on gender gaps. The scope of the Taliban’s women’s rights restrictions is truly unprecedented.

Type: Analysis

GenderHuman Rights

Assessing Person-Centered Outcomes in Women and Children Returning from Violent Extremist Conflict

Assessing Person-Centered Outcomes in Women and Children Returning from Violent Extremist Conflict

Monday, July 17, 2023

By: Stevan Weine;  Mary Bunn;  Dina Birman;  Chloe Polutnik Smith;  Enryka Christopher;  Michael King;  John McCoy;  Gulnaz Razdykova;  Emma Cardeli;  Heidi Ellis

This paper outlines a person-centered approach to outcomes based upon existing evidence and practice knowledge for use with returning women and children in rehabilitation and reintegration (R&R) programs. Being able to identify and assess outcomes, which are the intended accomplishments of these programs, are key for understanding change processes and developing strong programs. These programs should be able to assess and track key outcomes at multiple levels, including individual, family, community, and systems. However, little guidance currently exists regarding strategies for what outcomes should be assessed and how to do so.

Type: Discussion Paper

GenderViolent Extremism

How to Meaningfully Address Men in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

How to Meaningfully Address Men in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

By: David Duriesmith

In the years since U.N. Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and the resulting Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda called for a gender perspective on peace and security, efforts have historically only addressed women and girls. However, feminist and women’s peace organizations have long recognized that for engagement on this issue to be meaningful, it cannot treat gender as a synonym for women.

Type: Analysis

Gender

Una lideresa social colombiana propone una estrategia para la paz con base en las comunidades

Una lideresa social colombiana propone una estrategia para la paz con base en las comunidades

Friday, May 26, 2023

By: USIP Staff

Tras nueve meses después del inicio de los nuevos esfuerzos del gobierno colombiano para alcanzar la "Paz Total" con los grupos armados que aún continúan activos luego de décadas de conflicto armado, este proceso debería buscar un espacio para que las miles de organizaciones comunitarias y de base del país fortalezcan la paz a nivel local cuando cesen los combates, dice una destacada líderesa social de una de las regiones más violentas del país. La estabilización de Colombia, desde donde la migración hacia Estados Unidos y otros países se disparó el año pasado, requerirá un apoyo constante de Estados Unidos y de sus socios internacionales, dijo María Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, quien ayuda a dirigir una red colombiana de 140 organizaciones cívicas y comunitarias que trabajan para poner fin a la violencia.

Type: Analysis

GenderPeace Processes

Colombian Civic Leader Offers a Grassroots Strategy for Peace

Colombian Civic Leader Offers a Grassroots Strategy for Peace

Friday, May 26, 2023

By: USIP Staff

Nine months into new efforts by Colombia’s administration to achieve “total peace” with remaining armed groups following decades of civil war, that process should make room for the nation’s thousands of grassroots and community organizations to strengthen peace locally when the fighting stops, says a prominent civic leader from one of the country’s most violent regions. Stabilizing Colombia, where migration toward the United States and other countries soared last year, will require steady support from U.S. and international partners, said Maria Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, who helps lead a Colombian network of 140 civic and community organizations working to end violence.

Type: Analysis

GenderPeace Processes

U.N. Conference Highlights Global Unity but Limited Leverage Over the Taliban

U.N. Conference Highlights Global Unity but Limited Leverage Over the Taliban

Thursday, May 4, 2023

By: Belquis Ahmadi;  Kate Bateman;  Andrew Watkins;  Scott Worden

Over a year and a half since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, not a single country has recognized its government. Yet, it has resulted in no change in Taliban behavior. The worst predictions of what Taliban rule could be like have come true, as the regime has implemented unprecedented restrictions on women amid a brutal humanitarian crisis. The situation is so bad that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres convened a special conference in Doha, Qatar this week — with no Taliban representation — to discuss Afghanistan’s international isolation. While there were no tangible outcomes — evidence of how limited the international community’s leverage really is — it did demonstrate remarkable consensus on the imperative to help the Afghan people.

Type: Analysis

GenderGlobal PolicyHuman Rights

Taking a Terrible Toll: The Taliban’s Education Ban

Taking a Terrible Toll: The Taliban’s Education Ban

Thursday, April 13, 2023

By: Belquis Ahmadi;  Hodei Sultan

Last month, a year after the Taliban banned Afghan girls from receiving secondary education, another school year began in Afghanistan — the only country in the world where girls are prohibited from going to school beyond the primary level. Since the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover, the group has sought to marginalize women and girls and erase them from virtually every aspect of public life. After a March 2022 ban on high school education, the Taliban also barred women from attending university at the end of last year. In a series of interviews with USIP, Afghan mothers, female students, schoolteachers, and university lecturers spoke of the terrible toll the Taliban’s actions have taken on their mental health.

Type: Analysis

GenderHuman Rights

Au Mali, la société civile joue un nouveau rôle dans la transition démocratique

Au Mali, la société civile joue un nouveau rôle dans la transition démocratique

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

By: Korotoumou Thera

Au cours de la décennie qui a précédé les deux coups d'État militaires de 2020 et 2021 au Mali, les griefs persistants en matière de gouvernance ont priver les civils de services publics fiables, pendant que l'armée s’efforçait de contenir les groupes extrémistes violents. L'espoir d'un retour rapide à un régime civil après le coup d'État s'est estompé au fur et à mesure que le pays approche sa troisième année sous un régime militaire. En dépit des efforts du gouvernement de transition pour établir une feuille de route pour les élections de 2024, des préoccupations s’agrandissent par rapport à la capacité de l'infrastructure nécessaire pour mener à bien le processus et s'aligner sur le calendrier prévu.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & GovernanceGender

In Mali, Civil Society Takes on New Role in the Democratic Transition

In Mali, Civil Society Takes on New Role in the Democratic Transition

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

By: Korotoumou Thera

In the decade leading up to Mali’s two military coups in 2020 and 2021, persistent governance grievances had left civilians without reliable public services while the military struggled to contain violent extremist groups. Hopes for a quick return to civilian rule post-coup have faded, as the country now nears three years under the rule of military leaders. While the transitional government has laid out a roadmap toward 2024 elections, there are growing concerns about the infrastructure capacity to carry out elections within that timeframe.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & GovernanceGender

Going Beyond Accountability to Deter Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

Going Beyond Accountability to Deter Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

By: Dara Kay Cohen

In a historic move, President Biden signed a memorandum last November that bolstered the U.S. response to conflict-related sexual violence, including rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization and other forms of wartime sexual harm. The new directive was timed to coincide with an international conference in London that marked the 10-year anniversary of the U.K.’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and sought to build on the initiative’s 2014 global summit as well as the “declaration of commitment” to end sexual violence in conflict that was signed by more than 150 countries in 2013.

Type: Analysis

GenderHuman Rights