Kabul urged to involve women in peace process

The Afghan government should quickly remedy its missed deadline to produce a plan to include women in the peace process, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

In September 2015, the government of President Ashraf Ghani promised its key international donors it would finalize an implementation plan by year's end and begin carrying it out in the first half of 2016.

Afghan officials have confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the plan has not been finished.

Activists have urged donor governments to press Kabul to complete the plan, share drafts with donors, and seek funding for plan activities. Donors have yet to speak out publicly regarding the government's failure to do so.

"Women's rights activists in Afghanistan have been fighting for years for a place at the table where the future of their country is being decided," said Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch.

"The Afghan government's failure to meet the promised deadline for developing this plan suggests a lack of seriousness about giving women the role to which they're entitled."

Afghan women's rights activists have for years raised concerns that the government will trade away women's rights in an effort to reach an accommodation with the Taliban.