Our petition in support of women's rights in Afghanistan is now closed. As a result of our joint petition also run by our members Amnesty International UK, Women for Women International UK, CARE International UK, Oxfam GB (Channel 16) and Womankind Worldwide, in addition to the brilliant work of all our member organisations and supporters, we have gathered 22,000 signatures.
Activists in the UK and internationally have raised their voices to ensure that their governments champion women's rights in Afghanistan, including the recommendations of the Afghan Women's Network.
The Afghan Women’s Network, a network of women and women’s NGOs working to empower Afghan women and ensure their equal participation in Afghan society, is asking the international community to:
- Use their influence to ensure women have an effective voice and role in all levels of the peace process: at the national, provincial and district levels.
- Work with the Afghan government to ensure that all the human rights in the constitution are upheld in any peace settlement. These include women's right to an education and the right to participate in political life with a guaranteed 30% female quota in parliament.
- Increase support to development programmes that promote women's rights and wellbeing in political, social and economic spheres.
We presented your petition signatures to the UK government and discussed the issues facing Afghan women, reiterating the petition's key asks. Read our blog post about the meeting here and the Foreign Office post here.
Image caption: Members of GAPS meet with Foreign Office Minister responsible for Afghanistan, Alistair Burt MP and International Violence Against Women Champion, Lynne Featherstone MP to present signatures from joint petition. Image credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
