Decades of conflict in Afghanistan have resulted in extreme instability, poverty and gender inequality. The human toll resulting from foreign invasion, the subsequent civil war (1992-1996) and the current conditions is great. Afghanistan suffers from corruption, weak governance, and violent factionalism. Although the reason for international involvement in Afghanistan may stem from political or economic interests, a stable democracy in Afghanistan is important, if for any reason, to improve living conditions, especially of women and children, who often
disproportionately bear the brunt of war by having limited access to services which provide basic human needs as well as experiencing violence in and out of the home, all the while having no protection and recourse from the government. In the meantime, international financial institutions (IFIs), most prominently the World Bank, issue loans in exchange for PRSPs that, despite extensive international involvement in preparation (as is the case in ANDS), are said to be country owned and provide a path to gender equality. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to analyze ANDS to determine, whether it provides a meaningful path to improving the situation of women in Afghanistan. This research explores the western feminist approach to gender equality that is most likely the basis for World Bank’s approach to gender equality. The Bank focuses, to a large extent, on economic empowerment of women in developing countries and ANDS envisions women’s increased involvement in the private sector. Political representation and legal protection for women are also presumed to provide a path to gender equality in ANDS. The research goes on to point out the short-comings of the western feminist model like unequal pay, insufficient employment, ineffective legal protection, violence against women and limited access to political power and how this relates to Afghanistan and ANDS. Furthermore, the research uses post-development theory to address issues of ANDS’ feasibility and effectiveness, mainly focusing on how the global scope of the document, weak governing structures in the country, gaps between statements and actions in development, western exploitation of developing countries’ resources, and women’s experiences with development shape the process and impact the outcomes of strategies like ANDS, especially in areas of
gender equality. Additionally, the research focuses on two participatory surveys (NRVA 2005 and APPPA) conducted in Afghanistan for the purpose of guiding the policies in ANDS. The analysis focuses on determining whether the surveys were participatory and representative in terms of gender. This includes determining whether gender specific issues were addressed, equal and meaningful participation took place and gender disaggregated data was presented. The research findings indicate that numerous problems at different levels exist with ANDS that may limit
its effectiveness at achieving gender equality in the country. The findings also imply a general inability of IFIs to play a role in solving complex social issues in poor 8 countries such as gender inequality that often stem from a multitude of causes and are outside of the institutions’ expertise.