KANDAHAR - Family and social pressures to not allow girls to study, forced marriage and violence against women are the themes of a play written and performed by five high-school girls in the southern Afghan province of Nimroz with support from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

“I was nervous at first, but then I managed to perform my role as the girl who wishes to go to school, but is prevented by her father. I feel proud that I did it successfully,” said one of the performers from Naswan High School in the city of Zaranj.

Located near Kandahar and Helmand provinces, and bordering Iran and Pakistan, Nimroz shares the traditionally conservative attitudes towards women of its neighbours, although women are more often seen working outside of the home. In the latest report by the UNAMA Human Rights Unit and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), authors noted that the prosecution and courts in Nimroz have not yet used the Elimination of Violence against Women law enacted by the Government in August 2009.

One way to combat these attitudes, officials say, is through exposure of both women and men to the issues in the media and the arts.

“Theatre performance is something new in Nimroz. With UNAMA’s assistance, we managed to train school girls for this play, and also as an attempt to push theatre in the province,” said Bahadur Jamal, the high school principal.

More than 300 people attended the Thursday, 8 December performance, 80 per cent of them women. They included students, advocates, local residents and high-level officials including Nimroz Governor Abdul Karim Brahiwi and the heads of the provincials departments.

“The play highlighted major issues in our society. I am really impressed by young school girls’ performance. This is the first time that such event is taking place in Nimroz province and we hope for more activities of such type in the future,” said Amina Hakimi, the head of the Department of Women Affairs in Nimroz.

The eight-scene play, Virulent Destiny, centers on the struggles of a young woman prevented from going to school by her traditional father and then bartered into marriage to a wealthy older man. That older man abuses the heroine and, following a moment of gentle revolt, divorces her.

Despite the subject matter, the girls added moments of comedy to the script and showed some positive trends in society. Below is a translation from Pashto of the scene between the father and his brother discussing why the character Nigar should go to school.

Brother: Dear brother….what is the reason that you don’t let Nigar to go to school?
Father: Dear Rasoul, you don’t know about the situation ….here the girls should not go to school….
Brother: Way, what is the reason?? Going to school is their right. Islam has given the right to them.
Father: How about the people’s talking …. ?
Brother: People themselves are in mistakes. We should work all together for the progress and development of our country … male and female … there is no difference.

The performance comes amid the 16-day campaign of Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW). The international campaign runs from 25 November, International Day of Elimination of Violence against Women, through 10 December, International Human Rights Day. This year’s theme is “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World” highlighting the key roles women play in the family and as peacemakers and peacekeepers in war zones.

In Afghanistan, support for women’s issues is one of the five priorities of the United Nations agencies and programmes, seen as prominently as contributing to the peace and security efforts in the country.
Last month, Khalida Ayoubi, the General Manager for an USAID programme in support of civil society, spoke to an audience of around 200 girls in Nimroz about the needs to stay in school as part of the “If I did it, you can do it too” campaign launched by UNAMA with support of the provincial Department of Women’s Affairs.

By UNAMA Kandahar and Nimroz