KABUL - Women’s achievements will not be sidelined during ongoing peace efforts, President Hamid Karzai today said as United Nations senior officials in Afghanistan marked International Women’s Day by advocating for the implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women and calling for greater educational opportunities for women and girls.

“Be confident my sisters, our achievements made on the basis of the Constitution, achievements towards the progress of the country and towards the better condition of our women will not be damaged or slowed down by any peace deals,” President Karzai told hundreds of women and men, including government officials, gathered at Armani High School in Kabul.

“On the contrary, in bringing peace their achievements will be strengthened and will become universal,” he added, before telling one audience member that he hopes for a peaceful year but anticipates difficulties.

Senior UN officials in the country – led by Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and the heads of UN programmes and agencies in the country - participated in the ceremony which included an exhibit from photographers at the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

“It is up to all Afghans to make certain that the urgent strides for reconciliation, political stability and peace are made keeping women’s and girls’ human rights at the centre of agreements,” said Special Representative de Mistura in an opinion piece in a UN publication,

Today’s ceremony marked the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day which occurred this year under the UN theme of “Equal access to education, training, and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.”

About 85 per cent of Afghan women are illiterate, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). About 37 per cent of the more than seven million students enrolled in schools across the country are girls – an accomplishment when looking back that ten years ago there were nearly none, but a reminder that more than half of girls remain absent from classrooms.

“I am asking all relevant actors to root out poverty and illiteracy and pave the way for further education for women,” said Zenat Quraishi, President Karzai’s wife and a medical doctor, in a statement read by Mezhgan Mustafani, Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs, at the high school ceremony.

Universal primary education is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) which President Karzai and other world leaders agreed to reach by 2015 (extended to 2020 for Afghanistan).

“If you educate a man, you educate a man. If you educate a woman, you educate an entire family,” Special Representative de Mistura told about 80 Afghan civil society members and representatives of the international community earlier in the day at a conference on more effective implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW).

Organized by UNAMA, European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL) and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), the conference brought human rights leaders with representatives of police and the judicial system to discuss how the EVAW Law can be put into practice.

The EVAW Law was enacted by the Government of Afghanistan in August 2009, and provides a formal legal basis to fight traditions and practices that cause violence against women. These practices include underage marriage - which often lead to girls unable to start or continue their educations - and early pregnancies which can be deadly for young girls or their infants.

“We need effective investigations and prosecutions,” Ivan Šimonovic, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said in his key note address at the Let’s work to End Violence against Women! conference.

“The EVAW Law can only be an effective tool in combating violence against women if women report instances of abuse,” the Assistant Secretary-General said, praising the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to increase the number of female police officers from the current rate of less than one per cent.

Globally, discrimination and violence in the home, school, workplace and the community must be ended, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his International Women’s Day Message. He added that his UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, along with its Network of Men Leaders is working “to end impunity and change mindsets.”

As part of an effort to more effectively bridge the gap for women, the UN officially launches this month the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, known as UN Women.

“It is not just women who pay the price for this discrimination. We all suffer for failing to make the most of half the world’s talent and potential. We undermine the quality of our democracy, the strength of our economies, the health of our societies and the sustainability of peace,” Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, said in her message.

To illustrate the active participation of women in Afghan politics, economics, society and culture, events took place across the country.

In the central province of Dai Kundi, UNAMA Deputy Special Representative Martin Kobler celebrated the opening of the new UN Women office alongside hundreds of civil society and government leaders.

In Gardez, the provincial Department of Public Health today inaugurated a new round of midwifery classes. Earlier this year, nearly 90 girls held candles at a graduation ceremony at the Faizabad Community Midwifery Education Programme in the northern province of Badakshan. Improving the health of birthing mothers and reducing the death rate of newborn children is one of the five top priorities for the United Nations in Afghanistan in 2011.

In Mazar, knitted elephants, beaded baskets and embroidered shirts were among the handicrafts sold at Kart-e Aryana or Women’s Park. The crafts were created by economic sustainability programmes for Afghan women in Jawzjan, Balkh and Samangan provinces.

In the east, about 400 people, including the Jalalabad provincial governor and representatives of Hindu minorities marked the day with sppeches and national songs and dances performed by a group of young girls from the Sik minority.

In Kunduz, dozens of women and girls planted trees at the  Women and Children Peace Park. A photo, calligraphy and painting exhibition depicting articles in national and international laws on human rights was held at the Kunduz Women Coordination Centre.

By UNAMA Kabul