KABUL - Empowering Afghan women and advancing their human rights were the focus of UNAMA-backed events in Kandahar and Panjshir provinces this week.

In Bazarak, in the central province of Panjshir, UNAMA officials and UN Volunteers facilitated a one-day workshop on women’s participation in peace, security and politics.

And in Kandahar, UNAMA staff rolled out the ‘HeforShe’ campaign, a UN Women initiative designed to engage men and boys as agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights, by encouraging them to take action against inequalities faced by women and girls.

Some three dozen people, including civil society representatives, scholars, rights activists and local government officials, took part in the Bazarak event, which focused on the importance of the role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, and women’s equal participation and representation at all levels of decision-making in Afghan society.

At the Bazarak event, a civil society activist stressed the need to overcome existing constraints on women, and for them to have an expanded role in political life. Other participants called attention to the active role women have played in highlighting the benefits of peace to the public.

In Kandahar, the ceremony was attended by university students, civil society members, media correspondents and Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission officials.

“The HeForShe campaign is premised on the belief that all human beings are equal, and hence men and women should work together for human rights and opportunities across socio-economic and political sectors,” said Simon Hermes, the head of UNAMA’s local regional office.

“The HeForShe campaign is about men standing up with women to ensure basic human rights for both women and men,” he said.

Other speakers highlighted the importance of women’s rights and emphasized the need for men and women to work together to protect women’s rights.

The HeForShe campaign was launched nationally in Afghanistan in June as part of a global campaign, under the local slogan ‘A Brave Man Stands for Women.’

UNAMA is mandated to support the Afghan Government and relevant international and local non-governmental organizations to assist in the full implementation of the fundamental freedoms and human rights provisions of the Afghan Constitution and international treaties to which Afghanistan is a State party, in particular those regarding the full enjoyment by women of their human rights.