BAMYAN - This week 285 Mullahs from throughout Bamyan province completed a UN-supported workshop on gender equality.

The week-long programme was a joint endeavor by the Gender Empowerment Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the provincial Department of Religious Affairs and Hajj. The workshop brought together both Shia and Sunni Mullahs (Islamic clergies) to discuss women's rights and gender equality from an Islamic perspective.

The workshop program emphasized the importance of gender equality and the potential Mullahs can play in influencing communities to prevent harmful traditional practices. The discussion partly centered on the law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) which deems some harmful traditional practices unlawful.

Copies of the EVAW Law were distributed as well as copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the report, “A Long Way to Go: Implementation of EVAW Law in Afghanistan.”

Also in attendance were the Deputy Governor and representatives of the Provincial Council and the Department of Women Affairs and Department of Justice. Abdul Rahman Mobaligh, the provincial director of the Department of Justice, stressed that Islam prohibits violence against women.

By UNAMA Central Highlands Region