On Tuesday, August 4th, the Taliban launched seven rockets that ripped into Kabul’s residential areas and further terrorized a population scarred by rampant insecurity. On the very same day, approximately 1500 women from different regions of Afghanistan defied their fear and gathered at the tent of the Loya Jirga, Afghanistan’s Grand Assembly, in Kabul to participate in the launch of the 5 Million Women Campaign (5MWC). Their attendance was a brave demonstration of their belief that women have the right to participate in their country’s politics and have a say in the way they are governed.

The campaign’s name reflects the goal that the coalition of activists has for the August 20, 2009 presidential and provincial elections and the subsequent elections in Afghanistan. The coalition is under the direction of the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) and IFES-STEP (support to the electoral process in Afghanistan), which supports Afghanistan's electoral process by providing technical assistance to the Independent Electoral Commission and funding civic education. The registered voting population of Afghanistan is estimated to be between 15 million and 17 million. Of these, 38%, or over 6 million, are women. AWN, IFES and the other groups collaborating in the 5MWC hope that at least 5 million of these 6 million women will eventually participate in all Afghan elections. Two other goals of the campaign are to have an informed and engaged voting population and to emphasize the importance of women’s participation in the electoral process in Afghanistan.

The impressive turnout on August 4 shows that 5MWC is on its way to fulfilling its ambitions. The number of attendees is especially astounding considering that no professional event coordinators worked with the small group of committed activists and the organizers did not have an abundance of time to plan the event.

In fact, the idea for the 5MWC only took root on June 17, 2009, when IFES-STEP Afghanistan and the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) hosted a conference entitled Coordination Meeting on Outreach, Advocacy and Support to Women and Elections. The meeting brought together approximately 80 people from Afghan ministries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), donors, and others eager to promote women’s participation in the electoral process. The Five Million Women Campaign was a result of this conference. A working group that includes women from Kabul and other provinces was established to facilitate the coordination of the 5MWC and the many other activities that will take place to encourage the participation of women not only in this election, but in others to come.

After the June 17 meeting, the group met again on July 25 when AWN and IFES brought together nearly 40 women from different regions of Afghanistan to develop The Declaration of Commitment to Afghan Women (below). It establishes the fact that Afghan women have the right to determine their political future and to participate in Afghanistan’s electoral process. The declaration asks the different institutions in Afghanistan as well as civil society to support their right to vote. (The declaration can be read below). The messages and slogans for 5MWC were derived from this declaration.

According to the New York Times, “the Taliban claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks [on August 4], saying they were intended to show that the government could not ensure security in Kabul, the capital, before national elections on Aug. 20. ‘There will be more of the same kind of attacks,’ Zabiullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, said by telephone.” (New York Times, By Sangar Rahimi and Carlotta Gall August 4, 2009) ¹ Despite this perspective and the fact that there has been an increase in anti-government element attacks as Afghanistan nears the polling date of August 20, fear didn’t stop the 1500 women from congregating. It did not even deter the 10 women from Farah Province from traveling all night to participate in the launch of 5MWC. The gathering of women indicates the potential for women’s unity, mobilization and force as voters. The organizers were certain this potential existed, but even they were surprised by the outcome. In a very short period of time, the campaign to publicly promote women’s participation in Afghanistan’s electoral process was conceived, planned, and, even more impressively, successfully executed - beyond even the dreams of the women who organized it. It is a sign that “the times they are a-changing.”

The Declaration of Commitment to Afghan Women
Five Million Afghan Women Campaign-4th August 2009
Translated from Dari

According to the constitution of Afghanistan and national and international treaties, one of the important social rights of human beings is to determine their political future (the right to elect and to be elected), but unfortunately in Afghan society women are facing many problems in order to exercise their rights. Considering the time constraints in presidential and provincial councils’ elections, among the society there are growing concerns over participation of women in the election process. Therefore, women rights activists and civil society representatives from all over the country gathered on June 25, 2009 and held comprehensive talks on related issues. In this gathering, the decision has been taken to launch a campaign of 5 million Afghan women who are eligible to vote to support women’s political participation in order to ensure the rule of law and gender equality.

Taking into account that the active participation of women in elections is vital for resolving the current problems of the country, we (women) need the comprehensive support of people as well as national and international organizations. Hence, to increase the level of women’s participation and in order to attain their legal rights, this campaign suggests the following:

• This campaign asks the people and government of Afghanistan to support their commitments regarding women’s political rights and transparency of election process, especially:
• The Ministry of the Interior (MOI), governors, district governors and all relevant national and international organizations are asked to adopt measures to ensure the security of women during polling day.
• The Ministries of Culture & Information, Hajj and Religious Affairs and other religious and cultural organizations are asked to encourage eligible women to participate in elections by using religious courses through mass media, mosques and Shia mosques.
• The Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA), national and international organizations working for women rights, are asked to support the campaign.
• The Independent Election Commission (IEC) and national and international organizations working for elections are asked to pave the way for women to participate in elections and to use all possible resources such as media, schools, mosques and free transportation, in order to motivate and guarantee their presence in the election.
• The campaign asks all presidential and provincial councils’ candidates to acknowledge and include issues like women’s political, social, cultural, civil and economic rights, ensure the opportunities of achieving justice for women, amend the laws which affect women specifically the “Family Law” and implement the Law of elimination of violence against women in accordance with the Constitution and national and international commitments.
• According to the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, Operational Plan for Afghan Women and the third Millennium Development Goal for increasing the number of leadership positions by 30% in different political and government civil services levels; the Afghan women need support to speed up the process of women participation and leadership in governmental affairs related to the presidential candidates.

The Afghan Women Network as the implementer and supporter of this campaign believes that promoting democracy without women’s independent and active participation is unattainable. Therefore, all Afghan women are asked to realize the value of their votes and by considering their social responsibility, they shall participate in election.