Preface. Central Statistics Organization

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1 Preface The acceleration of economic and social process of a country, beside it requires the existence of precise and comprehensive statistics in different areas it also requires to ensure social justice between men and women, the utilization of statistics containing gender development indicators which reflects women s and men s success in their fundamental capabilities. In accordance with the commitment of the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) to provide proper opportunities for women s capacity building, increase their knowledge and participation levels at decision-making of economic, social and political aspects of the country. Central Statistics Organization (CSO) always tries to collect gender related statistics in different areas along with official statistics and provides it for Ministries, Independent Governmental Organizations, International Agencies and data Users to prepare gender equality and empowerment policies and programs for women, in order to fulfil the commitments of the GoIRA to met30% participation of women in senior positions of Decision-Makings by Central Statistics Organization as the lead entity is pleased to provide and disseminate second publication of Women & Men status in Afghanistan followed by the previous publication without the help of foreign experts, that took more time and required high costs. This publication whilst to reflecting the overall image of women and men status in the country also provides the possibility of easy access to enriched gender statistics and data, regarding recent developments taken into account the commitment, objectives and policies of the government in this regard. This chapter included in this publication provides important data on socio-economic and demographic of status of women and men violence against women political participation labor force and employment health and mortality, education, higher education that could be utilized in evidence-based programming and policy making. Central Statistics Organization by offering this publication and for its enrichment, requests all readers not to hesitate to provide their constructive comments and suggestions in terms of shape and contents. Central Statistics Organization I

2 Introduction Detailed statistics concerning gender is very necessary for the design and implementation of appropriate policies for the advancement of women in the country. Therefore, Central Statistics Organization as a responsible entity for the collection and dissemination of data on country level, collects statistical data and information to meet the statistical needs and making them accessible for policy makers. Statistics contained in this publication has been obtained from existing survey and records of ministries and departments. This publication, studying six major areas of women s status in Afghanistan, which includes population, security effects on women, leadership and women participation, labour force and employment, education, higher education. Each chapter of this publication in accordance with the most recent accessible statistics analysed related issues in terms of gender and displayed the inequality between women and men in addition as far as possible this publication has compared the status of women between SAARC region countries. We appreciate the full scale assistances of UN-Women for their financial support for the printing this publication. We hope that, this publication will be a good source for planners, managers, policy makers, development partners and women rights activists and will provide the opportunity of data utilization for the preparation of appropriate plans and policies for women s empowerment and equality of women and men. We welcome any comments and suggestions in order to improve this publication. II

3 Summary Low socio-economic level of women and girls in Afghanistan represents a serious challenge towards human development in the country. Women status, especially poor conditions of health, human rights, economic productivity, education and literacy, participation at leadership and political levels are is matter of concern for women. Lack of data in mentioned sections causes actual slowness in orderly and comprehensive policy-making process in the mentioned areas. The existence of armed conflicts in the last decades has made the collection process of data in the country impossible, not only that gender issue hasn t been discussed as a variable in the past studies but this has caused problems to have statistics on the status of women and men in different areas of their life due to lack of registration of national statistics. The present publication entitled Women and Men in Afghanistan is being disseminated which provides reliable statistics about the gender. This publication is a credible source of evidences and current status of women, girls, boys and men in the country and provides valuable information for organizations that operates in this field. First chapter of this publication discusses population issues. The total population of Afghanistan in year 2014 has been estimated 28.1 million people; 26.6 million people are settled population and 1.5 million are nomadic population of the country. 13 million (49 percent) of settled population has been women and 13.6 million (51 percent) from men. Data shows that the composition of population in the age group (0-4), 8.4 percent are girls and 8.9 percent are boys. This data reflects the fact that more girls are born than boys. On the other hand, data shows that the level of mortality is higher in boys than girls. In the age group of (19-39) which is country s wide group of age shows that, the number of women is greater than men which reflects that men has suffered more because of civil war than women. As well as, migration to neighbouring countries for work has reduced the number of men compared to women. Second chapter of this publication discusses the security effects on women and human rights. In this chapter issues such as war effects on women, especially their contribution in the field of security, violence against women and current situation of women and children in prisons as well as detention facilities has been studied. In the chapter this has been specified that although men caused the war but women, girls and boys are the one who has been violated, who have faced poverty, have been displaced from their residential areas and has been widowed. Girls are suffering more threats, kidnappings and other violence that take place against women. Data concerning the violence against women which has been collected from Independent Human Rights Commission is indicative of this fact, that there are three cases of violence against women beatings, forced marriage and lack of support. Independent Human Rights Commission reports the increase of violence against women between years 2013 and As well as, the presence of women in the field of police and security is extremely weak. Chapter three highlights the role of women and men in leadership, participation and politics levels. This chapter reflects a comparative picture concerning gender inequality indicator in terms of their participation in economic and decision-making sectors. Based on the data of Statistical Yearbook 2014, the total numbers of civil servants of the government are 398,195 persons of which, 77.8 percent male and 22.2 percent are females. According to the second round of Women and Men Participation in III

4 Decision-Making Survey of 2013 were 5696 civil servants of the government worked in Grade 3 or Higher positions, 90.2 percent were male and 9.8 percent were female. The 2014 data shows that except three ministries, the number of women at leadership level in all other ministries, governmental organization and independent agencies stated very low. In order to achieve the objective of National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan, that is 30 percent of women s participation at decisionmaking level, the government must maintain the positions of decision-making that are currently occupied by women and in addition the government should consider annual increase of 1.3 percent of women appointment in decision-making positions for six years. Chapter four studies the labour force. The labour force of a country includes population of working age of 14 years and older which has been divided into two groups: those who are employed and those who are not, but seeking employment considered as active economic force. Students and those who are not working, retired individuals, disabled, handicapped and unpaid family workers and those who produce non-saleable goods and services are not considered as an active force. Among 14.5 million labour force in 2012, half of them were inactive and other half was practically busy in labour market or they were seeking employment, their number is 7.2 million persons. This chapter has analysed the proportion of employed and unemployed population, employment opportunity and vulnerability of employed with the segregation of their residents and gender. Chapter five describes the status of women and children in Afghanistan, including key indicators of women and child health such as life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate under the age of one year, mortality rate of children under the age of five years, maternal mortality rate, the proportion of births attended by skilled health personal. Life expectancy for Afghan women is almost the half of life expectancy of women from other part of the World; Japan has the highest life expectancy 86.4 years. Life expectancy of women in Afghanistan is strangely different than the way and direction of the World. In other countries, women are usually lives two to six years longer than men but in Afghanistan, life expectancy of women is lower than life expectancy of men, mainly because of the related conditions of pregnancy and early marriage before age of 15 years. Chapter six discusses education and literacy: education for women considered as a major foundation of human capital for women s active participation in society, effective leadership as well as to get their equal rights in the country. In this chapter numbers and statistical data presented on the education in all areas with the segregation of gender compared to base year.2014 data shows the total number of students in primary schools by sex and provinces, their ratio in primary schools is 41/59 which was equal 41/59 in 2012 as well. Zabul province in terms of girls enrolment in school is at the lowest level as girlboy ratio is 22/78, whereas in Herat and Nangarhar provinces the largest number of girls enrolled in primary schools. Girl/boy ratio in two provinces, Herat (46/54) and in Nangarhar province (41/59) is slightly different from gender indicator. Four provinces such as Zabul, Urozgan, Badghis and Helmand shows the lowest percentage of girls in primary schools (girl/boy ratio of the provinces is less than 30 percent). Teacher/student ratio at the national level in 2014 was 1/263, and only 13percent of the total number of primary school teachers are women. From 34 provinces, 17 provinces have less than 10 percent female teachers. IV

5 Statistical system of Afghanistan is not a comprehensive system and not having extraordinary technical capacity that can segregate gender statistics separately, but Central Statistics Organization tries to renew its statistical system to be able to collect, process, analyse and disseminate comprehensive of data in the country. In fact, precise data is a basic requirement for design and implementation of development plans in the country. Rehabilitation of new capacity in a country for the preparation and presentation of numbers and data considered as an urgent need. Mentioned issue is a condition for the implementation of strategy of National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan. Gaps and differences that have identified in this publication does not represent government s achievements in promoting and equalling gender in six major areas, but these achievements has been welcomed and beside this, challenges that are available in the field should be taken into consideration in order to achieve the goals by V

6 Contents Preface... I Introduction... II Summary... III Table of figures:... VIII Table of Table... IX Chapter 1: Population Total Population Age-Sex Composition of Population Sex Ratios In Total Population Population by Broad Age Groups Population Distribution by Residence... 4 Chapter 2: Security Impacts on Women Security of Landmines and Unexploded Ordinance Violence against Women Women Share In National Police of Afghanistan Women and Children in Shelters Children in Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres Women and Men in Detention and in Prison... 9 Chapter 3: Leadership and Political Participation Gender Development Index Gender Empowerment Measure Gender Inequality Index Women and Men in Civil Services Number of Civil Servants Number of Civil Servants by Ministry and Governmental Organization Provincial Civil Servants Civil Servants at Decision-Making Positions Chapter 4: Labour Force and Employment Labour Force Participation in Afghanistan VI

7 4-2 Labour Force participation rate by Age The Proportion of Employed and Unemployed Population by Place of Residence and Sex Status of Employment Vulnerability of Employment Chapter 5: Health Life Expectancy at Birth Infant (Under-1 Year) Mortality Rate Infant (Under-5) Mortality Rate Maternal Mortality Ratio Age at Marriage Proportion of Births Attended By Skilled Health Personnel Antenatal Care HIV/AIDS Chapter 6: Education and Higher Education Education Number of Girls and Boys in Primary School Grade 1 to grade 6 student ratio Number of Girls and Boys in Middle and High Schools Higher Education Number of Students in Universities Umber of College/University Graduates by Sex : Number of Teachers in Universities Number of Students and Teachers in Technical and Vocational Education Number of Students and Teachers in Health Institutions Number of Students in University Dormitories by Sex Literacy Rate of Group Age by Sex VII

8 Table of figures: FIGURE 1-1 AFGHANISTAN POPULATION PYRAMID FIGURE 1-2: SEX RATIO OF POPULATION IN 2008 AND FIGURE 1-3 POPULATION OF AFGHANISTAN COMPARED TO FOUR COUNTRIES OF SOUTH ASIA BY BROAD AGE GROUP. 3 FIGURE 2-1: CASUALTIES DUE LANDMINES AND UNEXPLODED ORDINANCE (PERSONS). 6 FIGURE 3-1 POPULATION OF AFGHANISTAN COMPARED TO FOUR COUNTRIES OF SOUTH ASIAN BY BROAD AGE GROUP. 11 FIGURE 3-2 GENDER INEQUALITY INDEX OF SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES FIGURE 3-3 Number of civil servants by sex 13 FIGURE 3-4 CIVIL SERVANTS IN DECISION-MAKING POSITIONS FIGURE 4-1 LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE BY SEX AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE 15 9FIGURE 4-2 EMPLOYED AND UNEMPLOYED POPULATION BY PLACE OF RESIDENCE AND SEX 16 FIGURE 4-3: VULNERABILITY OF EMPLOYMENT. 17 FIGURE 5-1 LIFE EXPECTANCY IN AFGHANISTAN AND FOUR SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES FIGURE 5-2 MATERNAL MORTALITY RATIO IN SAARC COUNTRIES FIGURE 6-1-2: GRADE 1 TO GRADE 6 STUDENT RATIO 24 FIGURE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS BY SEX, FIGURE 6-2-2: UNIVERSITY GRADUATES BY SEX 27 FIGURE 6-2-3: UNIVERSITY TEACHER BY SEX 28 Figure Number of Student in University Dormitories by Sex...29 VIII

9 Table of Table TABLE 1-.1: POPULATION OF AFGHANISTAN BY BROAD AGE GROUP AND SEX 4 TABLE 2-1 VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. 7 TABLE 2-2 NUMBER OF POLICE PERSONNEL IN AFGHANISTAN BY SEX AND RANK. 8 TABLE 2-3 TOTAL NUMBERS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN SHELTERS IN AFGHANISTAN.. 8 TABLE 2-4: NUMBERS OF CHILDREN IN JUVENILE REHABILITATION CENTERS, BY SEX. 9 TABLE 2-5: NUMBER OF DETENTIONS AND PRISONERS IN YEAR TABLE 3-1 TOTAL NUMBER OF CIVIL SERVANTS BY SEX 13 TABLE 4-1 PARTICIPATION IN LABOUR FORCE AGED 14 YEARS AND OLDER BY AGE AND GENDER TABLE 4-2: EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF POPULATION AGED GROUP 14 YEARS AND OLDER BY PLACE OF RESIDENCE AND SEX PERCENT. 16 TABLE 5-1 INFANT (UNDER-1) MORTALITY RATE (IMR) OF SAARC COUNTRIES 19 TABLE 5-2: UNDER-5 MORTALITY RATE OF 3 SAARC COUNTRIES AND RATE OF REDUCTION. 20 TABLE 5-3 BIRTHS ATTENDED BY SKILLED HEALTH PERSONNEL BY PROVINCE.. 22 TABLE NUMBER OF GIRLS AND BOYS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN AFGHANISTAN, TABLE NUMBER OF GIRLS AND BOYS IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS, TABLE NUMBER OF GIRLS AND BOYS IN HIGH SCHOOLS IN YEAR TABLE 6-2-4: TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN VOCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS BY SEX. 28 TABLE 6-2-5: STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN HEALTH INSTITUTIONS BY SEX..28 TABLE 6-3: YOUTHS LITERACY RATE (15 TO 24 YEARS) BY SEX IN 2008 AND 2012). 29 IX

10 Chapter 1: 1- Population Gender issues in population reflect the women s position in the society in terms of population dynamics like fertility level, mortality, migration and their reasons for migrating, age composition, population growth etc. The indicators identified herein are sufficient enough to show how deprived women are in comparison to men. The chapter presents the sex disaggregated data on population structure by age, population growth, population by provinces, sex ratio, dependency ratios in recent years. 1.1 Total Population The population of Afghanistan is classified into two parts: Settled and nomadic. Settled population, composed of people who reside in fixed place, whether in rural or urban areas, and the nomadic population, composed of the so-called Kuchi who do not have permanent place of residence. The total population of Afghanistan was estimated at 28.1 million in 2014, where 26.6 million are settled, and 1.5 million are nomadic groups. Out of settled population, 13million (49percent) were females and 13.6 million (51percent) were males. This means that for every 100 females, there are 105 males in Afghanistan, Which is called the sex ratio, and it is a true for nomad population as well. The growth rate of settled population in Afghanistan was estimated by CSO at 2.03 percent per annum in It is estimated that the settled population will be doubled each 35 years if the growth rate will not reduce significantly. The annual growth rates for males and females are percent and percent respectively in the same year, which means that there will still be more men than women among settled population in coming years. 1-2 Age-Sex Composition of Population The population pyramid shows the structure of various age groups disaggregated by sex. population pyramids (age, sex &structure) of Afghanistan is presented in the Figures 1.1. The The figures show the distribution of females and males in 5-year age groups. The data shows that in the 0-4 year age group, 8.4 percent are girls while 8.9 percent are boys, it might also mean that male-child mortality is higher than female-child mortality. However this assumption needs further research for verification. Therefore, there is a need to analyze these data vis-à-vis infant and child mortality rates. At the year broad age group however, it is noticeable that there are more females than males. This may be attributed to several factors like political conflict in Afghanistan where males are more vulnerable to violence and death caused by these conflicts, and migration to other countries like Pakistan and Iran for employment. 1

11 Figure 1-1 Afghanistan Population Pyramid male female Source: Life condition survey in Afghanistan, Sex Ratios In Total Population Sex ratios among total population, for the years 2008 and 2012 by age groups are shown in figure 1.2. Sex ratio shows the number of males per 100 females. There was a change in sex ratio in Afghanistan for the years 2008 and Up to age 9, sex ratio was more than 100 for both the years of survey. This ratio shows more differences in 2008 and 2012 for age group 54 years and above. Figure 1-2: Sex ratio of Population in 2008 and Source: Life condition survey in Afghanistan,

12 After the age of 55, sex ratio gradually increased up to more than 178 and 186 for both the years 2008 and This indicates that in older age group more men are surviving than women due to higher mortality of women in those ages. But this proportion has to be validated by the age specific mortality rate, which is not available in Afghanistan at present. 1-4 Population by Broad Age Groups Populations of Afghanistan and four South Asian countries (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) by broad age groups are presented in Figure 1.3. The result shows that Afghanistan has the highest child population (0-14 years) among the countries in South Asian region and also has the lowest working age (15-64 years) population. The proportion of child population in Afghanistan in 2012 remained the same as 2014(46.1percent), which is nearly twice as high as that of Sri Lanka (24 percent) in The high percentage of children in the population is a direct result of high fertility. The high proportion of children in the population means increased competition for food, clothing, shelter and social services like health and education. Figure 1-3 Population of Afghanistan Compared to four Countries of South Asia by broad age group bangladish India Pakistan sri lanka Afghanistan Source: statistical year book, In cultures where male preference is pervasive, competition for limited resources results in serious disadvantage of females, particularly girls. Afghanistan s Total Fertility Rate was 6.27 in Such high fertility, combined with illiteracy, poverty, poor access to health care, including limited number of female health care providers and facilities put Afghan women at high risk of mortality. Afghanistan is not only challenged by a high proportion of children in the population, it also has lower percentage of working age (15-64 years) population. Working age population is the core workforce of a country required to support economic growth. The figure for Afghanistan is 19 percentage points lower than that of Sri Lanka (69 percent). 3

13 A high proportion of children and low proportion of people in the working age population denotes a high age dependency ratio. The age dependency ratio is the ratio of non-working age population (0-14 and 65+) to the working age population, (15-64). It can be also be obtained by adding the child dependency ratio and old age dependency ratio. The, child dependency ratio was 91.8 persons per 100 working age population out of the total settled population of Afghanistan. The old age dependency ratio was 7.3 persons per 100 working age population. Therefore, the age dependency ratio was 99.1 persons per 100 working age population in The age dependency ratio of 99.1 per 100 working age population means that, on an average, every 10 persons of working age have to support 9.91 non-working populations (children and elderly). Table 1-.1: Population of Afghanistan by broad age group and Sex Age group Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Number Number Number Number Number Number Number Number Number Total Source: Statistical Yearbook 2012, 2013 and 2014 In economic terms, higher child and old age dependency ratio means a higher burden on the working age population. High age dependency ratio leads to a scarcity of resources in poorer families, where women and girls are often most likely the first victims of such scarcity. The majority of women in Afghanistan are involved only in unpaid household work. The male population therefore largely bears the economic burden of age dependency in terms of their better participation in the economy. 1.5 Population Distribution by Residence Majority of the Afghan population lives in rural areas, representing 77percent of the total population. In 2014, the breakdown of Afghanistan s total population by residence according to CSO is: Rural population: Million (71.6 percent) Urban population: 6.48 Million (23.1 percent) Nomadic population: 1.5 Million (5.3 percent) Nearly 76.9 percent of the population lives in the rural/nomadic areas. This poses a challenge to the government to focus on development policies and appropriate strategies that are rural based and can be sustained and implemented through building of local capacity and mobilization of the rural population. In accordance with the Afghanistan Living Condition Survey 2012 report an average household size of 7.4 persons at the national level, 7.4 persons for the rural and 7.2 in nomadic populations, and 7.5 4

14 persons for the urban population is estimated. The estimated total number of households is 3.63 million, where 2.6 million are in the rural areas, 0.2 are nomadic and 0.83 in the urban areas. ALCS 2012 estimates of average household size suggest that, on the average, there are 3-4 females and a similar number of males in every household. Household head is an authorized body of household, which has a significant impact of economic and social status of the household. In Afghanistan household responsibilities are more rests on men, as men are 99.6 percent household heads and women are 0.4 percent. Households that are headed by women 54.7 percent are poor and poor households that are headed by men is 36.4 percent, this indicates that most poor household heads are women. Although the percentage of female-headed household is small but these numbers are approximately in rural areas, 3271 in urban areas and 809 households in nomadic areas. As per the report of Afghanistan Living Condition Survey 2012, there are widows. This may be due to the fact that Afghanistan went through three decades of war where most of the men, most probably men died. These widows, whether heads of households or not, are relatively young, with an average age of only 35 years. 94 percent of them are illiterate while around 90 percent of Afghan widows have children, majority of them experiencing difficulties in providing basic needs for their families. 5

15 Chapter 2: Security Impacts on Women Afghanistan has been facing serious security threats like continuing armed conflicts with antigovernment elements and suicide attacks in the center and provinces which has adverse effects on economic and social development and poverty reduction. In relation to security impact on women it should be mentioned that despite constitution stipulates equality of women and men but due to the existence of armed conflicts, traditional beliefs and certain other factors are women marginalized. Therefore, it s required to implement specified plans and policies in order to solve these problems. 2-1 Security of Landmines and Unexploded Ordinance Landmines and unexploded ordnance remaining from past conflicts was a major obstacle for the creation of infrastructure and economic reconstruction which has been considered as a main effect of insecurity. Afghanistan is a country with highest number of landmines. Statistics show that since , 446 people have lost their lives due landmines in Afghanistan. In accordance with the statistics of Afghanistan s Coordination Center of demining in 2014, 175 people lost their life due the explosion of landmines and unexploded ordnance. Figure 2-1: Casualties due Landmines and Unexploded Ordinance (Persons) Male Female Total Source: Mine action coordination center of Afghanistan Compared to 2012 and 2013 there has been 49.6 and 13.6 percent increased respectively. Among those who died due to landmines and unexploded ordnance 18 percent are women and 82 percent are men, the number of wounded from landmines and unexploded ordnance in 2014 compared to 2012 and 2013 has been 33 percent and 32 percent increase respectively. 6

16 2.2 Violence against Women Violence against women is one the main security problems for women in Afghanistan. Data concerning violence against women that has been registered at Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan shows that 2063 registered cases in 2013 and 2575 cases in 2014 in were registered Kabul and provincial office of Afghanistan Human Rights Commission (case). Beatings, lack of economic support from husband and suicide due to violence are the most cases in 2013 and In 2014, there were 1290 or (50%) reported cases of beatings, 827 (32%) cases of lack of economic support from husband and 149 (6%) registered cases of suicide which consists 88 percent of reported cases. Table 2-1 Violence against Women Type Of Violence Number % Number % Beating Forced Marriage Lack of economic support from husband Property taken away by in-laws Murder Exchange of women/girl Rape Prevention of women in social activities Trafficking of girls/ selling Suicide due to violence Self-immolation /burning Total Source: Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, 2014 Suicides and beating of women in Afghanistan often occur as a result of domestic violence, but lack of financial support of husband that shows highest number of cases is because of husband s carelessness. Main reason for these violence is the patriarchal and traditional society of the country, especially this difference is larger in rural and nomadic areas compared to urban areas. Though the total numbers of cases provided in Table 2-1 shows low percentage but still represent variety of atrocities that have been carried out against women by family members and others. Another type of violence against women is, preventing women s from participation in social activities which is in contradiction with government policy to strengthen women participation in decision-making in all aspects of their life. 7

17 2-3 Women Share In National Police of Afghanistan In 2014 the total number of officers, sergeants and police soldiers is respectively 25831, and individuals, compared to 2013 it could be seen that this number have increased by respectively 2.3 percent, 13.4 percent and 0.9 present respectively. In 2014 the total number of female police officers, sergeants and police soldiers was 243, 830 and 894 individuals, compared to 2013 it could be seen that this number have increased by 6.0 percent, 34.1 percent and 32.6 percent respectively. In 2014 there were 1967 policewomen who served in the framework of police force and made 3.1 percent of total number of police force in the country. The increase of women presence in police force is an essential requirement because almost half of the population is consists women. Women who suffer from violence will see police station if there will be policewomen. Therefore, women s enrolment in police force is a vital component to improve women s access to police services. Table 2-2 NUMBER OF POLICE PERSONNEL IN AFGHANISTAN BY SEX AND RANK Ranks/Posts Female Male Total Female Male Total number % number % number number % number % number Officers Sergeant (Satan man) Solders (Satonke) Total Source: Ministry of Interior, Women and Children in Shelters A number of women who refers to Ministry of Women Affairs, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Women s Judicial Union or Assistance Department of Supreme Court to register their cases, and seek advice and support. Where appropriate, these offices refer them to shelters/safe house for protection. In 2014, there were 25 shelters/safe houses in the country for women and children in difficult situations. Data on the number of women and children who are served by these shelters are shown in Table 2-3. The total number of women and children in shelters in 2012 was 3032 and in 2014 this number has increased to 3161 which shows the increase of 4.3 percent but compared to 2013 it has decreased by 16.6 percent. 8

18 1Table 2-3 Total numbers of women and children in shelters in Afghanistan Indicator Number of Women and Children Number of Women Number of Children Number of shelters/safe house Source: Ministry of Women Affairs, Children in Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres There is one juvenile rehabilitation centre in each province of the country. However, in some cases, children are kept in prisons for adults, because of lack of appropriate facilities for children. However, children are placed in separate rooms. In accordance to the Ministry of Justice the total number of girls and boys in Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres in Afghanistan in 2012, 2013 and 2014 were, 3280, 4202 and 3994 respectively. In 2012, the total number of girls was 336 or 10.2 percent which shows that one in every ten children in these centres is a girl. It can also be noted that there was a significant increase in the number of children being brought to juvenile centres. In 2014, there was an increase of 21.8 percent compared to 2012 but this percentage has decreased about 5 percent in Table 2-4: Numbers of children in Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers, by sex Sex Number % Number % Number % Girls Boys Total Source: Ministry of Justice 2-6 Women and Men in Detention and in Prison In Afghanistan, generally there are more men than women in detentions and in prisons. In 2014, the total number of prisoners was 29080, among them were male (97.6%) and 695 (2.4%) were female prisoners. Provincial breakdown shows that the largest number of prisoners is imprisoned in Kabul. 9

19 Table 2-5: Number of Detentions and Prisoners in year 2014 Province Number of Prisons Number of Prisoners Total Male Female Total Male Female Women s % in total Total Kabul Kapisa Parwan Wardak Logar Nangarhar Laghman Panjshir Baghlan Bamyan Ghazni Paktika Paktya Khost Kunarha Nooristan Badakhshan Takhar Kunduz Samangan Balkh Saripul Ghor DaiKundi Urozgan Zabul Kandahar Jawzjan Faryab Helmand Badghis Herat Farah Nimroz Source: Ministry of Interior 10

20 Chapter 3: Leadership and Political Participation The Government of Afghanistan affirms the importance of a gender perspective in decision, policy and law making in all institutions to promote greater understanding of both women and men s needs in the nation building processes. In this light, the Government has set the goal of 30 percent representation of women in high level decision, policy and law making positions in key government institutions including in the sectors of judiciary, security and service delivery by the year This chapter provides an analysis of the comparative picture of gender related inequality index in Decision-making positions, and tracks women s leadership situation and their political participation changes. 3-1 Gender Development Index Gender Development Index measures the achievements of basic capabilities of men and women, in reality higher Gender Development Index reflects a higher level of development for women and men, While a lower Gender Development Index reflects a greater gender disparity in basic capabilities. Gender Figure 3-1 Gender Development Index in South Asian countries Data shows that Afghanistan has the lowest Gender Development Index among the selected countries in 2008 and 2013 which shows big difference of basic capabilities between men and women In 2013, Afghanistan s Gender Development Index was 0.602, making it 148 out of total 182 countries in the global ranking. Afghanistan Pakistan India Bangladesh Nepall Sri Lanka Source: United Nation Human Development Report 2014 Among the South Asian countries Sri Lanka has the highest Gender Development Index in 2013 at and this country making 166 out of total 182 countries globally. 3-2 Gender Empowerment Measure Gender Empowerment Measure is the second standard that evaluates women s progress in economic and political areas. This scale shows to which extent women and men are able to actively participate in economic and political life and take part in decision-making. A low Gender Empowerment Measure shows that women s participation in political and social life is limited and they lack opportunities to make use of their capabilities. Gender Empowerment Measure was not possible to estimate for Afghanistan due to unavailability of data. 11

21 3-3 Gender Inequality Index Gender inequality is a main barrier to human development. Since 1990, human society s strides in this regard, but so far couldn t achieve gender equality as it is required. Gender equality forms a key indicator of human development. In reality, gender inequality index is a unique indicator that taking into account issues such as educational attainment, economic and political participation and female-specific health issues and in accounting for overlapping inequalities at the national level. The gender inequality index for Afghanistan and five other South Asian countries are shown in the figure 3-2. Afghanistan has the highest Gender Inequality (0.705) in this region in 2011 with a global ranking of 149. Sri Lank has the lowest Gender Inequality Index and the other three countries having almost the same levels of Gender Inequality Index in To improve gender equality in Afghanistan, the government should design and implement specific plans. Figure 3-2 Gender Inequality Index of South Asian countries 2014 Afghanistan Pakistan India Bangladesh Nepal Sri- Lanka Source: United Nation Human Development Report Women and Men in Civil Service Participation of women and men in civil services is an important indicator of women s accessibility to political and decision-making levels. In this section figures related to civil services by sex, year and province has been explained. 12

22 3-5 Number of Civil Servants Total number of civil servants including service personals and workers, but excluding police, army and security forces in 2014 has been amounted to 398,195. Among them 88,267 or (22%) are women. Out of total 398,195 (100 percent) civil servants in 2014, 302,216 or (76 percent) are civil servants and 95,979 or (24 percent) are service personal servants. Among total civil servants 79,920 or (26 percent) are women and from total service personal 8,347 or (9 percent) are women. Figure 3-3 Number of civil servants by sex Female Male Total Female Male Total Female Male Total Source: Statistical Yearbook 2012, 2013 and 2014 In 2012, 21.4 percent civil servants were women and 78.6 percent were men, in 2013, 24.2 percent were women and 75.8 percent men. Likewise in year 2014 women consists 22.2 percent and men 77.8 percent of total civil servants. 2Table 3-1 Total number of Civil Servants by Sex Sex Number % Number % Number % Female Male Total Source: Statistical Yearbook 2012, 2013 and

23 3-6 Number of Civil Servants by Ministry and Governmental Organization In 2014, among the 55 ministries and departments, Ministry of Work, Social affairs, martyrs and disables had the highest number 66 percent of females as regular staff. However, in 25 ministries/departments women s participation is less than 10 percent. Among the ministries. Independent Directorate of Local Governance had the lowest share of women 2.3 percent similarly Ministry of Haj, Pilgrimage and religious affairs had 4.1 percent, Ministry of Transport 5.4 percent and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock has 4.5 percent female staff. In 2014, three ministries achieved the target of at least 30 percent of female staff such as Ministry of Women Affairs 64 percent Ministry of Work, Social affairs, martyrs and disables 66 percent and Ministry of Education 31 percent. 3-7 Provincial Civil Servants Kabul province including Kabul City had the highest share of civil servants in 2014, which consists 28.1 percent of the total civil servants. Among them 31.3 percent are female and 68.7 percent male, this figure was 30 percent and 70 percent in 2012 respectively. After Kabul province, Herat has 6 percent, Nangarhar 5.7 percent, Balkh 4.9 percent, Badakhshan 3.9 percent and Baghlan 3.4 percent share of women civil servants from the total. In 2014, out of total women civil servants, Kabul province had the largest number of female civil servants with 39.7%, followed by Herat with 10.7%, Balkh 8.9%, Badakhshan 4.3%, Takhar 3.1% and Baghlan 2.9%, the remaining provinces has 30.1 percent female civil servants. Similarly, among total male civil servants, Kabul province had the largest number of male civil servants with (24.8%), followed by Nangarhar 6.7%, Herat (4.6%), Balkh 3.7%, Badakhshan 3.7% and Baghlan 3.5%, the rest provinces has 53 percent male civil servants. 3-8 Civil Servants at Decision-Making Positions In accordance with the second round of Women and Men Participation in Decision-making Survey there are total 5696 decision-makers in government posts, 58.2 percent in Kabul province, 2.9% in Nangarhar, 2.3% in Balkh province and 36.6 percent in the remaining provinces of the country. 14

24 Figure 3-4 Civil Servants in Decision-making Positions Female Male Female Male Government employee in decision making Total Government employee Source: Statistical Yearbook 2013 and 2 nd round survey of Women and Men participation in Decision-Making survey Chapter 4: Labour Force and Employment 4-1 Labour Force Participation in Afghanistan The labour force consists of all working-age population aged 14 years and older, this population has been divided into two groups: those who are employed and those who are unemployed but looking for work, considered as economically active. Student who are not working, retired persons, ill or disabled and unpaid family workers who do not produce marketable goods and services are not included in the active labour force. Figure 4-1 labour force participation rate by sex and place of residence Female male Out of 14.5 working age in 2012, half of them were inactive and other half was practically busy in labour market or seeking work, their number were 7.2 million labours. The rate of labour force participation in Afghanistan in terms of gender and place of residence is very different. Urban Rural Kuchy National Source: National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Survey

25 Taking into account the data of National Risk & Vulnerability Assessment survey (NRVA) 2012, it can be Noted that participation ratio of women to men is very low. Participation rate of men in urban areas is 72%, in rural areas 82% and in nomadic areas is 91 percent, while the National rate is 80 %, but this percentage for women is 13% in urban areas, 19% in rural areas and 37 percent in nomadic areas, while the national rate is 19 percent. This issue is more common in less developed Economy, because in such cases educational opportunities were less and majority of labour force in rural areas is engaged in agricultural activities. Table 4-1 Participation in labour force aged 14 years and older by age and gender 2012 Age Group Total Male Female Male % Female % Percentage in Total in Total difference 14 years years years years years Total Source: National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (NRVA) Labour Force participation rate by Age Labour force participation rate by age group shows that men have a higher level in all age groups than women. By looking at table 4-1 can be noted that at the age groups of 14, 15-24, 25-39, and 65+ compared to total labour force in each group male participation is higher than female by 44.0%, 56.7%, 65.1%, 83.6%, 68.1 percent and in total men have higher share by 62.9 percent compared to women. 16

26 Table 4-2: Employment Status of population aged group 14 years and older by place of residence and sex percent Status of employment Urban Rural Nomadic National Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Daily wage workers Salaried workers in private sector Salaried workers in public sector Own account workers Employer Unpaid family workers Total Source: National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Survey (NRVA) The Proportion of Employed and Unemployed Population by Place of Residence and Sex In accordance with the report of NRVA 2012, out of total 7.2 million active population, 6.6 million are employed and 0.6 million are unemployed. At national level among unemployed 6.8 percent are male and 20 percent are female but this percentage is different in urban, rural and nomadic areas. Unemployed percentage of male and female is respectively 8.3% and 21.1% in urban areas, 6.5% and 21.4% in rural areas and 4.8% and 7.6 percent reported in nomadic areas of the country. Figure 4-2 Employed and unemployed population by place of residence and se Source: National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Survey (NRVA)

27 4-4 Status of Employment Status of employment is an indicator of the types of economic risks that the employed persons face in their work. National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Survey 2012, in accordance with international classification identified the status of employment of such workers, which has been shown in table (4-2). Analysis of status of employment reflects worker s employment status and determines employment categories. Table no (4-2) shows that more women 39 percent are busy in unpaid household work, while this percentage is 8 percent for men. Likewise, in the category of paid workers in private sector and daily wage workers, men has higher percentage than women which is 17 and 5 percent respectively. 4-5 Vulnerability of Employment Status of employment in Afghanistan is at high vulnerability level due to large share of informal employment, insecure employment, inadequate and unstable income, low productivity and lack of safety situation against the loss of income in poor economic conditions. This percentage is different in urban, rural and nomadic areas. Figure 4-3 shows the percentage of vulnerability of employment, in nomadic areas this percentage is 96%, in rural areas 86% and in urban areas (59) percent. The remarkable point is that in all areas, the vulnerability percentage of women is higher than men Figure 4-3: Vulnerability of Employmen Male Female Total National Nomad Rural Urban Source: National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Survey (NRVA)

28 Chapter 5: Health Health is an essential prerequisite for the participation of women and men in all areas of life and considered a fundamental pillar of the National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan. In this chapter, current status of women and children with the key maternal and child health indicators in Afghanistan, such as life expectancy at birth, maternal mortality and under-5 mortality, vaccination coverage, situation of general health infrastructure and human resources of the country is described. 5-1 Life Expectancy at Birth Life expectancy shows the quality of life of a country s people. If the health services are better, the mortality level reduces. In accordance with the National Human Development Report 2004, life expectancy age for Afghan women was 44 years and for men 45 years in 2002, this value further declined after 2002, estimated by the UN Population Division. In year 2006, life expectancy at birth for men was estimated 43.4 and for women 43.3 (National Human Development Report 2007). Figure 5-1 Life Expectancy in Afghanistan and Four South Asian Countries Afghanistan Bangladesh India Pakistan Sri- Lanka 71.1 Female Male Source: Asian Development bank, 2012 Life expectancy at birth in Afghanistan is at the lowest among the Asian countries. Only some African countries that are highly affected by HIV/AIDS have lower life expectancies. SAARC region countries (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), had the higher life expectancies than Afghanistan for both females and males. Figure 5-1 shows that all the other countries life expectancy at birth for both females and males are more than 50 years. In comparison, the life expectancy at birth was 24.5 years longer for Bangladesh males and 27.1 years for females than Afghan males and females in year Similarly, life expectancy of Sri Lankan male was 26 years longer than Afghan male and life expectancy of Sri Lankan female was 33.2 years longer than Afghan females. In the SAARC region, Sri Lanka has secured a high level of life expectancy in spite of several years of insurgency in the northern and eastern parts of the country. Afghanistan should learn from the experiences of Sri Lanka in improving the health services. The life expectancy of Afghan women is only approximately one half of the highest female life expectancy in the world. Japan has the highest life expectancy age in the world, and life expectancy of 19

29 Japanese women is 86.4 years, almost twice the life expectancy of Afghan women. In other countries of the world, women normally have an average of three to six years longer life expectancy.in Afghanistan, women s life expectancy is a little shorter than that of men. Infant (Under-1 Year) Mortality Rate Infant mortality rate in Afghanistan estimated 48 infants per 1000 live births, compared to India and Bangladesh this data is almost twice. The mortality rate of male infants compared to female infants is significantly different except Bangladesh, in Afghanistan the mortality rate of female infants is 46 and for male infants 49. The reduction of infant mortality rate is a Millennium Development Goals (MDG) indicator and has a global target to reach by the end of 2015, which is to reduce it by two-thirds. The government s target for Afghanistan is to reduce infant mortality rate to 70 by 2015 and further to 46 by Table 5-1 shows the comparative mortality level among the SAARC countries and rate of change from 2007/08 to year 2011/12. The level of infant mortality rate has been reduced in the aforementioned countries including Afghanistan from 2007 to During the time, there was a 56.7 percent reduction of infant mortality rate in Afghanistan. Table 5-1 INFANT (UNDER-1) MORTALITY RATE (IMR) OF SAARC Countries Afghanistan Bangladesh Pakistan India Sri Lanka Source: National Risk & Vulnerability Assessment Survey and UNICEF 2012 Among aforementioned countries, Afghanistan has the highest reduction of infant mortality rate from year 2007 to 2012, while Pakistan has the lowest reduction in this period. In four other South Asian countries in 2011/12, the infant mortality rate ranged from 8 per 1,000 live births in Sri Lanka to 69 per 1,000 live births in Pakistan. 5-2 Infant (Under-5) Mortality Rate Infant Mortality Rate and Under 5 Mortality Rate are vital indicators of child survival and understood as key concerns under Goal 4 of the MDGs. This indicator relates directly to the social, economic and environmental conditions in which children live, including their health care. Under 5 mortality rate in Afghanistan has been estimated by National Risk & Vulnerability Assessment Survey NRVA ( ). Table (5-2) shows the mortality rate of under 5 by age in Afghanistan and other SAARC region countries. Afghanistan has a higher Under 5 mortality rate at 91 per 1,000 live births compared to Bangladesh and Pakistan. Data show that mortality rate of under5 is 2.2 times more than Bangladesh and 1.1 times more than Pakistan. There is a slight difference in the Under-5 mortality rate of Afghanistan and Pakistan for 20 Name of the country Rate of Reduction (%)

30 girls, in Afghanistan in year the figure was 89 for boys which less than girls 92. The high under-5 mortality rate was being attributed to low literacy of mothers, lack of access to safe drinking water, food and sanitation. According to the United Nations Human Development Report 2007, Under-5 mortality rate is an indicator of the Millennium Development Goals and a global target to reach by the end of 2015 that is, to reduce by two-thirds. The government of Afghanistan in the framework of National Development Strategy is to reduce the level of U5MR by 50 percent from 2003 to the end of 2015 and further reduce it to one third by the end of Table 5-2: Under-5 mortality rate of 3 SAARC countries and rate of reduction Name of the country Rate of Reduction Afghanistan Bangladesh Pakistan Source: National Risk & Vulnerability Assessment Survey (NRVA) and UNICEF 2012 Table 5-2 above shows the comparative mortality level among the three SAARC countries and rate of change from year 2007 to During this time, Under-5 mortality rate has been reduced to 43.5 percent in Afghanistan. Keeping in mind the gradual reduction of mentioned countries, the estimated Under-5 mortality rate for the terminal year of Millennium Development Goals (2015) will be 114, and in 2020 the rate will be 85 per 1,000 live births. The Under-5 mortality rate reduction was highest in Bangladesh from 2007 to 2012 with 24.1 percent, and the lowest was in Pakistan with 36.4 percent. Afghanistan though had the highest Under-5 mortality rate throughout the reference period, still had a higher rate of decrease in the Under-5 mortality rate compared to Pakistan and Bangladesh. Maternal Mortality Ratio The level of maternal mortality demonstrates the reproductive health status of mothers in a country. Reproduction health implies to having access to safe method of health services, which enables women to easily survive pregnancy and childbirth. According to the estimate of UNICEF (2006) the estimate of maternal mortality ratio in Afghanistan is 1,600 per 100,000 live births, which was the third highest in the world. The reduction of this ratio at the global level, particularly in Afghanistan, is one of the priorities of the government. Looking at figure 5-4, the maternal mortality rate of the other countries of South Asia is much lower than that of Afghanistan. In year 2012, the maternal mortality rate in these countries has been ranged to 39.3 per 100,000 in Sri Lanka and 250 per 100,000 in Pakistan, compared to Afghanistan is at the very low level. 21

31 Figure 5-2 Maternal Mortality Ratio in SAARC countries Afghanistan Bangladesh Pakistan Sri Lanka Per live birth The government s target for Afghanistan is to reduce the maternal mortality rate by 50 percent between 2002 and 2015 and further to 25 percent from 2015 to 2020 or (800 per 100,000 in 2015 and 400 per 100,000 in year 2020). Source: UNISEF This requires a reduction of 62 points per year between 2002 and 2015 and 80 points per year between 2015 and Maternal mortality rates decrease when the proportion of births attended by skilled health personal increases. However, other factors related to gender, such as lack of services for maternal health care, violence against women, child marriage, overall poor health and frequency of child birth, may cause high maternal deaths. Food and poor access to health care services are possible reasons for high mortality rates. Therefore, more researches are required in this regard. 5-3 Age at Marriage Marital status is a main principle in social relations of Afghan society. Under Article 70 of civil code, the legal age for marriage is 18 years for boys and 16 years for girls. According to Article 71, marriage of young girls aged less than 16 years is impermissible. NRVA 2012 reported that almost 25 percent girls were married before marriage-age (15 years), more than 60 percent of them were married at age 18, and 80 percent or more married at age 20. However, child marriage forms violence against women and girls. Early marriage of girls, and consequently early pregnancy and child birth, puts women at high risk of maternal mortality. Therefore, child marriage, especially until the age of 18 years, should be discouraged through various means, including awareness creation, and appropriate legislations to decrease the marriage before marriage age. 5-4 Proportion of Births Attended By Skilled Health Personnel Skilled birth attendant at the time of birth is essential and reducing the risks of birth. Facilities and possibilities provided to pregnant women is an indicator of health system s ability of a country. In accordance with the report of NRVA 2012 women have received the services of skilled health personal, doctors, nurses, and midwives and generally in the past five years, has been reported 40 percent. In general, 44 percent traditional midwives were involved in the births and 13 percent neighbours and 22

32 family members were involved in the births. Overall, about 1.7 million women were exposed to dangerous situation of maternal deaths and bad illness that was preventable during their last births. Current data shows that 40 percent of deliveries assisted by health professionals, which represents significant improvements from which was recorded only 24 percent. This progress is overall in line with the rapid improvements of maternal health services which have been highlighted by successive surveys in Afghanistan since year Coverage of antenatal care in health centres indicates progress in this field. Table 5-3 Births attended by skilled health personnel by province Province Difference Total Kabul Kapisa Parwan Wardak Logar Nangarhar Laghman Panjsher Baghlan Bamyan Ghazni Paktika Paktya Khost Kunarha Nooristan Badakhshan Takhar Kunduz Samangan Balkh Saripul Ghor DaiKundi Urozgan Zabul Kandahar Jawzjan Faryab Helmand Badghis Herat Farah Nimroz Source: National Risk & Vulnerability Assessment Surveys and

33 5-5 Antenatal Care Antenatal care for mother and child health is vital. As per National Risk & Vulnerability Assessment 2012, overall, 51 percent Afghan women benefited at least once before the birth from skilled health personnel, doctors, nurses or midwives. Use of antenatal care services in rural and urban population were 78 and 46 percent respectively, which is less in nomad population (23 percent). In general about 49 percent women did not receive prenatal care and health services (22 percent in urban areas and 54 percent in rural areas of the country). HIV/AIDS There is no accurate and current data on HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan but still has relatively low HIV/AIDS prevalence. Since 2009, only 631 actual AIDS cases have been identified but as per the report of Ministry of Public Health there have been 1644 positive cases in year 2014, which shows the increase of HIV/AIDS cases compare to previous years. According to the Human Development Report, number of factors may contribute to the spread of the virus in Afghanistan. High level of poverty, lack of awareness, a large number of addicts, injecting drugs with contaminated needle, lack of health infrastructure and facilities for treatment, existence of infected blood and illicit sexual relation. 24

34 Chapter 6: Education and Higher Education 6-1 Education Number of Girls and Boys in Primary School This is the first tier of formal educational system of the country. The Afghanistan government is committed to increase the enrolment of students at the primary level with specific target to increase the girls enrolment by 70 percent. In 2014, the total number of students in primary schools (grade 1-6) was thousand of which only 40.6 percent were girls. This shows 0.2 percent increase of girls in primary school compared to Notably, when girls get older, their attendance shows a downward trend in the school. Table Number of girls and boys in primary schools in Afghanistan, Annual Growth Ratio of Boys Girls Boys Girls girls to Class Total boys in Number % Number % % % 2014 (%) Source: Ministry of Education year Grade 1 to grade 6 student ratio In 2014, the percentage of students in first grade to sixth grade is 62.6 percent for girls and 67.9 percent for boys. On average basis 65.3 percent of total students have completed their primary education. The realization of these data shows a great success in primary education of country s educational system. Figure 6-1-2: Grade 1 to Grade 6 student ratio Male Female Average Source: Ministry of Education

35 6-1-3 Number of Girls and Boys in Middle and High Schools In 2014, the total number of students in middle schools was thousand. The annual growth rate for boys from year 2012 to 2014 is 7.4 percent and girls growth rate is 11.3 percent at same time. In 2014, the total number of students in high school was thousand. The annual growth rate for boys from 2012 to 2014 is 11.9 per cent while this figure is 15.2 percent for girls. As a result, it can be noted that the annual growth rate of girls have a significant difference compared to boys. Table Number of Girls and Boys in Middle Schools, 2014 Class Total Annual Growth 2014 compare to 2012 Boys Girls Boys Girls Number % Number % % % Ratio of girls to boys in year 2014 (%) Total Source: Ministry of Education year Table Number of Girls and Boys in High Schools in year 2014 Class Total Annual Growth 2014 compare to 2012 Boys Girls Boys Girls Number % Number % % % Ratio of girls to boys in year 2014 (%) Total Source: Ministry of Education year Higher Education Number of Students in Universities The proportion of female students in universities is of great importance for gender equality because higher education strengthens the capacity of women in order to achieve decision-making positions. 26

36 Figure University students by sex, Female Male Total 0 Source: Ministry of Higher Education year In 2014, there were a total of students in 34 government universities throughout the country, with female comprising only 2967 or 20.1 percent of the total students. This implies that only one in every five university students is a female. The University of Education had most female students with 36.0 percent. In Kabul University, the largest university in Afghanistan, however, female students constitute only one fourth 23.5 percent of all students. There were no female students in Paktika and Urozgan universities. The proportion of female student in Khost, Helmand, and Laghman and Kunarha universities was negligible, there are less than 5 percent female to the total students. There is a need of encouragement programs in mentioned universities in order to enrol female students in these universities. 21 universities had an increase in the percentage of female enrolees from year 2012 to The highest increase was in Faryab University, from 15.5 to 34.6 percent. Conversely, four universities had a decrease in the percentage of female student enrolees during this period; the biggest percentage of decrease was in Paktya University with 2.2 percent followed by Helmand University with 0.9 percent Number of College/University Graduates by Sex As mentioned earlier, university education substantially increases the potential of youths, which can be ideally used in the country s economic and social development. Figure 6-3 shows that a total of 19.5 students graduated from universities in Afghanistan in 2014, of which 3.9 or 20 percent were females. Of the total female university graduates 16 percent were from Kabul University, followed by the University of Education 8.0 percent, the Herat University 11.5 percent and Balkh University with 9.4 percent. However, it can be noted, that there were no female graduates from 5 universities, namely, Khost, Helmand, Kunarha, Laghman and Panjsher 27

37 Figure: 6-2-2: University Graduates by Sex Source: Ministry of Higher Education year : Number of Teachers in Universities In 2014, the total number of teachers in the universities was 5090, an increase of 1535 compared to 2012 and there was no female teacher in eleven universities (Kandahar, Kunar, Samangan, Khost, Saripul, Ghor, Urozgan, Panjsher, Laghman, Paktika and Helmand), while it was negligible in Nangarhar, Bamyan, Badakhshan, Al-Beroni, Kapisa, Kandahar, Parwan, Ghazni, Bamyan, Badghis and Samangan Universities with less than 10 percent female teachers. The ratio of female teachers was highest in Jawzjan University in %. It is essential to recruit female teachers in those universities where there numbers are less or not even available, in order to ensure gender equality in higher education sector. Number of female teachers between 2012 and 2014 shows there were 522 female teachers in 2012 in public universities and in 2014 this numbers increased to 726 with an increase of only 204 female teachers during the 3-year period. On the contrary, the increase of male teachers were 4346 during the same period, which were about 5 times higher than females. Figure 6-2-3: university teacher by sex Source: Statistical year book,

38 6-2-4 Number of Students and Teachers in Technical and Vocational Education In Afghanistan very few girls attend technical and vocational schools. In 2010, only 13.5 percent of the total numbers of students in government vocational institutions were females, this is a dramatic increase over the years. In 2014, totally 7869 female students were enrolled in governmental vocational education, which consists 16.9 percent of total student in these institutes. Table 6-2-4: Teachers and Students in Vocational Institutions by Sex Students Teachers Year Male Female Ratio of Ratio of Male Female Female Female Total Source: Statistical Yearbook Number of Students and Teachers in Health Institutions In 2014, there was slight increase of students in health education centres. A total of 2979 students attended health science institutes with 42 percent of girls presence, which shows the increase of female participation in health institutions during years In 2010, a total of 915 female students attended health institutions and in 2014 their number was 853 in such institutions. In the same time, the number of male students also decreased in health institutions. Table 6-2-5: Students and Teachers in Health Institutions by Sex Teachers Students Year Male Female Ratio of Ratio of Male Female Female Female Source: Statistical Yearbook

39 6-2-6 Number of Students in University Dormitories by Sex Availability of hostel facilities in the universities increases the enrolment of female students at higher education level. It can be noted, that the number of female students has increased in hostels, but they still comprised a small percentage compared to male students. 1Figure Number of Student in University Dormitories by Sex Female Male Source: Statistical Yearbook Literacy Rate of Group Age by Sex In 2008, basic literacy rate for youths was 47.0 percent, this number dropped to 39 percent in Likewise, basic literacy rate for female was 24.0 percent in year 2008 but this number increased to 32.0 percent in Despite the increase of female literacy rate, they still located at low level compared to male which were 53 percent in year 2008 and 62 percent in Table 6-3: Youths Literacy rate (15 to 24 years) by Sex in 2008 and 2012) Residence Rate of change Total Male Female Total Male Female Male Female Urban Rural Kuchi National Source: National Risk & Vulnerability Assessment (NRVA) years