Gender and Public Participation in Afghanistan

163 Pages·2018·1.45 MB·English

by  Bashirullah Najimi

GENDER
AND PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION IN
AFGHANISTAN
Aid, Transparency and
Accountability
Bashirullah Najimi
Gender and Public Participation in Afghanistan
Bashirullah Najimi
Gender and Public
Participation in
Afghanistan
Aid, Transparency and Accountability
Bashirullah Najimi
Toronto, ON, Canada
ISBN 978-3-319-74976-1 ISBN 978-3-319-74977-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74977-8
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I dedicate this book to the victims of gender discrimination and those who
struggle for gender equality. The inspiration to write this book came from
Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, who showed his commitment to
gender equality by introducing the first-ever gender-balanced cabinet in
history. Political commitment and support are vital for gender equality,
accountability, and transparency.
F
oreword
Gender equality and women’s empowerment have always been my passion,
and they have been part of the Afghan government’s commitment and the
interest of the international community that provides financial assistance
for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. However, it is a
fact that gender inequality in Afghanistan is higher than in other countries,
especially in the region. Four decades of war, political instability, the pres-
ence of extremist groups in the region, the influence of warlords, the cul-
ture of impunity, and international terrorism have had a huge impact on
the social mindset and behavior in this regard.
As an Afghan women’s rights defender and legislator, I have been
working for the promotion and protection of women’s rights and empow-
erment through advocacy for gender-balanced national budgeting and
women’s political participation and legislation along with my civil society
and political partners.
Gender and public participation in the development process are very
important issues everywhere but are more important for the Afghan nation
today as the country is struggling for its physical and social reconstruction;
unfortunately, very few scholars have written about these issues. I am
pleased that Mr. Bashirullah Najimi is producing this book, Gender and
Public Participation in Afghanistan: Aid, Transparency and Accountability,
from which professionals and non-professionals alike will get extensive
viewpoints about these issues in Afghanistan.
Through my work as an MP in the Afghan Parliament, I have met the
author, who worked with us as Budget Advisor to the Parliament’s Budget
and Finance Commission. The author has the necessary experience and
vii
viii FOREWORD
knowledge of the social and cultural dynamics to analyze such complex
issues regarding development in Afghanistan. I believe this book will help
policymakers and women’s rights activists in their work in mainstreaming
gender into planning, budgeting, and policymaking for social and physical
development in the country. The book also highlights the importance of
analysis on gender issues in the country from a holistic view, including
social, cultural, institutional, and economic perspectives. Other important
points in this book are the roles and responsibilities of the key stakeholders
and ways in which they can work together for the promotion of gender
equality and participatory budgeting, planning, and decision-making
processes.
I am glad to see Afghan scholars write about Afghanistan for an inter-
national audience. I hope this book will trigger further research interests
and projects for the benefit of women’s empowerment and gender equal-
ity in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan Embassador in Canada Shinkai Karokhail
23 December 2016
P
reFace
It was an honor to have the opportunity to write this book on Gender and
Public Participation in Afghanistan: Implications for Aid, Transparency,
and Accountability. It is hoped that this will highlight some of the main
issues regarding gender and public participation in the budget process in
Afghanistan, something not known to many citizens there. Few Afghans
are well educated in development science and economy.
This book is based on desk research and experience of my many years
working with the public sector and international organizations, especially
the work I have done with the Government of Afghanistan and the
International Budget Partnership in Washington, D.C., where as a
Program Officer I worked with local civil society organizations (CSOs) in
Asian countries, including Afghanistan, on the evaluation of budget open-
ness and public participation in the budget process. I was one of the privi-
leged Afghans who got the opportunity to receive an education up to a
master’s degree (in economics and finance, in 2005). Then I got the
opportunity to work in the Afghan Ministry of Finance and with national
and international experts having the task of reforming Afghanistan’s pub-
lic finance system, introducing public participation in the budget process
as well as making the Afghan budget more gender-sensitive. At that time,
few in Afghanistan knew the terms “gender” and “public participation”
and what these terms should imply technically. Some of us became inter-
ested in exploring these terms and their implications for transparency and
accountability of the government’s budget.
After comparing the process of budgeting in Afghanistan with bud-
geting process of other countries, I noticed how much importance and
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x PREFACE
resources other countries allocate the issues of “gender” and “public par-
ticipation” and how different countries were able to overcome some of the
obstacles that currently exists in Afghanistan. Gender and public partici-
pation are vital for an effective public finance system and have significant
implications for any development activities in any social setup. Having the
opportunity to study further, I decided to pursue a Postgraduate Diploma
in International Development and this further inspired me to study the
context of gender and public participation.
In this book, I share my insights and experiences with gender and pub-
lic participation in the budgeting and planning process in Afghanistan,
which could be useful for those audiences who are new to this subject.
This book will assist policymakers, national and international development
practitioners, CSOs, legislatures, government employees, and students to
understand the overall framework and structure of budgeting and plan-
ning in Afghanistan and the role of different stakeholders in making it
gender-sensitive, participatory, open, and transparent. Unfortunately, very
little research exists on gender and public participation in Afghanistan;
I believe this is the first book on the topic and I hope it will raise questions
and interest for further research on Afghanistan, gender and public par-
ticipation in the development of Afghanistan and their role in account-
ability and transparency.
Toronto, ON, Canada Bashirullah Najimi
a
cknowledgments
The completion of this book would not have been possible without the
valuable assistance and motivation of my family, colleagues, friends, and
experts in different topics who kindly provided feedback and actively
participated in scholarly discussion regarding women’s empowerment,
culture, and public participation in Afghanistan; their valuable input
and comments helped to further enrich this book. I would like to extend
my gratitude and appreciation to my family and friends and Ms. Jennifer
Fox, an international budget expert who has worked in several develop-
ing countries as a budget advisor, for reviewing the book and sharing
her thoughts, especially on the role of legislature in public participation
and foreign aid. Finally, I want to express my appreciation and thanks to
Dr. Abdul Wasi Najimi, who kindly reviewed the entire manuscript, pro-
vided valuable comments, and helped me in its initial edit. It was his
support and encouragement that motivated me to successfully complete
the book.
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