A set of scales
Laws and Policies
Afghanistan has taken quite a few policy measures in the last few years to ensure equal rights and protections for people with disabilities. In 2004 the Constitution of Afghanistan has passed several Articles which have direct impacts on people with disabilities including Article 22 which prohibits discrimination between citizens of Afghanistan, Article 53 which provides financial aid to those with disabilities and confirms “active participation and re-integration into society”, Article 84 provisions that two people with disabilities are appointed to Parliament (Sida, 2015).
Afghanistan has also signed the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asia Pacific Region; pledging to develop policies and programs which aim to improve the conditions for people with disabilities and help develop their full potential. They have also signed the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty – vowing to clear all areas with known anti-personnel mines within 20 years.
Also established in 2004, A National Policy for Persons with Disabilities was developed (with input from the Disabled Persons Organization) to develop ANDAP. This strategy was developed to provide improved access to justice, care, social insurance, education, employment, and social assistance for people with disabilities.
Geographical map of Afghanistan
United Nations CRPD
Afghanistan has implemented the UNCRPD and its Optional Protocol – enabling people with disabilities to file complaints to the International Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities if their rights have been violated. They have ratified the Protocol and Convention – which puts Afghanistan ahead of many other nations who have signed the treaties but not ratified the content.
While they have completed the groundwork for inclusion and equal rights; implementation of these strategies across the individual regions of the country is weak. The government and DPO is not well structured enough to allow for monitoring of these policies. Internationally, Afghanistan has not yet submitted its first report to the UN Committee on CRPD since its signing in 2008 (CRPD, UN).
An Ethnic teacher is leading a class of elementary school children. There are various posters on the wall, and drawings on the chalkboard. Students are putting up their hands to answer a question.
Education
Approximately 65% of youths with disabilities have access to school; however many families are unable to send their children to school because of economic difficulties or fear of discrimination (Health, 2011). The majority of female teaches have not had adequate education in order to teach due to cultural norms and lacking access to proper training. Lack of funding and consistency in grading and curriculum results in limited or absent programs or accommodations for students with disabilities. Frequent threats and violence against schools and girls attending school also results in some families keeping students home for months at a time. Some families are reluctant to educate children with handicaps for fears their investments will be wasted.
I had an extremely difficult time obtaining data on education for those with disabilities. According to UNICEF, only 33% of males and 15% of women have completed Upper secondary education. Those in urban areas account for 39%, while those in the poorest and rural areas account for 17% and 12% respectively (UNICEF, 2017).
So, deducing that people with disabilities are most often located in rural areas and are poorer we can safely assume the number of those who complete post-secondary education are low or lower than the averages provided here.
Employment
For males aged 15-64 approximately 22.4% of the non-disabled population was not working, compared with 46.2% non-working for landmine survivors, 37.1% for other war survivors, and 47.3% nonworking of the disabled population caused by disease or non-war factors (Francois, 2003). Therefore, around 77% of the non-disabled male population worked; compared to an average of 56.5% for working males with disabilities.
For women aged 15-64: 93.3% were non-working and non-disabled. This is compared to 96.9% non-working for disease or accident caused disability, 100% for landmine survivors, and 90% for other war survivors. Only 6.7% of non-disabled females in Afghanistan worked as of 2003 (Francois, 2003).
Since 80% of the population works in agriculture for survival; employment data is variable for Afghanistan citizens. Additionally, in more recent data 13% of women in Afghanistan are employed and gender discrimination still pervades through society – with hardly any women owning land (SIDA, 2017).
Works Cited
- “Disability Rights in Afghanistan”, September 2014. Swedish International Development Coordination Agency (SIDA). Accessed 30 Oct 2018.
- “More Children in school in Afghanistan”. Published 8 January 2015. Swedish International Development Coordination Agency (SIDA). <https://www.sida.se/English/where-we-work/Asia/Afghanistan/examples-of-results/More-children-in-school-in-Afghanistan/>.
- “Our work in Afghanistan”. Swedish International Development Coordination Agency (SIDA). https://www.sida.se/English/where-we-work/Asia/Afghanistan/Our-work-in-Afghanistan/
- “CRPD.” Office of the High Commissioner. United Nations: Human Rights. <https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/crpd/pages/crpdindex.aspx>. Accessed 30 Oct 2018.
- “Education: Upper secondary completion rate amount population aged 3-5 years above upper secondary graduation age – percentage.” Data and Analytics Section; Division of Data; Research and Policy, UNICEF. Last updated December 2017. < https://data.unicef.org/topic/education/secondary-education/>. Accessed 30 Oct 2018.
- Francois-Trani, J. (2003, March 12). Disability in Afghanistan: Taking a Capabilities Approach to look at Research Challenges and Policy Implications. Retrieved August 9, 2018, from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lc-ccr/lccstaff/jean-francois-trani/HDCAconf0905.pdf. Accessed 30 Oct 2018.
- “Health and education in Afghanistan: 10 years after – Quantity not quality,” ACBAR Policy Series. November 2011. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/10010547981111.pdf>. Accessed 3 Nov 2018.
November 4, 2018 at 7:01 pm
Hi Sarah,
Interesting point regarding families withholding education from disabled children due to fear of a wasted investment. I am finding a similar perception in my country, Ukraine. I’m not sure where to start to fix a systemic issue that is being perpetuated generation after generation. As we’ve learned, both in this class and in the “real world”, diversity is eye-opening and enhances experiences for all involved – this poor perception in Afghanistan and Ukraine is not only harming the persons with disabilities who are being held back, but also the rest of the population who will never benefit from the held back talents.
November 5, 2018 at 2:50 am
Hi Sarah!
I find any information regarding Afghanistan very interesting because of the lack of knowledge I possess. It is rather disappointing to me that parents are skeptical to send their children to school in fear of discrimination. No child deserves to miss out on an education because of a disability. I think that educating teachers on how to appropriately grade the curriculum is very important. The threats and violence are also disappointing because children are missing out on an education because of the country’s issues. Great post — I really enjoyed your layout and the photos!
November 8, 2018 at 10:09 pm
Sarah,
I also find information regarding Afghanistan particularly interesting because I feel as though the general population assumes so much due to our remembrance of the country’s involvement in war with our country. Even I have made improper assumptions because of what I heard about the war when it was occurring or what I thought due to the country’s reputation in general. So, it was refreshing and also informative to read that Afghanistan has laws in place for its citizens with a disability, including “justice, care, social insurance, education, employment, and social assistance.”
As another poster added, I also see it as disappointing that due to fear of discrimination and economic difficulties, children with disabilities are not attending school. This may be a sign that the country isn’t pushing hard enough to make all opportunity equally accessible. It seems as though the topic of education is one that could use addressing in Afghanistan, as you stated cultural norms are still impacting the number of female children attending schools.
Ultimately, I think you included a great amount of information and addressed each topic properly while keeping to the point. Your graphics are also an added bonus, it definitely breaks up the writing some when reading. I made a note for myself regarding that for our next post. So, thanks for that and great job!