On July 27, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing, “Perspectives on Reconciliation Options in Afghanistan.”
“The question before the committee and before our country is, what role does reconciliation play in reaching a political solution that allows our troops to leave Afghanistan consistent with our core national security interests?” said Chair John Kerry (D-MA). He added, “During the Kabul conference, [Afghan] President [Hamid] Karzai repeated his commitment that any dialogue with insurgents is contingent on their willingness to accept the Afghan constitution and renounce Al Qaeda. Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton went further, stressing that any peace deal with the Taliban cannot come at the expense of women and civil society.”
Zainab Salbi, founder and chief executive officer of Women for Women International, said, “No one is discussing how to protect the rights of the minorities or women, because that is not a major security concern for the major powers…Women’s rights are indicators for the direction of the society…[E]xtremism is often first visible when it is directed against women. The Taliban started their oppression and violence with women, but we didn’t intervene until their violence manifested itself on our soil September 11, 2001. Hence we cannot afford to compromise on women’s rights in Afghanistan. We need to see what is happening to women as not a marginal issue, but as a national issue that is telling about the direction for the society, as an indicator of our success or failure to achieve stability in a country and a region of great strategic importance. Women’s rights in Afghanistan are an issue of national security. Perhaps not in the short term, but it is definitely in the long run, as we saw that September morning almost nine years ago.”
In discussing the process of negotiation and reconciliation, Ms. Salbi said, “Full and meaningful inclusion of women in this process is one proven method of achieving this kind of representative dialogue that adequately reflects the concerns of the country’s citizens. Women have insight on the practical implications of high-level policies and negotiations. They know the intricate patchwork that [makes up] the daily lives of communities at the grassroots level in ways that may not be reflected when only talking with political elites. The richness of their perspective has a definite impact on the content of negotiation and the nature of any agreement. For instance, a 2009 survey Women for Women International conducted in Afghanistan found that survey respondents considered that political instability and incompetence of politicians were the biggest political problems they faced at both the national and local levels, followed by corruption. Taliban presence was third in order of importance. This finding points to not only women’s interest in negotiating peace with all Afghans, including Taliban, but also reflects popular distrust of processes that are purely managed by the government. Records from the peace negotiation experiences of other countries also show that when women are…included in peace negotiation and peace maintenance, there is a higher chance of those agreements having real impact. Women must be included at the negotiating table in no less than 30 percent representation, following UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. This is a chance for the U.S. to take the lead in creating model negotiations that are representative, inclusive and address the role of women in contributing to and upholding peace negotiations for lasting impact…Changing the dynamics of negotiation with the inclusion of women and ethnic minorities can give an upper hand to the US and Afghan governments in ensuring accountability, credibility, and sustainability of whatever agreement is ultimately negotiated. It is time that these perspectives be taken into serious consideration, beyond symbolic representation of women’s voices and into real, equal, and respected representation that reflects the importance of their role vis-à-vis keeping hope and building prosperity and sustainable solutions in Afghan society.”
Ryan Crocker, dean and executive professor at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University and former ambassador to Iraq, and Dr. David Kilcullen, non resident senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, also testified.
