AFGHANISTAN:Leadership training for women

September 22, 2004 - (IRIN) Female civil servants and qualified Afghan women will be trained in leadership and decision-making skills through a joint UN-government programme.

Under Senior Women in Management (SWIM), a US $100,000, six-month training course was launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Afghan Ministries of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Finance, and Women's Affairs on Monday.

According to officials at the Ministry of Women's Affairs, 19 women from various government ministries have already commenced their training.

The objective of SWIM is to increase the participation of women in decision-making roles in government by identifying qualified women to work
at senior levels in selected ministries.

"This programme will be around six months, consisting of on-the-job and formal training in management, computing, language and specialised
skills," Rahima Hafizi, head of contracting at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, and one of the participants, told IRIN.

There are few women in leadership position as ministers, heads of civil service departments or NGOs. The country has a very low rate of literacy
among women and there is a long way to go to ensure gender equality in leadership and senior managerial positions.

Afghan women were confined to their homes during the six years of the hardline Taliban regime. They were denied access to public resources and prevented from contributing to society.

"Women have always been ignored and always told what to do. Now that we have the opportunity we must bring women into decision-making positions," Habiba Sarabi, women's affairs minister, told IRIN.

Sarabi said the need for women managers and decision-makers in government was growing. She said having a woman as a decision-maker was still difficult to accept in communities mostly influenced by warlords and local militia commanders.

In some conservative rural communities, systematic discrimination against women has undermined their ability to work in any kind of jobs, let alone in positions of influence. Due to cultural complexities and often security, women are still discouraged from working outside their homes.

"For example, in Zabul [southern province] we do not have one female civil servant in the whole province to run the women's affairs department," she said.

According to the United Nations, at the end of the SWIM programme, candidates are encouraged to apply for longer-term employment within their respective ministries. Recruitment is being conducted by UNDP based on merit, qualifications and successful performance in examinations. "This programme is the first time that we have been approached as professionals and potential leaders in training," said Hafizi.