With regard to development, we have begun to implement our 10-year national a...

With regard to development, we have begun to implement our 10-year national action plan for the women of Afghanistan based upon the priorities of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy. As part of the action plan, we have established gender units in 14 of the 25 Government ministries. However, given the 10-year timeline, accelerated efforts are necessary to ensure the full implementation of that very comprehensive action plan, which incorporates vital goals that include achieving a 30 per cent rate of representation of women in governmental positions by the end of 2013 and their 35 per cent participation rate among university students by the end of 2012.