Democracy

Afghanistan Parliament, Aina Photo Agency, Kabul, 2005

Introduction

Power should be in the hands of the people – and everybody should have the same chance to participate in it. Heinrich Böll Stiftung (HBS) is committed to securing equal access for all members of society to participate in shaping politics in their country. That can be achieved only through a democratic system. Democratization is a chief tenet of green politics and a central issue in political education which aims to promote a better understanding of democratization – defined as the way democratic norms, institutions and practices evolve and are disseminated both within and across national and cultural boundaries. Still it is often far from clear how to translate the general notion of democratization into concrete projects, campaigns, or educational programmes. "Civil society" is one such concept which, while widely embraced, is very contentious when it comes to questions of implementation.

Democratization is the transition to a more participatory political system. Heinrich Böll Stiftung is trying to support this process by strengthening citizenship agency and civil society. It provides training and consultations for the leaders of societal change and political actors at different levels.

Since 2003, HBS has been working in Afghanistan with two long-term Afghan partner organizations as well as a number of other local NGOs. The main goal of our work in Afghanistan is the support of democratization through promotion of a gender sensitive legal framework. We have been promoting women’s rights through our cultural sensitively acting partner organization Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF). Moreover we want to contribute towards domestic and regional stability and security and to a sustainable development process through people’s participation. HBS believes that through the inclusion of voices of traditional society representatives a more inclusive form of democratization in Afghanistan can be achieved. Since 2003, HBS is cooperating with The Liaison Office (TLO) in south eastern Afghanistan for that aim.

Bonn Conference 2011

Report

Beyond 2014 there is still a lot to do

- November 13, 2011 - As the date 2014 is approaching, and along with that the prospects of negotiations with the Taliban are mounting, there are a lot of unanswered questions among the Afghan society as well as the international community concerning the concrete ISAF policies on the state building project in Afghanistan. more»

Foreign Ministers Conference and the inclusion of the Afghan civil society

The Afghanistan activities and the Civil Society Forum (2./3. December in Bonn)

- October 6, 2011 - On December 5, 2011 in Bonn an international Foreign Ministers Conference on Afghanistan will take place – nearly exactly to the day ten years after the Petersberg Conference on Afghanistan. Also representatives of the Afghan civil society will ask to speak with their own political proposals regarding Afghanistan’s future.  more»

INTRODUCTION

What moves Afghanistan?

- June 21, 2011 - In December 2011, ten years after the Petersberg Conference, the future of Afghanistan will be discussed anew. How can Afghanistan increasingly become militarily, politically and economically more independent? And where does the Afghan parliament and civil society stand in this year’s Bonn Conference? Will they be included? Or will they – as is so often the case in international conferences – be excluded? Barbara Unmüßig more»

Open Letter

Transparency in negotiations with the Taliban and long-term political support: Representatives of Afghan civil society appeal to the German Parliament

- June 20, 2011 - In view of the upcoming December 2011 Bonn/Petersberg Conference on Afghanistan, leaders from Afghan civil society have appealed to members of the German Bundestag in an open letter. In the letter, they demand, among other things, more transparency in the Afghan government’s negotiations with the Taliban, as well as increased access by the Afghan civil society to the national decision-making process. more»

Articles

Article

Import Ban on Bridal Dresses: A draft law of the Ministry for Women’s Affairs asks for moral guards to control private celebrations

May 1, 2011 -

Wedding ceremonies have become ruinous for many Afghans. A new law now aims at limiting the expenses. The good intention of the initiative is tarnished, however, because the draft at the same time sanctions heavy governmental interference into personal affairs.

Bente Aika Scheller more»

Interviews

An Interview with Sanjar Sohail

Journalists and the reputation of the German troops in Afghanistan

October 13, 2010 - Being a journalist is a dangerous job in Afghanistan. In the past nine years we have lost about fifteen journalists in different incidents. Just two days ago one of our famous news anchors was stabbed in Kabul. So it is dangerous because we always have the problem of accessing the information in the war zone. And the Taliban are not helping the journalists, but are always trying to capture and kill them. more»

Elections 2010

Interview series with Afghan parliamentary candidates

Dear readers,
HBS Afghanistan in relevance of its work in field of democratization has already started a series of interviews with parliamentary candidates which are going to be published continuously in HBS website.
HBS Afghanistan unlike many other international organisations still holds a position as neutral actor and enabler of socio political debate. The views and ideas expressed in interviews are not HBS’ views and comments, nor are the interviews considered as campaign component for candidates. Only HBS Afghanistan continues to provide the space for exchange of different ideas and issues that have been defined by the people themselves and to give the readers the idea of election process in Afghanistan.  

Interview with Sona Sahar

“Good government starts with good people.”

- September 14, 2010 - Since women and children are both vulnerable groups in our country, I will mostly focus on and consider these two groups. They face problems by any new evolution and changes in the country, Taliban regime is a clear example of it.
If I get the chance to be a parliamentarian I would like to establish an advocacy group to lobby for women and children rights. more»

Article

Voice of the people’s representatives is disturbing the governing

- April 5, 2010 - In February, one day before the end of the Afghan parliament’s winter break President Karzai passed a presidential decree that limited the role of the international community in the upcoming elections to being a sponsor and also brought a number of other changes to the electoral process. Now the representatives of the people defied his blunt attempt to change the rules of political participation without any consultation. By Bente Aika Scheller. more»

Perspectives

Research and Policy Brief

Religion, Politics and Gender Equality

August 8, 2011 -

Some observers see incompatibilities between democracy, human rights and gender equality, on the one hand, and a world in which religion plays an active role in public affairs, on the other. Others ask whether it is useful to see religion as the nemesis of gender equality, and secularism as others ask whether it is useful to see religion as the nemesis of gender equality, and secularism as the precondition for it.

more»

Remarks by Dr. Sima Samar at Kabul Conference

We see the Kabul Conference as a window of opportunity for both the Afghan government and the international community

- July 22, 2010 -

The AIHRC, as an active member of the Governance cluster, is assertive and supportive of the priorities on Rule of Law, Justice and Human Rights. All of these priorities are inter-related that each of them effect the achievement of other. Achieving these priority objectives will, definitely, have positive impact on promotion of human rights and civil responsibilities, and finally, it furthers trust between the citizens and government.

more»

Article

State-building light won’t work. The path of re-constructing Afghanistan

- February 25, 2010 -  

In this commentary, former UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, discusses the outcome of the London Conference with a focus on US and German engagement in reconstructing Afghanistan.

more»

Reports

Report

A First Step on a Long Journey: How People Define Violence and Justice in Afghanistan (1958-2008)

July 18, 2011 -

How People Define Violence and Justice is a joint research project of ACSFo and HBS on international crimes, massacres, rapes, murders, destruction of residential areas, homicide and imprisonment of intellectuals, torture and human rights abuses of the past fifty years.  The standards for justice and human rights violation in this project are defined by people. Views, beliefs and utterances of respondents constitute the basis of this research.

more»

Report

Book launch “Media and Elections: The role of media in democracies”

- September 8, 2010 - Media in democracies is often referred to as"the fourth pillar of power", and rightfully so. Ideally, this is what they do: Exerting control over politics by reporting on what they see and learn on what is happening. To be part of a decision making process, citizens need to be informed on all aspects relevant to them. What the media finds out and reports about might, however, differ from the image politicians want to give. In this case, hardly anybody is self-critical enough to admit flaws in his or her policy but rather blames it on the media. more»

Report

Civil Society Develpment Conference in Afghanistan

- February 3, 2010 - Three Afghan Civil Society Development Conferences i.e. 2003, 2006 and 2008 was implemented in Kabul. There was a keen interest to conduct a fourth Afghan civil society development conference in order to review the situation and revisit the findings. It was also deemed necessary to check the mile stone and achievements set in the previous meetings and conferences. more»