Minding the Gender Gap

Afghanistan is one of the hardest countries for a woman to get an education. School enrolment at the end of the Taliban regime in 2001 was a miserable 3% for girls. Even today, it is only 36%, and access to higher education is just as limited, especially in rural areas.

Gender inequality is very common in our country and gender studies are needed to deal with this.” says Professor Ghulam Farooq Abdullah, Dean of the Faculty of Social Science at Kabul University.

In 2015, Kabul University and UNDP, with financial support from the Republic of Korea, launched Afghanistan’s first-ever Master’s degree in Gender and Women’s Studies.

The course aims to be a social game-changer by producing a cadre of gender champions who will go on to fill decision-making posts in politics, education and other fields critical for the realisation of women's rights.

This two-year programme covers gender and women’s rights, legal protections and the role of women in poverty reduction, conflict resolution, civil society and politics. The courses are tailored to the Afghan context and are based on best practices in promoting gender equality in Islamic countries.

A new class of 30 students joined the programme earlier on March 25, 2017. Twenty-eight students from the first class will graduate in July 2017.

Khujesta Elham, is one of the new students of the master's programme from Badakhshan province. She thinks she made a great decision to pursue her higher education in gender and women's studies. This will help her ensure equality in the country.

“This will help me learn new tools to shape a future in which women and men are treated equally everywhere in the country,” says Khujesta.

Nargis Afghanyaar, is one of the first students. She says:

“I chose the programme because there is a public need and because in Afghanistan women’s rights are often violated."

“I would like to apply what I learn within my own family first,” says student Mujtaba Arifi, who is also an assistant professor at Kabul University. “Since I work in education, I can also pass on what I learn to other students and make sure that gender rights are considered and Afghan women can succeed in their goals.”

Demand for places on the course was sky high, particularly among women, but the faculty decided to ensure sustainability by restricting enrolment for the first year to young professors with Bachelor’s degrees who can potentially be recruited onto the faculty when they finish their Master’s.

“We hope this programme will serve as a model for other universities throughout the country,” adds Professor Ghulam Faroq.

Professor Farooq acknowledges that without the support of UNDP and the Republic of Korea, it would have been impossible to launch such a programme. But he is looking at independence in the long term:

“For now, we hope to continue this programme with the usual support from UNDP. But later, we would like to sustain it using our own budget without international aid.”

Wagma Yameen is another student who has big plans for when she graduates.

She says, “I'd like to establish a centre for gender studies in Afghanistan using the knowledge I gain from this course and perhaps recruit some of the graduates to work for the centre.”

Afghanistan’s first-ever Master’s programme on Gender and Women’s Studies is an example of how UNDP works with government, NGO and civil society partners to bring about gender mainstreaming and strengthen the position of women.

This work was part of UNDP’s Gender Equality Project II, supported by the Republic of Korea. The project focused on improving policies, boosting economic empowerment and ensuring access to justice and human rights.

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