The Afghan election has dominated the world’s headlines for over a month now, first with comments on how difficult it would be to hold an election the Taliban opposed in the midst of a war, then with praise and admiration for the brave Afghans who came out to vote, and later with stories on fraud and corruption. Another story that has rarely been told but is equally worthy of exposure is that despite the hurdles and the problems with the elections, women were more politically active than ever during these polls. In a country where most women lack freedom of mobility without permission of husbands or fathers, this is no small feat.

The political mobilization of women began a few months before the elections. The endeavor was a combination of the efforts of progressive personnel within the government, Afghanistan’s civil society and members of the NGO community.

The drive to include women in the election began just six days before the three week nomination period came to a close on May 8th. Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Zakria Barakzai, noticed only 30 women had nominated themselves as provincial council candidates. This number was appallingly low since there were a total of 124 reserved seats for women in these positions. Barakzai appealed to political stakeholders and civil society for help to encourage women to become candidates. Women heeded this call and reached out to their nationwide networks.  By the end of the nomination period, there were 328 female provincial council candidates. All but two provinces had achieved or exceeded the 25% quota of reserved seats for women - seats that would otherwise have remained empty.

Women were again mobilized when it became clear that the IEC would have trouble recruiting the nearly 80,000 female polling center workers and 14,000 female security searchers for polling day mostly because of security concerns. The female civil society came to the IEC’s aid and encouraged thousands of women from around the country to step in and fill the open positions. Although the exact number of female polling stations that were open has not been confirmed due to security concerns, the fact that about 600 women’s polling centers around the country remained closed due to lack of women workers does not diminish the efforts of women who worked hard to fill the other polling stations. The fact remains that despite the menacing environment Afghan women rose to the occasion and did all in their power to facilitate women’s access to the polling station.

Another impressive example of female participation in this election came on August 4 when the Afghan Women’s Network, a non-partisan Network of women and women’s NGOs working to empower Afghan women, with the support of IFES, brought together more than 1,500 women from around Afghanistan at the Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) tent in Kabul for the launch of the Five Million Women Campaign (5MWC).  The goal of the 5MWC is to eventually get five million women to vote in Afghan elections; five million women represent approximately 80% of the female voting population in Afghanistan. After the launch of the 5MWC, delegates from the campaign returned to their homes, and in at least 17 provinces, they organized more rallies for the Five Million Women Campaign to demonstrate the determination of Afghan women to be heard.

Another important aspect of the 5MWC is that the foundation for this campaign is the Declaration of Commitment to Afghan Women. This declaration is a document categorically stating the fact that Afghan women have the right to determine their political future and to participate in Afghanistan’s electoral process. The declaration asks different institutions in Afghanistan and civil society to support their right to vote. The messages and slogans for 5MWC were derived from this declaration. The declaration will continue to be a weighty reminder that women expect to be part of the political discourse and the new administration, regardless of who wins, will be held accountable to it.

While this election has not been seen as a perfect example of the democratic process, it was a positive step for Afghan women in elections.  Awareness of the importance of having the right to vote and of the fact that elections are the better way to transfer power peacefully continued to be reiterated. This is one of the first building blocks of democracy. Further, this election saw an unprecedented mobilization of women. Women did vote in large numbers during the last elections, but their political mobilization this time around showed a higher level of sophistication. Based on this experience, future elections should see an even greater increase in the participation of women.

By Vic Getz, IFES Gender Advisor