2014/2230(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Is convinced that Afghan women play a crucial role in the development of their country; while acknowledging that the post-Taliban regime has made possible a rise of women in the public sphere, strongly condemns the string of physical assaults against women, and calls on the authorities to ensure their protection and the free and safe exercise of their activities; asks the Afghan authorities and international mediators not to jeopardise the recent achievements in women’s rights in order to ease peace talks with the Taliban; Afghanistan needs a meaningful and adequate representation of women during all stages of peace talks;

Amendment 11 #

Mary HONEYBALL, Clare MOODY, Julie WARD, Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ, Marc TARABELLA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Is convinced that Afghan women play a crucial role in the development of their country; while acknowledging that the post-Taliban regime has made possible a rise of women in the public sphere, strongly condemns the string of physical assaults against women, and calls on the authorities to ensure their protection, access to justice and the free and safe exercise of their activities; asks the Afghan authorities not to jeopardise the recent achievements in women’s rights in order to ease peace talks with the Taliban;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Is convinced that Afghan women play a crucial role in the stabilisation and development of their country; while acknowledging that the post-Taliban regime has made possible a rise of women in the public sphere, strongly condemns the string of physical assaults against women, and calls on the authorities to ensure their protection and the free and safe exercise of their activities; asks the Afghan authorities not to jeopardise the recent achievements in women’s rights in order to ease peace talks with the Taliban;

Amendment 13 #

Ernest URTASUN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Is convinced that Afghan women play a crucial role in the development of their country; while acknowledging that the post-Taliban regime has made possible a rise of women in the public sphere, strongly condemns the string of physical assaults against women, honour killings, and calls on the authorities to ensure their protection and the free and safe exercise of their activities; asks the Afghan authorities not to jeopardise the recent achievements in women’s rights in order to ease peace talks with the Taliban;

Amendment 14 #

Teresa JIMÉNEZ-BECERRIL BARRIO

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Is very concerned about the possibility of women's rights being traded away in the current peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban; only 16 per cent of peace agreements in the last two decades have contained a reference to women and gender;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Stresses that many Afghan women's rights advocates are worried that the decrease in international funding and influence following the reduction of international troops in 2014 might give 'carte blanche' to the Taliban and risks reversing some of the progress on women's rights, and that resistance to Western-driven and Western-influenced rights programming, particularly with regard to women's rights, is increasing within the Afghan polity;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Urges the Afghan president, elected on April 2014, to make sure the rights of girls and women are protected and advanced – not traded away;

Amendment 17 #

Mary HONEYBALL, Clare MOODY, Julie WARD, Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ, Marc TARABELLA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that women’s and girls’ illiteracy is an obstacle to their involvement in public life; encourages the authorities to further address the obstacles to girls’ access to education, including early and forced marriage, early child bearing, lack of security and insufficient geographical coverage in terms of school infrastructure; underlines that girls' access to primary and secondary education is key to the development and stabilisation of the country ; is convinced that education is one of the most efficient means to women's empowerment and to fight against gender stereotypes;

Amendment 18 #

Aldo PATRICIELLO

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls that women’s and girls’ illiteracy rate, which is currently 88%, is an obstacle to their involvement in public life; encourages the authorities to further address the ~~obstacle~~barriers to girls’ access to education, including early and forced marriage, early child bearing, lattacks ofn s~~ecurity~~chools by insurgents and insufficient geographical coverage in terms of transport infrastructure and school infrastructure;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

Amendment 2 #

Teresa JIMÉNEZ-BECERRIL BARRIO

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas the final report of the EU Election Assessment Team (EAT) 2014 states that security concerns are one of the main impediments to women’s participation in the elections; whereas the report establishes a clear link between women’s political participation and rural/urban inequalities in access to public services; whereas women are under- represented in the political sphere and in top level political institutions;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Alarms that in spite of the ban on child marriage, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health estimates that 21 percent of all women were married by age fifteen and another 53 percent by age eighteen;

Amendment 21 #

Anna ZÁBORSKÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Points out that Afghanistan is among the countries with the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, that many women are not allowed to enter hospital and have to give birth at home in poor sanitary conditions, that private healthcare is widely available in Afghanistan but is often unaffordable, and that there are a lack of qualified female medical staff; encourages the authorities to raise awareness of these issues and to develop public infrastructure that enables all Afghan women to give birth in good sanitary conditions, and calls on the EU and the Member States to fund medical training programmes for women;

Amendment 22 #

Viorica DĂNCILĂ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Underlines that reinforcement of the rule of law, reform of the judiciary system and state-building are key elements in enforcing legal provisions on gender equality and the protection of women’s rights, and are a key factor in removing obstacles to participation by women in education, to increasing the number of women involved in public life and to their participation in politics;

Amendment 23 #

Aldo PATRICIELLO

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Underlines that reinforcement of the rule of law, reform of the judiciary system and state-building – with women present in greater numbers in the institutions of that state – are key elements in enforcing legal provisions on gender equality and the protection of women’s rights;

Amendment 24 #

Teresa JIMÉNEZ-BECERRIL BARRIO

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 – indent 1 (new)

- Urges the EU to pursue and extend existing programmes for civil society to enhance the role of Afghan women in peacebuilding and conflict prevention activities linked to the envisaged Afghan National Action Plan for the implementation of the UNSC resolution 1325;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Strongly condemns the use of Islamic sharia law in certain areas in Afghanistan to justify punishments in the most extreme forms of violence such as stoning to death, flogging or slavery of women;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls for better enforcement of the law on elimination of violence against women; emphasises the importance of the fight against impunity and better access to formal justice. Reminds that the Taliban have an appalling record of human rights abuses both in government and as insurgents; today in areas they control or influence, as when in government, the Taliban severely curtail the rights of girls and women, including the denial of education, employment, freedom of movement and political participation and representation;

Amendment 27 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Calls for better enforcement of the law on elimination of violence against women under which prosecutions are few and convictions even fewer ; emphasises the importance of the fight against impunity and better access to formal justice.;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 – indent 1 (new)

- Warmly welcomes the recent announcement - by the EU The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice- President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini - of several EU- sponsored training programmes dedicated to young Afghan women; this offer will include internships in various EU institutions, training on public administration at the dedicated European institutes and longer term intakes, as part of a new exchange programme;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Recalls that Afghanistan has the second highest rate of maternal mortality in the world; urges that more needs to be done in the area of maternal health;

Amendment 3 #

Mary HONEYBALL, Clare MOODY, Julie WARD, Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ, Biljana BORZAN

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the 2004 Constitution holds men and women equal before the law; whereas the situation of women remains extremely worrying; Afghanistan is still one of the worst countries to be a woman; women activists, parliamentarians and women in public life are often subjected to threats and violence; many high-profile women rights advocates and female Ministry of Women's Affairs officials have been targeted and killed in recent years. Armed groups have also targeted girls' schools, attacking teachers and students;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Strongly urges the Afghan government to redouble its efforts to increase the level of political representation of women, in particular at cabinet level and high-ranking appointments; encourages the government to introduce more women cabinet nominees; calls on the government to adopt additional measures to promote gender equality in political decision-making;

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. According to local reports, from mid- 2012 to early 2013, 30 female political and civil society leaders have been killed; female political candidates are the target of 90 cent of all threats against candidates in Afghanistan; targeted attacks on civilian women and children as they go to work or school have increased by 20 per cent in 2012 compared to 2011;

Amendment 32 #

Ernest URTASUN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Calls on EU Member States to immediately stop all deportations of Afghan women and Afghan families, due to widespread security concerns and the lack of appropriate reception infrastructure;

Amendment 33 #

Mara BIZZOTTO

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Calls on the Commission resolutely to promote the protection of women’s conditions in the context of external relations between the EU and Afghanistan, and to step up cooperation and support the international and regional organisations working on the ground in order to consolidate awareness of women’s rights;

Amendment 34 #

Mary HONEYBALL, Clare MOODY, Julie WARD, Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Notes that women are insufficiently represented among the Afghan police force and judiciary; out of 1577 there are only 119 women judges;

Amendment 35 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Emphasises the importance of continuing interparliamentary exchanges between the Wolesi Jirga (lower House) and the European Parliament; notes the opportunities that such exchanges provide for encouraging policy dialogue and exchange of best practice between parliamentarians on matters of gender equality;

Amendment 36 #

Mary HONEYBALL, Clare MOODY, Julie WARD, Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ, Biljana BORZAN

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4c. Supports the ban on stoning as well as its enforcement, which disproportionately affects women, and stresses that it is the most barbaric form of execution in the world; condemns those countries that still stone women and men to death;

Amendment 37 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4c. Pays tribute to the Afghan women and civil society groups campaigning for stronger political representation;

Amendment 38 #

Mary HONEYBALL, Clare MOODY, Julie WARD, Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ, Marc TARABELLA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4d. Recognises the link between the adoption of gender-sensitive approaches to peacebuilding and more equitable and sustainable solutions; recalls UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and post-conflict reconstruction;

Amendment 4 #

Mary HONEYBALL, Clare MOODY, Julie WARD, Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ, Marc TARABELLA

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the 2004 Constitution holds men and women equal before the law; whereas implementation of constitutional and legislative provisions on gender equality remains uncompleted and that the situation of women and girls remains extremely worrying;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas women are underrepresented in positions of power and decision- making; whereas the Beijing Platform for Action holds that the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspectives at all levels of decision-making are essential for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace;

Amendment 6 #