Real Change for Afghan Women's Rights: Opportunities and Challenges in the Upcoming Parliamentary Elections

Free and fair elections in Afghanistan are a crucial element of the nation's future stability. Women, as half the country's population, are a largely untapped resource in ensuring lasting progress. As the Five Million Afghan Women Campaign stated in a declaration last year, full democracy is unattainable without women's independent and active participation, and all Afghan women must realize the value of their votes and consider their social responsibility in participating in elections. The upcoming Wolesi Jirga parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in Afghanistan on September 18, 2010. The Independent Election Commission's recently announced list of candidates includes nearly 400 women, a 22 percent increase over the number of parliamentary candidates from five years ago. Such positive trends must continue, requiring practical measures aimed at structural issues and cultural constraints left unresolved from prior elections. Resolution of these key issues will foster an increasingly favorable environment for women's continued political participation.