Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considers Report of Afghanistan

Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights 14 May 2010

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has considered the combined second to fourth periodic report of Afghanistan (E./C.12/AFG/2-4) on that country’s implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Introducing the report, Mohammed Qasim Hashimzai, Deputy Minister of Justice for Afghanistan, said major gains had been made in adopting laws to strengthen the framework and mechanisms for human rights in Afghanistan. The Independent Afghan Human Rights Commission had been established in 2001 and laid the initial foundation to address human rights issues in Afghanistan. The country had also adopted the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which made violence against women a crime whether committed at home or elsewhere and prescribed sentences for perpetrators. In addition, the Ministry of Women Affairs had been established, a draft law on family planning was under review, and the Shiaa Personal Status Law had been reviewed and adjusted to harmonize it with the Afghan Constitution and international human rights treaties. Other steps that had been taken to strengthen the human rights protection mechanisms were a new Media Law, which guaranteed freedom of speech and publication, and provided a better environment for journalists by protecting them for undue intimidation, violence, and censorship.

Mr. Hashimzai went on to say that despite all the efforts and commitments on the part of the Government in fulfilling its obligations on human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, Afghanistan still faced a number of challenges that had slowed its progress and created obstacles to their efforts to fully realize their goals in the area of human rights. Insecurity in some parts of the country had impeded economic and social development. The scarcity of resources to finance nationwide welfare programmes, in particular for the most vulnerable people including the disabled, children, and women, was another challenge which required due attention. Afghanistan also needed to take steps to review and revise 700 laws currently in force to bring them into compliance with the new Constitution and international treaty laws

Among the questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were serious concerns about the status of women in the country and their rights before the courts, in the home, in the workplace, and in education. The Committee was particularly concerned about the role of Shiaa personal law in Afghanistan and how it was harmonized with domestic and international treaty law and enforced by courts. The Committee also raised questions regarding the treatment and protection of children, including orphans, street children and child workers. Numerous Committee Experts raised concerns about corruption in the country as well as human trafficking and the treatment of the thousands of Afghan migrants working abroad. The delegation was also asked about the impact of the war on the cultural heritage of Afghanistan, what was being done to recover artefacts that had been looted from the country and what steps were being taken to safeguard important monuments and archaeological sites as well as local cultures.

In concluding remarks, Mr. Hashimzai said that the delegation came from a country devastated by 30 years of war. This however had not stopped Afghanistan from embarking on development projects and working to strengthen economic, social and cultural rights in the country.

The delegation of Afghanistan was composed of representatives from various Government agencies including the Ministries of Justice, Labour, Public Health, Education and the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. on Friday, 21 May, when it will look at substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and adopt its concluding observations and recommendations on country reports which it has considered before officially closing its forty-fourth session.

Report of Afghanistan

The combined second to fourth periodic report of Afghanistan (E./C.12/AFG/2-4) notes that the submission of the second periodic report was delayed until now due to the long turmoil, political struggles, and security instability suffered by Afghanistan. Due to the situation in the country, data, statistics, and numbers presented in this report are sometimes not accurate. For example, a census was not conducted for more than three decades in Afghanistan. Certain statistical information indicated in the present report is the best estimate by the Government. According to the Afghan Health Survey in 2006, based on the Brass method, the mortality rate for infants is 129 per thousand live births, and for children under-five mortality rate are 191 per thousand live births. Thus, the mortality rate for infants decreased from 165 to 129 between 2000 and 2006, as well as for children under five from 257 in 2000 to 191 in 2006. Afghanistan’s life expectancy is unique in the world in the sense that the life expectancy of women is less than that of men. Due to social and economic challenges in addition to energy deficiencies and low access to maternal health services, and the higher prevalence of violence against women, women have a lower life expectancy than men in Afghanistan. Life expectancy disaggregated in rural or urban areas as well as socio-economic group is not available.
The Government of Afghanistan is making efforts to eliminate gender disparities in all levels of education no later than 2020. However, the Government faces tremendous difficulties to achieve these goals in reality. During the war, a large number of school buildings have been demolished and reconstruction and/or rehabilitation are urgently needed in Afghanistan. The total number of school buildings were 9,476 schools in 2007. Although over 2,000 school buildings have been constructed or rehabilitated since 2002, there is a need for more school buildings especially for primary education. In many primary schools, classes are offered in more than two shifts. In addition, primary education in some areas of the country is offered at secondary school facilities due to a lack of enough schools or classrooms for primary education. Furthermore, recruitment of more qualified school teachers is urgently needed in Afghanistan.

Presentation of Report

MOHAMMED QASIM HASHIMZAI, Deputy Minister of Justice of Afghanistan, introducing the report, said that since 2001 human rights had enjoyed a special place in both the political process as well as the development agenda of Afghanistan. As a post-conflict country which had gone through decades of war with devastating impact on every single aspect of development, and as a least developed country with the worst human development indicators, Afghanistan had recognized the people-centred development model as the appropriate and ideal framework for the development vision of the country.

Mr. Hashimzai wanted to explain how the country’s National Development Strategy as well as the national legal and institutional frameworks had contributed to the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the country. Economic and social development constituted the main pillar of the National Development Strategy, giving the priority to reducing poverty, ensuring sustainable development through the private sector-led market economy, improving human development indicators, and making significant progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Within this pillar, there were six sectors relevant to the Covenant: infrastructure and natural resources; education; health; agriculture and rural development; social protection; economic governance and private sector development. Human rights was a sector in the second pillar of the strategy and gender was considered a cross cutting issue. Sectors relevant to the Covenant received a large portion of the core development budget.

Mr. Hashimzai said that the country had made a number of work-related achievements, including the consideration or passage of laws to strengthen workers’ rights.

The Government of Afghanistan considered health as a fundamental human right and this was enshrined in the Constitution. The health situation was worse in early 2002 when there were only 496 functioning primary healthcare facilities across the country serving a population of 25 million people. A survey conducted in 2002 indicated that a woman died of pregnancy-related causes every 27 minutes, which meant that each week about 370 families became motherless. This was essentially a death sentence for young children in this society.

In 2002, the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health decided to improve public health in an equitable and sustainable manner through quality healthcare service and a basic package of health services and an essential package of hospital services. Mr. Hashimzai said that to date these changes had made a demonstrable difference in the infant and child mortality rate, which had substantially decreased in recent years.

Mr. Hashimzai said that all school age children had access without discrimination to quality education. The Constitution also guaranteed that all ethnic groups and minorities in the country were recognized equally and the Ministry of Education had prepared textbooks for primary school children in local languages such as Uzbek, Turkmen, Pashai, Balochi, and Noristani. There were 7 million students in the country, 37 per cent of which were female, 160,128 teachers, and 12,763 schools.

Afghanistan had undertaken policies to assist in agriculture and rural development, including promoting sustainable natural resources development and management, promoting inclusive and equitable growth, and fostering market-led economic growth. In addition, Mr. Hashimzai said that Afghanistan had also implemented policies to develop human capital in the country as well as the economic sector and infrastructure.

Major gains had been made in adopting laws to strengthen the framework and mechanisms for human rights. The Independent Afghan Human Rights Commission had been established in 2001 and laid the initial foundation to address human rights issues in Afghanistan. The country had also adopted the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which made violence against women a crime whether committed at home or elsewhere and prescribed sentences for perpetrators. In addition, the Ministry of Women Affairs had been established, a draft law on family planning was under review, and the Shiaa Personal Status Law had been reviewed and adjusted to harmonize it with the Afghan Constitution and international human rights treaties.

Other steps that had been taken to strengthen the human rights protecting mechanisms were a new Media Law which guaranteed freedom of speech and publication. It provided a better environment for journalists and protected them from undue intimidation, violence, and censorship.

Despite all the efforts and commitments on the part of the Government in fulfilling its obligations on human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, Afghanistan still faced a number of challenges that had slowed its progress and created obstacles to their efforts to fully realize their goals in the area of human rights. Insecurity in some parts of the country had impeded economic and social development. The scarcity of resources to finance nationwide welfare programmes, in particular for the most vulnerable people, including the disabled, children, and women, was another challenge which required due attention. Afghanistan also needed to take steps to review and revise 700 laws currently in force to bring them into compliance with the new Constitution and international treaty laws.

Mr. Hashimzai reiterated that the implementation of programmes and reforms for the promotion of human rights in Afghanistan required cooperation and participation of all concerned governmental bodies, the civil society institutions and also direct cooperation of the international community, particularly international organizations active in the area of human rights. With their help, Afghanistan would gradually witness the improvement in the conditions of human rights. The delegation’s presence before the Committee was evidence of Afghanistan’s commitment to the further implementation, promotion, and protection of human rights in the country.

Questions by Experts

The first issue the Committee raised was whether the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had been invoked in Afghan courts and if so could examples be provided? The Committee pointed out that according to an independent human rights commission, there was no effective remedy to protect human rights in Afghanistan and people did not have faith in the judicial system. The delegation was asked what the country was willing to do to address this issue.

The Committee asked what was being done to address the security threat which constantly undermined society.

The delegation was asked if it could give any examples of how non-state dispute resolution mechanisms dealt with economic, social and cultural rights and ensured the realization of the equal standard of human rights.

The Committee said that it felt a bit awkward holding Afghanistan accountable under the articles of the Covenant because it was ravaged by decades of war and the Government did not even have control over all of the country, so how could they manage to meet their obligations under the Covenant?

A Committee Expert questioned the policy of pursuing a market economy as a way to meet the obligations under the Covenant in a country ravaged by war. Also, to what extent did the country offer human rights education?

A Committee Expert asked how the Government dealt with interpretations of Islam that would deny equal rights to women and girls.

A number of Committee members raised the issue of corruption as well as the drug problem facing the country.

How did the Government of Afghanistan envisage ways to deal with the atrocious challenges affecting women’s human rights, including underage marriages, forced marriages, marital rape, and trading women as chattel to settle debts? What were the obstacles faced in the implementation of the laws and standards governing the rights of women? Was it an economic issue, a policy issue, or a cultural issue? How did courts manage different legal frameworks and contradictions between the international treaty law and the Shiaa law?

Could the delegation explain why the Taliban drew support from people, an Expert asked?

An Expert pointed out that the delegation said their economic development model was people centred, but their examples of advances in this area only cited the reports they had submitted to international bodies and that was not a good measure of human rights achievements. Were there other examples the delegation could provide to illustrate their commitment to people centred economic development? Also, there were many expatriates living in Afghanistan to help rebuild the economy, what was the makeup of the civil service ranks in term of Afghan nationals?

A Committee Expert wanted to know which Millennium Development Goals were at risk of not being achieved.

What happened to cases filed with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission? What happened once they came up with their findings and was it true that the funding came largely from international groups and not from the Government?

Could the delegation provide information on the social services budget and how these funds were spent and how much came from international funds?

Regarding people with disabilities, an Expert said information had come before the Committee that the periodic report of Afghanistan did not accurately reflect the status of this community because the State characterized disabled people as those needing charity and medical services alone, rather than people entitled to the opportunity to lead full lives, integrated into mainstream society.

Were economic, social and cultural rights given the same status as civil and political rights? The State seemed to lack a comprehensive anti-discrimination law. Would the State party consider adopting one?

On the issue of domestic violence, the delegation was asked if there had been any cases of domestic violence that had been prosecuted and resulted in convictions. What was the status of the 21 cases that had been filed under the domestic violence law?

A Committee member asked about the formal and informal justice systems in Afghanistan. Could the formal and traditional systems be complimentary and did the traditional system take into account economic, social and cultural rights? Did the State or other stake holders undertake to make traditional justice practitioners aware of human rights and economic, social and cultural rights?

This report was prepared without input from any groups outside the Government, an Expert said. Would this change in the future and would the State include input from other stakeholders in future reports?

How did the Government assess the impact of economic, social and cultural rights on the policies of local authorities which were more intimately involved in the daily lives of the population?

What policies were in place to change cultural paradigms, regarding women for example, to help better implement economic, social and cultural rights in the country?

What mechanisms were in place to make sure that national laws were in accordance with international treaty obligations and did international laws take primacy over national legislation?

When was the last census taken and what statistical data did the State have to plan activities in the political sphere?

The Committee noted that non-governmental organizations seemed to function quite successfully inside and outside the country, so it asked the delegation what was being done by the Government to establish a constructive dialogue with all these non-governmental organizations to better serve the Afghan population.

In terms of people living in areas controlled by opposition forces or military forces, what was the applicability of the Covenant to these people?

The delegation was asked to clarify why the report described Afghanistan as a post-conflict country. Did they not consider themselves as still in conflict?

The country’s report made the point that most child labour and child trafficking was the result of extreme poverty and parents who felt that they had no choice but to have their children work. Would the State commit to providing a minimum standard of living so parents would not feel the need to do this?

Response by Delegation

In responding to the questions on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in courts, judiciary independence and corruption posed by the Committee, the delegation said that as soon as an international treaty was joined, its provisions were incorporated into domestic laws. The Government was taking steps to combat impunity via the courts, but there were also a number of claims and counter claims regarding violations of human rights and these had to be sorted out; Afghanistan was trying to do its best. Ten years ago the court situation was very bad, but there was a strategy laid out to strengthen the courts and the whole justice sector. Resources were devoted to this roadmap and lots of improvements had been made in this regard.

In terms of whether Afghanistan was a post-conflict society, the delegation said that after 2001 they were a post-conflict country, but then the conflict intensified so now they were in fact in the middle of a war.

Looking at violence against women, the delegation said Afghanistan was a State party to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and violence against women was illegal and prosecuted under the law.

On the issue of drug trafficking, the courts imposed severe punishment for these crimes and there was a separate prison built for people convicted of drug offenses in the centre of Afghanistan.

The delegation would not deny that there was a system of informal justice in the 50,000 villages throughout the country. In all the villages there was someone well known and respected who people would go to in order to solve land disputes, debt recovery, family issues and the like. There were restrictions on these traditional systems, for example the decisions had to be consistent with the laws of the country, although if parties agreed to the terms that was the end of the issue. They also could not consider criminal cases, only civil cases. People liked the traditional justice system because it was cheap, quick, and they trusted the elders. The delegation conceded that this raised some difficulties, for example when the decision went against the law and the welfare of the family and women, but there were remedies for this. The case could be taken to the regular court system and the court could render a decision to preserve their rights and apply human rights standards. The delegation did want to point out that the formal justice system was gaining popularity as courts were established in rural areas and people were taking more cases to them.

The Committee had asked how the free market economy would work if the Government did not control the country. In response, the delegation said that most of the provincial capitals and district capitals were under the control and authority of the central Government, courts were operating and the rule of law was implemented. Opposition forces operated mainly in the countryside, but the Government exerted its control over most parts of the country.

On the issue of discrimination against and inequality of women, the delegation said that women’s rights were a priority for the Government and equal rights were enshrined in the Constitution. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs had been established and there was endorsement of relevant laws such as the law criminalizing violence against women. All relevant agencies were allocated a budget based on their treatment of women’s issues, and increasing awareness of women about their rights was very important as well. To this end, the Government conducted campaigns in all provinces to increase the awareness of women regarding their rights. The delegation agreed that there were many challenges facing women in Afghanistan, including a low literacy rate of 12 per cent, low levels of security, a high poverty rate, and social and economic challenges. Low access to maternal health services and the high prevalence of violence against women had put Afghanistan in the unenviable position of having a lower life expectancy for women than for men.

Regarding Shiaa law, the delegation explained that there was a provision in the Constitution that said that minority groups could have their own family law, but after the international community raised its voice against the provisions in the Shiaa law, the law was amended to harmonize it with women’s and human rights requirements.

The delegation said that as soon as the country was doing better, it would fully finance and support the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, but currently it was paid for by the United Nations Development Programme. This body was empowered to register complaints and follow them up and the delegation saw the body becoming a very important force in Afghan society in the future.

Regarding humans rights education, the delegation said the curriculum for primary and secondary education had been revised and the topics of instruction included human rights, women’s rights, parents’ rights, elder rights, student rights, and animal rights, among other things. The right to free education until undergraduate study was enshrined in the Constitution.

The issue of corruption was raised by a number of members of the Committee, and the delegation said it had adopted and partly implemented the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. An oversight committee had been formed and two strategies had been introduced including an anti-corruption law. The State took a two-pronged approach to dealing with corruption which consisted of prevention and then punishment once it was found. They had also raised the salaries of civil servants and government appointments were now done on the basis of qualifications and competencies instead of people being appointed to positions based on cronyism or kickbacks. Public officials had to register their assets as well. There were also offices and courts set up to deal exclusively with corruption so measures had been taken to combat this problem. The delegation said that in some areas they were successful and in other areas they needed more work, but in their next periodic report they hoped to provide numbers showing a reduction in corruption.

The delegation said it was difficult to have a comprehensive anti-discrimination law in the country and perhaps one day they might be able to do so, but currently they had laws protecting women, children and minority groups.

On the topic of prosecuting domestic violence cases, the delegation assured the Committee that although they only saw reference to 20 such cases, there were many more in the pipeline to be heard by the courts. In the future they would publish law reports of cases so that people could see that these cases were being dealt with and it would also help to cut down on corruption if judges knew that their court decisions would be made public and be open to public scrutiny.

The delegation clarified for the Committee that the State had consulted civil society groups in drafting their periodic report.

The delegation went on to address the issue of how they monitored the implementation of the Covenant in the provinces. Each government agency, such as the Ministry of Health or Labour, was responsible for its regional offices making sure that the provisions of the Covenant were being implemented.

On the 700 laws that were under review, the delegation said that some of them were written before Afghanistan became party to the Convention and some were written afterward so they were going through them all to make sure they were compatible with international treaties.

Questions by Experts

In follow-up questions, Experts asked how economic, social and cultural rights figured in the national development strategy.

The Committee had a number of questions regarding employment in the country. The delegation was asked whether they had data on employment in the formal and informal sectors, what was the unemployment rate and was there a difference in the rate between men and women and for young people, and what concrete measures had been made to combat unemployment. The Committee also asked if Afghanistan had International Labour Organization assistance or had requested such assistance. In 2008 an International Labour Organization report stated that penal provisions should be reviewed because they could give rise to forced or obligatory labour. Had this review, and possible revision, of the penal code been undertaken?

Along the same lines, the Committee asked what was being done to combat child labour. Was there a standard minimum wage for the entire country or did it vary throughout the territory? Did the minimum wage provide a decent standard of living? Was there a gender disparity in terms of earnings of men and women and what was being done to address the imbalance? The delegation was also asked if there was equal opportunity of access to employment for both men and women. Was there a law prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace? It was noted that daily wage workers made up a huge proportion of people in the working population, and the Committee asked what was being done to guarantee their safety and rights and to protect them from being exploited.

There was a 2007 labour law on the books, but it did not seem to deal with the right to strike or collective bargaining. Was there a right to strike and how was it regulated? How did collective bargaining occur and how were disagreements resolved? If there were labour courts and tribunals, how were they made up and what were their powers? In terms of workplace safety, what was being done to ensure occupational health and safety?

The Committee commented that there did not seem to be a national plan for social security. Would it be possible to use some of the international aid the country received to begin to implement a national social security system?

In terms of the fight against corruption, there were reports that people were selected for civil service positions based on their political affiliations and not skills and competencies. What was the Government doing to combat these widespread practices that undermined people’s trust and fostered corruption?

The delegation was asked whether the country had the capacity to implement their international agreements in terms of labour laws. Child labour seemed like a very difficult problem to combat, so the Committee wanted to know to what extent were children who worked protected in terms of safety, non-exploitation and safeguarding their heath.

What role did agriculture play in the country’s development strategy and what was being done to boost this sector?

The training programmes that had been carried out had trained about 300,000 people, a puny amount considering the high rates of unemployment. What was being done to increase the reach of these programmes?

There were reports of Afghans living and working abroad being deprived of their earnings and rights, particularly labourers in the Gulf countries, and they had no recourse because they were largely undocumented. What was the State doing to protect their citizens abroad in keeping with human rights norms?

Response by Delegation

Responding to the numerous labour issues raised by the Committee, the delegation began by addressing the unemployment rate. Currently there were 3.5 million jobless people in Afghanistan which represented 33 per cent of the population, but it could be as high as 40 per cent in agricultural areas. Fifty nine per cent of Afghans worked in the agricultural sector. The Government had a good relationship with the International Labour Organization, which worked with the Ministry of Labour in the provinces outside Kabul to implement employment programmes.

Labour law and the Constitution both condemned forced labour in Afghanistan. In the country 1.2 million children worked as child labourers, but they had strategies in place to deal with the problem including literacy programmes, support for mothers, and programmes supported by the United Nations Children's Fund.

The minimum wage in the country differed across regions, but started at $65 and went as high as $125. The delegation conceded that this was not enough and they were hoping to raise the minimum wage to $150. The law did not allow for unequal pay between men and women.

In terms of collective bargaining, the delegation said that any conflicts between workers and employers went to the courts and the right to strike was enshrined in the Constitution. Regarding occupational safety, currently there was no monitoring of workplace safety by independent bodies.

Sexual harassment was criminalized, but a complaint had to be filed, first with the employer who had to determine if there was enough evidence to substantiate the complaint, and then it could be taken to court. In future when they established a labour court, these cases would be heard there.

The law did not allow children to work as they were supposed to go to school. If children were found to be working, employers could be taken to court because that was a violation of the law.

In terms of social security, the delegation said that was a programme for the future. A Committee member had suggested that perhaps Afghanistan could go to the international community for help, but the delegation said there were concerns about the manner in which the international community assisted Afghanistan, especially in the area of civil development programmes. International bodies had their own agenda while the Government of Afghanistan had its own plan and most of the donors were not interested in supporting social security schemes or subsidizing salaries (except for police and prison officers). The international community was not keen to make that commitment right now, although the Afghan Government really wanted to establish a social security system.

There was a civil service commission, an independent body, which tested candidates for jobs and awarded them scores based on a point system.

In terms of collective bargaining and labour complaints, workers could file complaints with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Strikes and demonstrations were allowed, as long as authorities were given 24 hours notice. The Government was very lenient with these things, even when strikers and demonstrators did not give police the requisite notice.

The delegation wanted to stress to the Committee that most of the Government’s resources were spent on the war, but it was determined to provide all the civil society services that people needed including keeping the courts working and providing social services and safety for people.

In terms of technical training, the delegation said that while only 300,000 people had participated in training programmes to date, that was only the beginning and they were hoping to do more in the future. There were training centres in provincial areas as well as Kabul, and young people were getting additional training after graduation and before going into the job market.

After three decades of war, the number of professional people in the country was very low, but they needed a professional class to help rebuild the country. The first choice of course was to provide job opportunities to Afghan people, but if there was no one to fill the skilled or professional position the employer could offer the job to a worker from abroad.

Questions by Experts

In follow-up questions, Committee members asked how far the minimum wage went in Afghanistan in terms of providing housing, clothing, and food for families. They requested concrete information from the delegation on this issue, and on the pay of men versus women. Of course it was illegal to have gender disparities in terms of pay, but how did this really work in practice? This was also applicable to the laws against sexual harassment. There might be a law on the books criminalizing sexual harassment, but everyone knew that filing a complaint and having the infraction prosecuted was not always as easy as it sounded.

The Committee also wanted to know the share of women in high-level government posts and public life and a Committee member reiterated questions regarding the role of the agricultural sector in the National Development Strategy.

Response by Delegation

The delegation said that they were touched by the high volume of interest in the status of women in Afghanistan. It was a problem in the country, but the Government was committed to promote and enforce gender mainstreaming in Government institutions. Women comprised 28 per cent of the Afghanistan parliament and women were ambassadors, heads of commissions, governors and active members of political parties. This was in contrast to 2001 when women were deprived of their basic human rights.

On the topic of sexual harassment, the delegation said there was a recent law approved by the parliament and an article of that law dealt with sexual harassment and provided for sentencing for violations of that law.

Regarding the International Labour Organization, the delegation said it was going to help Afghanistan with labour and social security issues, but would not subsidize social security and allocate a chunk of money to it. The ILO would offer advice and assistance. The ultimate goal of the Government was to have universal unemployment and social security benefits, but that was for the future as the Government did not have the resources to do this right now.

In terms of the informal sector, that referred mainly to millions of people in the agricultural sector and when they had a system of social security those people would be covered.

Questions by Experts

The Committee raised concerns about the fates of widows in Afghan society. It was their understanding that women who were widowed were then given to their husband’s brother and if he had no brother she was given to someone else and her possessions were taken from her. Was this in fact the case?

The Committee also wanted to know what was being done to take care of street children and whether corporal punishment was prohibited in the home.

Thirty per cent of the national budget was allocated for women’s issues, but did this include health and education, or was it exclusive of those areas? Where were these resources going exactly?

A Committee Expert asked if the delegation could clarify how the Constitution and other laws were reconciled with the Shiaa law because they found it hard to believe that women could file complaints with traditional authorities and have their rights upheld under these Shiaa personal laws.

The Committee also raised concerns about the trafficking of women and children and the culture of silence surrounding this issue. The delegation was asked what steps had been taken to prevent and combat child trafficking, to prosecute offenders and to provide shelter and rehabilitation to its victims.

The issue was raised of access to healthcare and what was covered by the basic healthcare plan, what was being done to increase the number of doctors and nurses in the country as well as provide access to reproductive and sexual healthcare? The Committee wanted to know what role traditional cultural beliefs played in limiting access of women to the healthcare system and how effective had mobile health teams been in bringing healthcare to rural areas?

In terms of protection of the family, were there any special legislative provisions to allow for that or was it covered under the provision for the protection of marriage?

An Expert noted that the State’s poverty reduction strategy did not identify who were the poor, why they were poor, why they remained poor and how the poverty reduction strategy incorporated economic, social and cultural rights. How did this strategy address marginalized groups and individuals? The delegation was also asked to provide figures on food insecurity and their food security programme that had not been launched.

A Committee Expert said there were chronic and severe housing conditions in both rural and urban areas, yet the State’s report made no mention of the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and whether they had acted on these recommendations. This also raised the issue of housing for internally displaced persons who were living in informal settlements with no running water or electricity or access to educational facilities and there was also the issue of land disputes. What impact had the new land management act had on these land disputes? The State was very frank in their report about forced evictions and the lack of compensation for people who were victims. Was there a framework law dealing with forced evictions and did it take into consideration the Committee’s General comment number seven on this issue? The problem of homelessness had also not been addressed.

There were laws that said that the legal marriage age of girls was 16, but there were reports that up to 57 per cent of girls were married under this age, an Expert said. What had been done to combat this problem?

A Committee Expert pointed out that the report of Afghanistan did not include information about forced marriages and early marriages of girls, which violated their rights to education and raised a number of risk factors for girls, including the risk of violence. The Expert recognized that it was a cultural and religious problem, but wanted to know what the Government was doing to address the issue.

There seemed to be inconsistent data on infant mortality rates and the Committee asked the delegation if it could clarify the statistics as well as what programmes were being undertaken to ameliorate the problem.

What programmes were in place to assist older people, an Expert asked?

A Committee Expert raised the issue of migrant workers, particularly Afghan nationals who went to Iran to work and escape poverty in Afghanistan. These undocumented workers were often exploited by human smugglers as well as employers, and the delegation was asked whether the Government of Afghanistan had spoken to the Government of Iran about the treatment of these workers and what had been done to try to improve their condition.

In terms of women who ran away from home to escape abuse and ill treatment, there were reports that they were often criminalized when they went to the authorities and were not treated like victims, but were instead sent back to the home they tried to escape. What was being done about this?

Due to the war, there were a number of orphaned children who had lost one or both parents. What was the situation of these children? There were indications that their rights to education, health and a decent standard of living were curtailed. Also, how were orphanages, both public and private, regulated?

Were there any examples the delegation could provide of cases of underage marriage, violence against women, or human trafficking that had been prosecuted?

Response by Delegation

The delegation began their response to the Committee’s numerous questions by addressing the issue of corporal punishment, which was forbidden by law in schools and monitored by the Ministry of Education. Obviously, corporal punishment happened in the home and although it was prohibited by law there was no way of knowing when it happened, and if it was not reported by the victim or a neighbour they had no way of dealing with it. They had also begun an awareness campaign through the media and the mullahs who preached against it in the mosques.

Of the 21 cases reported under the new law prohibiting violence against women, only one of them had been prosecuted thus far. There were a number of shelters for abused women that were run by international organizations and the victims could stay there while the case went to court.

In terms of the Shiaa personal law and marital rape, the delegation said there were a lot of loopholes that were inconsistent with national and international law, but after a review of the law 70 provisions were taken out to harmonize it with the State laws.

The Government was trying to combat poverty by increasing the income of people living below the poverty line to $ 3 per day. Other attempts to combat poverty included programmes to improve agriculture, build roads in rural areas, provide clean drinking water, support micro financing and increase health access in rural areas. The World Bank had also financed a “Safety Net” programme, which would be implemented nationally at some point.

After the fall of the Taliban, the Government had faced extreme challenges in meeting the needs of its citizens, including access to healthcare. The delegation said that disparities existed in gender, geography and socio economic sectors in terms of access to heath care. The Ministry of Public Health began a programme to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates by bringing healthcare to rural areas with 22,000 community health workers, the establishment of community nursing centres, nurse training programmes and the recruitment and training of midwives. Their goal was to reduce by 50 per cent the under-5 mortality rate by 2015 as well as a 50 per cent reduction in maternal mortality. Also, the Government was working to decrease the infection rates of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections and malaria. The Government was working to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation, particularly in rural areas.

The Ministry of Public Health had also established mobile health teams and medical sub centres in an effort to reach people in remote areas.

The delegation said that to combat food insecurity, the State was working in consultation with UN agencies to build agricultural infrastructure and establish an emergency fund for food emergencies.

The delegation then turned to the issues of child labour, street children and child trafficking. Afghanistan was party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the International Labour Organization convention that called for elimination of the worst forms of child labour and a minimum recruitment age of children. They had held workshops and seminars on the prevention of child labour and had developed a child protection network of governmental and non-governmental organizations. They had also increased support to families to reduce the need for them to put their children to work. According to a report, there were 1.2 million child workers in Afghanistan working in different sectors, with 25 per cent of child workers being under the age of six, 41 per cent between the ages of six and nine, 35 per cent between ages nine and twelve and 9 per cent between ages twelve and fifteen. With financial aid from United Nations Children's Fund, Afghanistan had completed a quality survey to identify the factors and root causes that led to child labour and this would help them address the problems and implement solutions. The State had also begun awareness raising campaigns that highlighted the danger of work to child health and the interruption of their education.

In terms of child trafficking, the Government had signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children and child pornography. The Government had established three protection centres to assist victims of trafficking and 1,125 trafficking cases had been registered between 2006 and 2009, with only 64 cases of trafficking in 2009, a remarkable decrease. The law also prohibited prosecution of the victims of trafficking, provided medical care for them, and reunited children with their families when possible. They had also increased border control and monitoring centres and used diplomatic channels with neighbouring countries to get cooperation and assistance to control trafficking.

There were 64 orphanages in Afghanistan, which housed more than 13,500 children. Some of them were supported by private funds, but these were monitored by the Government which checked on them periodically to ensure they met Government standards.

The delegation explained that in Afghanistan, the culture differed from that of western culture in terms of elder care. Most elders lived with their children or grandchildren, but the Government was hoping to establish a more comprehensive elder care programme and perhaps in the future they could set up a senior citizens home or other centres, but this had not been undertaken.

Regarding migrant workers, the delegation said they did not want their young people to go abroad, but there were opportunities in Iran. Taking into account this reality, the State had talked to the Government of Iran and Iran said it would be willing to offer work to Afghanis legally and with proper documentation. Negotiations between the two countries were under way and they were near to signing a protocol about the settlement of workers in Iran.

The issue of land ownership was a difficult one in Afghanistan because whenever the Government claimed a piece of land someone would come along with a deed and said it belonged to them. In the last few years, $27 million had been spent on settling land claims. This had an impact on the refugee situation because the Government needed land in order to settle people and alleviate the housing shortage.

Regarding women who escaped abusive homes, the delegation said there was no law against this, but there were many cultural issues involved. The only solution was to house them in shelters until the cases could be prosecuted. These shelters offered training programmes to help women become self-sufficient, but there were also reconciliation programmes to help them work things out at home with their husbands.

Questions by Experts

Follow-up questions posed by the Committee included the issue of imams and their role in society. Were these imams enlisted in helping to shape public opinion on issues of rights of women and children and human rights?

The Committee had a number of questions regarding healthcare and it was interested in knowing whether there was an issue with regard to recruiting female nurses in Afghanistan. Would it be possible to make their training shorter in order to get more nurses out in the field faster? What was the percentage of the budget allocated to healthcare and what percentage of that was earmarked for sexual and reproductive health? Was the public health system being given priority so that people could have access to healthcare?

The Committee commented that poverty seemed to be a major issue in the popularity of opposition groups, and asked what the Government was doing to specifically address the nexus between poverty and extremism.

Response by Delegation

The delegation said the Committee was right in assuming that imams played a huge role in shifting public opinion in the country. For this reason, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Endowment had been provided with a huge budget that paid the expenses and salaries of the imams. The imams were then asked to spread the message on various topics ranging from child rearing to sanitation in accordance with international norms.

The delegation agreed that the Committee was correct in saying that more than 30 per cent of the population lived under the poverty line and this was a recruitment area for opposition groups. People who lived in rural areas where these groups were strongest did not have electricity or job opportunities and this made the opposition groups more appealing. Despite this, a programme was underway by international agencies to employ people in building roads and other jobs to provide salaries and an adequate standard of living to reduce the appeal of the Taliban and other such groups.

In terms of the disaggregated numbers on healthcare spending, the delegation said the healthcare budget was an integrated system focused on maternal and child health so it was hard to separate what percentage of the budget went solely to reproductive health issues. The delegation would try to get the Committee that information.

With regards to public healthcare, the country was focused on building a public healthcare system for primary and secondary care, while the private sector would be asked to provide tertiary care. There were also public/private partnerships.

The delegation said there was no problem recruiting women to be nurses, but the literacy level among women was low so that raised an issue in terms of getting nurses trained and out into the field.

Questions by Experts

A Committee Expert expressed doubts of Afghanistan achieving the goal of ending inequality between men and women in education by 2020. What solutions was the State pursuing to remedy this? Also, what was being done to provide equal education to minorities?

Reservations were also expressed about the State’s ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals and a Committee Expert asked whether the donor nations were aware of the obstacles the State was facing in meeting them and if they were doing anything about it.

Turning to cultural rights, an Expert said Denmark and Switzerland had been asked to return relics that were illegally removed from Afghanistan. What had been the response to this request? Also, what was the Government doing in practice to protect and preserve cultural and archaeological sites and to prevent the pillaging of antiquities and cultural items from the country?

A Committee Expert asked if there was a plan to protect local languages and promote the local music and culture of communities, some of which were on the verge of collapse.

A Committee Expert raised the point that the curriculum in colleges regarding home economics was only aimed at women and pointed out that men should have to take these courses as well. This approach gave the impression that only women should be concerned with household matters and enforced the very stereotypes they were trying to change.

The Committee commented that more than 5 million children in Afghanistan still lacked access to education. This represented 7 per cent of the total number of children throughout the world who did not go to school and this was worrisome. There were not enough secondary schools for children who finished primary school, and there were also not enough high schools for children who finished secondary school. What was being done to address this lack of facilities?

It was noted that approximately 60 per cent of school age girls were not in school, largely because parents did not want their girls walking long distances to school because they worried for their safety. There was also a lack of qualified female teachers and parents often would not let their girl children be taught by men. The delegation was asked what was being done to increase the number of female teachers and increase the access to educational facilities so that children did not have to walk long distances to school. Was there something that could be done to help parents meet the costs of school uniforms and books to increase the opportunity for all children to go to school? How widespread was the phenomenon of trying to hinder girls from going to school and had anyone been prosecuted for attacks on girls who were attempting to go to school?

What percentage of the national budget was allocated to education?

Response by Delegation

The delegation said that in terms of meeting the Millennium Development Goals, they had set benchmarks in all areas and this included public awareness and building the infrastructure needed to meet these benchmarks.

In terms of safeguarding cultural monuments and cultural life, Afghanistan had signed a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) convention and they had their own law as well. Museums across the country had been looted during the upheaval, including the Kabul Museum. The State had discussed recovery of the looted relics with the international community as these items were now in museums and in the hands of private collectors. How could they recover them? The delegation said these items should be considered stolen property and the principle of stolen property should be applied to the looted artefacts to help recover them.

The delegation said that mass media was helping to promote and protect the music and art of local communities, despite the desire of some groups to ban music.

According to the Constitution, education was an inalienable right and free education up to the undergraduate level would be provided to all Afghans, including minority groups. Classes were taught in the mother tongue of regions and textbooks in local languages were used in instruction.

Closing Remarks

MOHAMMED QASIM HASHIMZAI, Deputy Minister of Justice for Afghanistan, in closing remarks said that the delegation came from a country devastated by 30 years of war. The ongoing war had not stopped them, however from embarking on development projects. This was the first time the delegation had presented a report, and they had learned a great deal and they would invest what they had learned in preparing and presenting future reports. They would take all the Committee’s recommendations into account and apply them to future reports as well. Mr. Hashimzai said time constraints prevented them from going into greater depth in their answers, but he hoped they were able to answer some of the Committee members’ questions.

JAIME MARCHAN ROMERO, Committee Chairperson, said the questions asked were meant to help further economic, social and cultural rights in Afghanistan and cover the 20 years in which they had not submitted a report. The Committee appreciated the high level of the delegation that presented the report and understood the extreme obstacles faced by the country. It was helpful to know what obstacles were faced by the country and these would be taken into account when formulating the concluding observations and making recommendations. Mr. Romero said it had been a very pleasant meeting for the Committee and they looked forward to any additional information the delegation cared to provide.
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