§ 31. Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on the implementation of the Bonn agreement with respect to women's human rights. [39596]
§ Mr. BradshawSince the signing of the Bonn Agreement on 5 December, progress has been made in restoring rights to women in Afghanistan. We have encouraged the involvement of women in the Afghan Interim Administration and the Special Commission for the Convening of the Loya Jirga, established under the Bonn Agreement. We welcome the appointment of two women to the Cabinet of the Interim Administration, including Dr. Sima Samar as Vice Chair and Minister for Women, and three women to the Loya Jirga Commission.
Women have begun to return to work and girls are going back to school. We welcome the commitment made at the Tokyo Donor's Conference by Hamid Karzai, Chair of the Interim Administration, to ensure that the needs of women are a high priority in the reconstruction process. Life for women in Afghanistan has always been difficult. Afghanistan has more than a million war widows. NGO and UN run projects to get women back to work will have a huge impact on the lives of many Afghan women and children.
But more needs to be done. We have long said that we would expect any Afghan Government to recognise international human rights norms, including women's rights. We believe that adherence to international human rights norms, including the UN Charter and CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which the then Afghanistan government signed on 14 August 1980, but did not ratify) are key to restoring the rights of women.