§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to encourage Afghanistan to ratify CEDAW. [101228]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienWe 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 a previous Afghan Government signed in 1980, but did not ratify) are key to restoring the rights of women in Afghanistan.
We continue to encourage the Afghan Transitional Administration to work towards ratification of CEDAW. We raised this most recently with the Afghan Minister for Women, Habiba Sarabi, when she visited the UK from 9–15 February 2003. We also co-sponsored the 2002 UN Commission on the Status of Women Resolution on Afghanistan, which urged the Afghan authorities to give high priority to ratification of CEDAW, and to consider signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention.
§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made on women's access to justice in Afghanistan. [101230]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienLack of capacity in the judicial and legal sector means that access to justice remains difficult for all Afghans. Women face particular problems including in exercising their rights to property and to divorce. Women are represented on the Drafting Committee of the Constitutional Commission, tasked with drafting a new constitution, and on the Judicial Commission, responsible for overseeing development of the legal system. This should help to ensure that women's needs are taken into account in the reform process.
We have recently pledged £1 million to support the United Nations Development Programme's work on rebuilding the justice sector in Afghanistan, in partnership with the Judicial Commission. A major focus of their work will be to improve women's access to justice.