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CASE STUDY: Afghanistan - global governance of human rights in
an area of conflict
● Afghanistan is a landlocked, mountainous country that is located in southwest
Asia
...

Smaller countries like Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan border
Afghanistan in the north
...
468 and around 65% of the
population live on less than $2/day
...

● Only 5
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● 25% of the population live in urban areas
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● This was the first military alliance that the US had entered into, during
peacetime
...

● NATO also has a military role - if diplomatic efforts to solve conflicts fail, then
member nations can vote to use military force (under Article 5 of the treaty)
...

IMF
● The International Monetary Fund aims to reduce global poverty and
encourage economic growth through international trade and financial stability
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● The IMF was set up in 1944 and now has 189 member countries
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Quick history of Afghanistan
● In 1978, there was a bloody coup to overthrow the Afghan government
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● Therefore, all levels of society (including peasants and academics) joined the
resistance against this regime
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● The resistance forces grew into the Mujahideen - ordinary Afghan men who
started fighting against the Soviets
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● At that point, Ahmadzi was in charge of Afghanistan
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● In 1996, the Taliban arrived in Kabul to liberate its people from the warlords
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● In 2001, George W Bush invaded Afghanistan in the fight against Osama Bin
Laden and Al Qaeda
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g
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● Now, Afghanistan has been engaged in some form of conflict for the past 38
years
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● The UNAMA recorded 2,640 war-related civilian deaths in the first 9 months of
2017
...
In
that attack, insurgents reportedly dressed as doctors shot dead patients in
their beds
...
7 million people nationwide
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Nevertheless,
rapes are rarely reported in the country
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g
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● The rights of children are not always recognised in Afghanistan - almost half
of detained children reported being tortured or mistreated and only in 2017
was sexual abuse against boys criminalised
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This shows that
inequality was worsening and the rights of the child not being upheld
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g
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● Over 10,000 civilians were killed in conflict in 2018 - this is potentially a 5-fold
increase since 2017
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In May 2020, a militant attack on a Kabul maternity ward killed 2 babies and 12
mothers and nurses
...

Whilst no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, many similar events in this
mostly Shia area have been attributed to IS
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Strategies
NATO and ISAF
● NATO led the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from 2003-2014,
in order to strengthen the Afghan security forces and reduce the risk of
terrorist attacks
...

● In December 2014, NATO/ISAF forces withdrew leaving Afghanistan’s
security fully in the hands of the Afghan forces
...

● So basically NATO is trying to train Afghan soldiers to protect the country from
IS and the Taliban, but these extremist groups have said that they will not
cease attacks until all foreign troops have left the country
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● The UN works with NGOs and the Afghan government, with aims to promote
respect for human rights laws, promote accountability and allow refugees,
women and displaced persons to enjoy all their rights (as an estimated
750,000 people are displaced in Afghanistan)
...
HOWEVER… around 80% of suicides
are committed by women (suggesting poor mental health linked to
conflict/trauma of sexual violence)
...
g
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● At the centre of this project is the election of Community Development
Councils (CDCs) - these are locally elected and plans are submitted which
meet the needs of the area (e
...
upgrading housing, infrastructure, sanitation
and schools)
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● This is good because more women are engaged in projects and it provides
employment opportunities, improved roads and drainage and greater
provision of shops
...
Also only some of the CDCs are of mixed gender women still do not have equal rights
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Afghan government
● Has joined the Economic Cooperation Organisation (but HDI is still 0
...

● Has passed laws to ensure independent elections and worked with UNAMA to
implement the Violence Against Women Elimination Act (2009) - (but in 2018,
400 civilian voters were killed)
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Around 46% of women are
married before they turn 18 and 87% of Afghan women have experienced
some form of violence
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ICRC

● This is the NGO the Red Cross, which in 2017 donated 150 sets of materials
for treating war wounds to hospitals in Afghanistan
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● They also helped facilitate the transfer of fighters’ and civilians’ bodies to their
families
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Afghanistan is also one of the few countries where Polio remains
endemic
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● Utilises funding from the UN and support from the Afghan government
...
These individual
groups are brought together to design and implement projects - for example,
Afghan Aid training and EU funding have introduced more effective
agricultural practices, secured safe water supplies and have improved
hygiene
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● They also run 580 literacy training courses for women, with 98% of female
participants in Afghan Aid’s training programmes saying that their confidence
has increased
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● They also deliver emergency assistance and training in preparation for natural
disasters like earthquakes
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This was seen by many to be unsuccessful (link to 80% suicides female)
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● MMR has halved since 2001
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● In 2000, 90% of Afghanistan was controlled by the Taliban and now it is 60%
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● Women are less oppressed now, having been freed from Taliban rule HOWEVER… many women still live in Taliban-controlled areas and many are
scared that if recent peace talks with the government fail, they may be under
threat again

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