{"id":2636,"date":"2014-02-05T12:19:16","date_gmt":"2014-02-05T10:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=2636"},"modified":"2014-08-22T13:03:22","modified_gmt":"2014-08-22T11:03:22","slug":"unveiling-afghanistan-the-unheard-voices-of-progress-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2014\/02\/unveiling-afghanistan-the-unheard-voices-of-progress-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"“Unveiling Afghanistan, the Unheard Voices of Progress\u201d Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"e-1\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnveiling Afghanistan, the Unheard Voices of Progress\u201d is a campaign by\u00a0<\/b>Armanshahr<\/a><\/b>\u00a0&\u00a0<\/b>FIDH<\/a><\/b>,\u00a0in advance of the historic presidential election in Afghanistan set for April 2014, which explores views held by Afghan civil society actors.\u00a0Over 100 days, 100 influential social, political, and cultural actors\u00a0hope to\u00a0spark conversation and debate about building a society that is inclusive of women\u2019s and human rights in Afghanistan.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

After more than 30 years of war, Afghanistan\u2019s progress towards democratisation remains extremely fragile. Afghanistan is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. 75% of the population are illiterate, with the great majority of Afghans having been born after the Soviet invasion of 1979. Afghanistan suffers the world\u2019s highest rate of infant mortality (134 per 1,000 live births) and an average life expectancy of just 48.1 years.<\/p>\n

Crippled by war, poverty, societal divisions, and devastating underdevelopment, government institutions are weak,\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0rule of law and effective governance\u00a0almost non-existent. Despite these overwhelming obstacles, hope lives on in the citizen population.Ordinary citizens, notably\u00a0women and a new young generation of civil society actors<\/b>,\u00a0have unfailingly demonstrated their faith in progress, justice and democratization in Afghanistan. These individuals,\u00a0the positive actors for change in Afghanistan<\/b>, are put in the spotlight by the \u201cUnveiling Afghanistan\u201d campaign.<\/p>\n

Signs of rupture with the previous regime are numerous. Citizens, old and young, have eagerly participated in elections. Parents have sent their daughters, excluded from education under the Taliban, back to school in droves. Tens of thousands of Afghans, both male and female, have applied to university; rates so high that the universities cannot absorb the level of interest. Teachers, despite their meagre salaries, have returned to schools and kept their doors open. Women and girls defend their rights to study at school and university and work in modern and challenging jobs. They are exercising their civic rights by voting and even standing as candidates in elections. New political parties and movements with pro-democracy agendas have been registered; educated and committed representatives have entered parliament. There has been a proliferation of the media, with hundreds ofsuccessful radios, televisions, newspapers launched. Simultaneously, civil society has expanded, with new organisations and networks, cultural, artistic and sporting initiatives set up to promote civic participation and human rights, including women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnveiling Afghanistan\u201d will give voice to the demands of women for an open and inclusive society in Afghanistan. Critically, it willpromote women\u2019s participation<\/b>\u00a0in the electoral process, by\u00a0building awareness and knowledge\u00a0<\/b>amongst\u00a0women about their fundamental rights and electoral choices. It will\u00a0shape public opinion<\/b>\u00a0and promote the\u00a0analysis of the strengths and shortcomings<\/b>\u00a0of mid- and long-term strategies, at the national and international level, for\u00a0dealing with discrimination against women and human rights violations in Afghanistan. In so doing, \u201cUnveiling Afghanistan\u201d will\u00a0contribute to the emergence of a culture of democracy, human rights, and gender equality<\/b>.<\/p>\n

The context of the campaign<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/b>The \u201cUnveiling Afghanistan\u201d campaign kicked off its programme in collaboration with the Institut fran\u00e7ais d\u2019Afghanistan (IFA) of\u00a0CELEBRATION WEEK OF HUMAN RIGHTS DAY IN KABUL<\/a>\u00a0supported by numerous international and national stakeholders with a full week of specialised human rights training,\u00a0round tables<\/a>\u00a0with high level stakeholders and numerous cultural,\u00a0musical<\/a>\u00a0and artistic programs. It include also a\u00a0photo exhibition<\/a>\u00a0of a selection of personalities interveiwed for the Campaign.<\/p>\n

An interview a day will be published in the lead-up to the April 2014 elections in the best\u00a0Afghanistan daily 8 Sobh<\/strong><\/a> and Huffington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also a series of FACE TO FACE public debates leading to elections bringing youth and women together to put forward their grievances and demands to presidential and regional candidates. \u00a0Finally a second edition of the high visibility International Women\u2019s Film Festival- Herat will be held for a week in order to commemorate 8th\u00a0of March Women\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Background information on Armanshahr\/OPEN ASIA
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>Armanshahr\/OPEN ASIA is a human rights NGO committed to supporting a community of informed\u00a0and committed citizens for democracy in Afghanistan. Founded 17 years ago, Armanshahr brings\u00a0together progressive minds and promotes action for human rights, democracy, women\u2019s equality,\u00a0justice, and the rule of law. It operates in Middle Asia, namely Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Iran.\u00a0Armanshahr\u2019s mission is to create environments suitable for democratic debate and exchange in\u00a0the public arena.
\nIn 2010, Armanshahr launched the Simorgh Peace Prize, celebrated every 30 months. The prize\u00a0recognises outstanding artistic expressions (music, poems, arts, publishers) which speak against\u00a0war, violence and discrimination.<\/p>\n

Armanshahr is also an active human rights publishing house, having published more than 120,000\u00a0books in Afghanistan under several series including \u201cLet\u2019s Break the Silence (Human rights),\u00a0\u201cWomen\u201d, \u201cDialogue”, \u201cLiterature” and \u201cYouth\u201d. Armanshahr\u00a0also\u00a0publishes \u201cPolitis-asia\u201d, a journal\u00a0on contemporary issues, a periodical on human rights and civil society, and several weekly \u201cWatch\u201d\u00a0e-bulletins on human rights and women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan. Armanshahr\u00a0has produced several documentaries, such as Eye (I) Witness (<\/span>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>?v=RWuOq72YSd8), <\/span>in which victims of war share their experiences through interviews.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In March 2013, Armanshahr, in collaboration with Roya Film House, founded the first International\u00a0Women’s Film Festival in Herat. The festival brought together 100 films and more than 1,500\u00a0people to the ancient Herat Citadel. It was supported by major national and international media\u00a0houses, regional film festivals, and more than 40 civil society organisations. The festival promoted\u00a0female filmmakers, documentaries, dialogue and exchange in Afghanistan, the region and beyond.\u00a0The second edition of the Women’s Film Festival is planned for\u00a0International Women’s Day on\u00a08\u00a0March 2014.<\/p>\n

Background information on FIDH <\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nFounded in 1922 by 15 human rights groups, FIDH now unites 178 national organizations from 117 countries, that collaborate on strategies and activities to promote universal human rights standards.
\nFIDH acts with member and partner organizations to monitor, document and alert the international community on human rights situations and cases of violations, focusing on 6 priority areas:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 protecting and supporting human rights defenders;
\n\u2022 promoting women\u2019s and migrants\u2019 rights;
\n\u2022 building and utilizing effective justice systems and bringing perpetrators to justice.
\n\u2022 strengthening respect for human rights in the context of globalization; and
\n\u2022 supporting victims of serious violations in times of conflict or transition.<\/p>\n

FIDH believes that sustainable societal change and genuine respect for human rights will result from actions led by local communities, supported by mobilisation at the national, regional and international levels. This interaction governs FIDH\u2019s decision-making processes, its programs, and its operations, setting FIDH apart as uniquely representative and responsive to communities affected by human rights violations. FIDH merges the local understanding and field experience of its partners with expertise in international law, mechanisms of protection and intergovernmental advocacy. FIDH places its member organizations at the heart of its decision-making processes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cUnveiling Afghanistan\u201d is a campaign by Armanshahr & FIDH, in advance of April 2014 elections in Afghanistan. Over 100 days, 100 influential social, political, & cultural actors hope to spark conversation about building a society inclusive of women\u2019s and human rights. Follow the Armanshahr Campaign on this site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,165,90,89,16,85,26,88,222],"tags":[188],"class_list":["post-2636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan","category-armanshahr-campaigns","category-editor-selection","category-events","category-expert-narratives","category-human-rights","category-lets-break-the-silence","category-slider","category-unveiling-afghanistan-campaign","tag-unveiling-afghanistan","country-afghanistan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2636"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3779,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636\/revisions\/3779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}