Meeting on Combating Violence against Women in Sustainable Peace

A meeting titled "Combating Violence against Women in Sustainable Peace" coincided with the 16-Day Campaign to Eliminate Violence against Women, was held at the State Ministry for Peace with the participation of officials from the Ministry.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Abdul Khaliq Balakarzai, the Deputy Minister for Coordination of Tribal Affairs of the State Ministry for Peace, said: "During the four decades of war in Afghanistan, women have suffered a lot of violence and now it is the duty of all of us to contribute to the prevention of violence against women.
He also said that issues of violence against women are addressed to some extent in the big cities of the country; but more needs to be done to promote elimination of violence against women in remote areas.
Dr. Alema, the Deputy Minister of Human Rights and Civil Society of the State Ministry for Peace, also told the meeting that women and children are the main victims of the conflict in the country. Pointing out that there is a direct link between war, conflict and violence, she stressed that women should play a key role in the Afghan peace process.
She added: “In the last two decades, despite security challenges, Afghan women have also had achievements in the political, social and economic fields, and women have been active in all these arenas."
Dr. Alema said that the experience of peace negotiations in different countries shows that peace processes are successful when they involve women, adding that it is not just a matter of reaching a political agreement in the peace process; It is important to address women's issues in the post-conflict era and to implement agreements in favor of women.
Sina Shena Mansour, the Deputy Attorney General for Combating Violence against Women, Child Violations and Human Rights, also addressed the meeting, presenting statistics on cases related to violence against women, and spoke about the functions and achievements of the Attorney General's Office in combating violence against women.
A presentation on the results of a questionnaire previously distributed to female employees of the State Ministry for Peace, was also presented.
Ghulam Yahya Abbasi, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Administration of the Ministry, concluded the meeting with highlighting the main points, and said: "The ministry has always tried to pay attention to issues related to female employees and has held several meetings in this regard." 
He further said that initial steps are being taken to establish a committee to prevent violence against women in the State Ministry for Peace, and a committee will be set up soon to this end.