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REPORT ON THE THIRD SURVEY OF WOMEN AND MEN IN DECISION-

MAKING 2016

PUBLISHED BY:

CENTRAL STATISTICS ORGANIZATION AFGHANISTAN

WITH TECHNICAL & FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM

UN WOMEN, AFGHANISTAN COUNTRY OFFICE

JANUARY 2017

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PREFACE

The Survey of Women and Men in Decision-making 2016 was successfully conducted by

Central Statistics Organization (CSO) as a follow up to previous exercises in 2009 and 2013.

This volume is the outcome of a six-month effort by CSO and its dedicated staff.

The information contained in this report provides the latest updates on the extent to which

women and men are represented in decision-making positions in Afghanistan including in

government or public sector organizations, the private sector and non-governmental

organizations (NGOs).

The survey shows the size, structure and distribution of decision-makers by sex and sector

(government, private and NGO). It reveals the socio-demographic characteristics of decision-

makers and the challenges women face in participation in decision-making processes. The data

obtained through this survey will form an evidence base for government and development

partners to design new interventions, monitor ongoing plans and programmes, and assess the

effectiveness of completed initiatives related to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

I request all data users to fully utilize the wealth of information contained in this report. CSO

always welcomes its esteemed users’ constructive suggestions, which will be invaluable in

helping us improve our performance in future surveys.

Sher Mohammad Jamizada

President General

Central Statistics Organization

Kabul, Afghanistan

January 2017

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FOREWORD

I congratulate the CSO, Afghanistan, on the successful completion of its Survey of Women

and Men in Decision-making 2016.

This report provides invaluable data on the current status of women and men in decision-

making positions and processes in Afghanistan. The accurate, relevant and timely statistics

presented here will enable government and development actors in this area in promoting gender

equality and empowerment of women, showing both the advances made in previous years, and

areas where much remains to be done.

The findings of the survey clearly indicate the wide gap that remains between targets and

achievements in the representation of women in decision-making positions. These findings will

help in revisions of ongoing plans and policies and to set realistic goals for increasing women’s

representation in decision-making positions.

I would like to express my gratitude to His Excellency Shir Mohammad Jamizada, President

General, CSO, his officials and field staff, for providing their best efforts in conducting this

survey.

I would also like to thank the Swedish International Development Agency and the

Governments of Norway and Belgium for extending their financial support and facilitating UN

Women Afghanistan to serve as an active partner to Government in its efforts to enhance the

position of women in Afghanistan. I look forward to ongoing support and cooperation in the

future.

Dr Rebecca Reichmann Tavares

Acting Country Representative, UN Women Afghanistan Country Office

Representative, UN Women Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The CSO would like to express its profound gratitude to all government agencies, private sector

organizations and NGOs for their cooperation in the data collection phase of the survey. The

high-ranking officers at these organizations, who were key respondents to this survey, deserve

our special appreciation.

The survey would not have been possible without the technical and financial support of UN

Women, Afghanistan Country Office. Our appreciation goes to Ms Elzira K Sagynbaeva, the

Country Representative at the time of the survey and her energetic team for their active support

in every stage of survey operation.

We would like to thank Mr Damodar Gnawali, International Gender Research and Statistics

Consultant, for providing technical support to the survey, especially regarding questionnaire

design, development of the enumeration manual, data analysis and report writing.

Mr Mohamad Sami Nabi, the head of the Field Operation Department, Ms Rahila Arif, the

head of the Demography and Social Statistics Department, and their respective teams, deserve

special appreciation.

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all the enumerators and the supervisors for

their best efforts during the field operation, and the CSO data processing team for their timely

accomplishment of their designated tasks.

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ACRONYMS

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

CSO Central Statistics Organization

CSPro Census and Survey Processing System

GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GmbH

(German: German Society for International Cooperation, Ltd.)

GoIRA Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

MDG Millennium Development Goal

NAPWA National Action Plan for the Women in Afghanistan

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

SDG Sustainable Development Goal

SPSS Statistical Package on Social Science

UNFPA United Nations for Population Fund

UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ............................................................................................................................................... 1 FOREWORD .......................................................................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 3 ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ 5 TABLES AND FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... 7 MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS .......................................................................................................................... 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 21

1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................. 21

1.1.1 National and international commitments ............................................................................. 21

1.2 Women and Men in Decision-making Survey, 2016 .................................................................. 22

1.2.1 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 22

1.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 22

1.3.1 Data collection ..................................................................................................................... 23

1.3.2 Data processing and analysis ............................................................................................... 24

1.4 Scope and coverage ..................................................................................................................... 24

1.5 Organizations covered in the survey ........................................................................................... 24

1.6 Limitations of the survey ............................................................................................................ 26

1.7 Organization of this report .......................................................................................................... 26

CHAPTER 2: CHARACTERISTICS OF DECISION-MAKERS ....................................................... 27 2.1 Women and men in decision-making .......................................................................................... 27

2.2 Composition of decision-makers by age and sex ........................................................................ 28

2.3 Marital status ............................................................................................................................... 32

2.3.1 Marital status by sex ............................................................................................................ 32

2.3.2 Marital status by age ............................................................................................................ 32

2.3.3 Polygyny among male decision-makers .............................................................................. 33

2.3.4 Women decision-makers involved in polygynous unions ................................................... 34

2.4 Education status .......................................................................................................................... 34

2.5 Provincial and rural/ urban distribution ...................................................................................... 37

2.5.1 Distribution by province ...................................................................................................... 37

2.5.2 Province of birth .................................................................................................................. 39

2.5.3 Urban/ rural place of birth .................................................................................................... 40

2.6 Position in organization .............................................................................................................. 41

2.6.1 Job title ................................................................................................................................. 41

2.6.2 Official grade (government officials)................................................................................... 42

2.6.3 Occupation ........................................................................................................................... 44

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2.6.4 Experience in current position ............................................................................................. 45

2.6.5 Budget-holding responsibility .............................................................................................. 46

2.7 Position within household ........................................................................................................... 46

2.7.1 Head of the household ......................................................................................................... 46

2.7.2 Education level of spouses ................................................................................................... 48

2.7.3 Occupation of spouses ......................................................................................................... 48

CHAPTER 3: CHALLENGES FACED BY WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING ............................. 50 3.1 Challenges faced by women related to participation in decision-making ................................... 50

3.2 Proposed measures to enhance women’s participation in decision-making .............................. 52

3.3 Workplace environment .............................................................................................................. 54

3.4 The role of the organization in increasing women’s participation in decision-making .............. 56

3.5 Visibility of women in decision-making ..................................................................................... 58

3.6 Organization measures to address gender-related issues ............................................................ 60

3.6.1 Gender units ......................................................................................................................... 60

3.6.2 Work on gender-related issues ............................................................................................. 61

3.6.3 Gender responsive budgeting ............................................................................................... 62

3.7 Actions taken to improve lives .................................................................................................... 62

3.8 Invitations to national consultations ............................................................................................ 64

CHAPTER 4: CAPACITY, SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION .............................................................. 66 4.1 Training courses .......................................................................................................................... 66

4.1.2 Participation in training courses ........................................................................................... 67

4.2 Problems faced at work ............................................................................................................... 68

4.2.1 Resistance encountered in the workplace ............................................................................ 70

4.3 Support and resistance at home ................................................................................................... 71

4.3.1 Support from family and community ................................................................................... 71

4.3.2 Help with household chores ................................................................................................. 72

4.3.3 Resistance from communities .............................................................................................. 73

CHAPTER 5: FERTILITY DECISIONS ............................................................................................. 74 5.1 Childbearing decisions ................................................................................................................ 74

5.2 Gender preference ....................................................................................................................... 75

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................... 76 ANNEX I: ADDITIONAL TABLES ................................................................................................... 79 ANNEX II: KEY TERMS .................................................................................................................... 86 ANNEX III: QUESTIONNAIRE ......................................................................................................... 90

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TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Number of decision-makers by type of organization and sex (2009–2013) ........................... 27 Table 2: Decision-makers by age group and sex .................................................................................. 28 Table 3: Decision-makers by province, type of organization and sex .................................................. 38 Table 4: Places of birth of decision-makers by type of organization, province and sex ....................... 39 Table 5: Decision-makers by job title ................................................................................................... 41 Table 6: Main occupations of decision-makers in their current position by sex ................................... 44 Table 7: Job experience of decision-makers by type of organization and sex (years) .......................... 45 Table 8: Women in decision-making positions ..................................................................................... 79 Table 9: Marital status and age groups of decision-makers .................................................................. 79 Table 10: Educational attainment of decision-makers by level and sex ............................................... 79 Table 11: Areas of specialization of decision-makers .......................................................................... 79 Table 12: Positions of government officials by sex .............................................................................. 80 Table 13: Heads of household by sex .................................................................................................. 80 Table 14: Educational attainment of the spouses of decision-makers by sex ....................................... 80 Table 15: Occupations of the spouses of decision-makers by sex ........................................................ 80 Table 16: Perceptions of whether women face problems in participation in decision-making ........... 81 Table 17: Decision-makers’ views on problems women face in decision-making ............................... 81 Table 18: Decision-makers’ suggestions on policies/ programmes to address challenges by sex ........ 82 Table 19: Opinions of decision-makers about the suitability of the workplace environment (%) ........ 82 Table 20: Factors perceived to render the workplace environment inappropriate for women .............. 82 Table 21: Actions proposed to increase women’s participation in decision-making ............................ 83 Table 22: Decision-makers’ opinion on whether organizations can raise the visibility of successful women ................................................................................................................................................... 83 Table 23: Decision-makers’ opinions on how to raise the visibility of successful women .................. 84 Table 24: Gender-related activities performed by organizations (%) ................................................... 84 Table 25: Actions taken by decision-makers to improve people’s lives ............................................... 84 Table 26: Types of actions taken by decision-makers to improve people’s lives ................................. 85 Table 27: Awareness of training courses offered to women (%) .......................................................... 85 Table 28: Participation of women in training courses by level (%) ...................................................... 85 Figure 1: Women and men in decision-making positions (%) .............................................................. 27 Figure 2: Achievement against targets for women in decision-making (%) ......................................... 28 Figure 3: Number of decision-makers in each age group by sex .......................................................... 29 Figure 4: Proportion of decision-makers in each age group by sex ...................................................... 30 Figure 5: Decision-makers by sex as a percentage of those in an age group (2013 and 2016) ............. 31 Figure 6: Mean age of decision-makers by type of organization and sex (year) .................................. 31 Figure 7: Marital status of decision-makers by sex (%) ....................................................................... 32 Figure 8: Decision-makers by marital status and age group (%) .......................................................... 33 Figure 9: Male decision-makers with one or more than one wife (%) .................................................. 33 Figure 10: Women decision-makers in polygynous marriages (%) ...................................................... 34 Figure 11: Educational status of decision-makers by level of attainment and sex (%)......................... 35 Figure 12: Areas of specialization of decision-makers (%) .................................................................. 36 Figure 13: Educational attainment of decision-makers by type of institution (%) ............................... 37 Figure 14: Distribution of decision-makers by place of birth and sex (%) ........................................... 41 Figure 15: Decision-makers in government positions by grade and sex (%) ........................................ 43 Figure 16: Women decision-makers in government positions by grade (%) ........................................ 43 Figure 17: Top ten occupations for female decision-makers ( %) ........................................................ 45 Figure 18: Decision-makers holding budgets in their organizations (%) .............................................. 46 Figure 19: Persons bearing the responsibility of head of household by sex (%) .................................. 47 Figure 20: Educational attainment of the spouses of decision-makers (%) .......................................... 48

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Figure 21: Perceptions of whether women face problems in participation in decision-making (%) .... 51 Figure 22: Type of problems women face in participation in decision-making by sex (%) ................. 52 Figure 23: Proposed policies or programmes to address challenges (%) .............................................. 54 Figure 24: Views on whether the workplace environment is conducive to women decision-makers (%) .............................................................................................................................................................. 55 Figure 25: Factors that make a workplace environment less conducive for women (%) ..................... 56 Figure 26: Actions organizations can take to increase women’s participation in decision-making (%) .............................................................................................................................................................. 58 Figure 27: Views on whether organizations can raise the visibility of successful women (%) ............ 59 Figure 28: Proposed ways to raise the visibility of successful women (%) .......................................... 60 Figure 29: Awareness of existence of gender units in organizations (%) ............................................. 61 Figure 30: Whether organizations are involved in gender-related issues (%) ...................................... 61 Figure 31: Actions taken to improve the lives of men and women (%)................................................ 63 Figure 32: Actions taken by decision-makers for the improvement of people’s lives (%) ................... 64 Figure 33: Invitees to national consultative meetings by sex (%) ........................................................ 65 Figure 34: Awareness of trainings offered by organizations to women (%) ........................................ 66 Figure 35: Awareness of trainings offered for women by type of course and level (%) ...................... 67 Figure 36: Participation of women in training courses (%) .................................................................. 67 Figure 37: Participation of women decision-makers in training courses by level (%) ......................... 68 Figure 38: Women reporting problems faced at work (%) ................................................................... 69 Figure 39: Type of problems with work reported by women (%) ........................................................ 70 Figure 40: Persons from whom resistance was encountered in the workplace (%) .............................. 70 Figure 41: Support to women from families and associates (%) .......................................................... 71 Figure 42: Family members and associates identified as supportive by women decision-makers (%) 72 Figure 43: Main helpers in household chores (%) ................................................................................ 73 Figure 44: Type of objections encountered by women decision-makers (%) ....................................... 73 Figure 45: Key decision-maker in having a child (%) .......................................................................... 74 Figure 46: Gender preferences of women decision-makers (%) ........................................................... 75

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MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

All respondents

SN Indicator Unit Female Male Both sexes

1 Representation in decision-making positions Percent 10.7 89.3 100 Representation in government 10.3 89.7 100 Representation in private sector 9.6 90.4 100 Representation in NGOs 20.3 79.7 100

2 Mean age of decision-makers Year 39.5 43.0 42.6 Mean age of decision-makers in government 41 43.8 43.5 Mean age of decision-makers in private sector 33.2 38.7 38.1 Mean age of decision-makers in NGOs 33.5 39.6 38.3

3 Age-sex structure of decision-makers Percent 20-24 years 7.1 1.5 2.1 25-29 years 14 10.7 11 30-34 years 13.8 16.7 16.4 35-39 years 12.6 14.7 14.5 40-44 years 16.1 13.8 14.1 45-49 years 18 10.2 11 50-54 years 11 9.9 10 55-59 years 5.3 12.1 11.4 60-64 years 1.8 9.1 8.3 65 or above years 0.2 1.3 1.2

4 Proportion of decision-makers with marital status Percent Single 27.7 5 7.4 Married 67.9 94.8 91.9 Other 4.4 0.2 0.7

5 Proportion of male decision-makers with polygyny status

Percent - 3.7 -

6 Proportion of decision-makers with highest educational attainment

Percent

Primary 0.2 0.8 0.7 Secondary 0.2 0.6 0.6 High school 3.9 5.5 5.4 Vocational education 19.7 13.1 13.8 Bachelor's or equivalent 55.6 57 56.8 Master's or equivalent 19.6 21.4 21.2 PhD or above 0.6 1.4 1.4 Not stated 0.1 0.2 0.2

7 Top five education degrees of decision-makers Percent

Bachelor's in Law 22.8 13.9 14.9 Bachelor's in Economics 4.6 9.6 9 Bachelor's in Literature 12.1 8.6 9 Masters of Law 5.3 5.3 5.3 Bachelor's in Social Science 5.6 5.0 5.0

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8 Decision-makers who obtained their education from abroad

Percent 9 14 14

9 Respondents who obtained education from Percent Government institutions 82.1 83.9 83.7 Private institutions 17.8 15.6 15.9 Religious institutions 0.1 0.4 0.4

10 Place of birth of decision-makers born in Afghanistan (top five provinces)

Percent

Kabul 41.7 20.0 22.3 Nangarhar 2.1 6.0 5.6 Parwan 3.3 4.8 4.7 Ghazni 3.2 4.8 4.6 Laghman 2.2 4.5 4.2

11 Place of work of decision-makers (top five provinces) Percent

Kabul 62.9 48.2 49.7 Balkh 5.3 4.0 4.2 Herat 4.6 3.7 3.8 Nangarhar 1.5 3.3 3.1 Jozjan 2.7 2.8 2.8

12 Place of birth of decision-makers (urban-rural area) Percent Urban 74.3 47.1 50.0 Rural 25.7 52.9 50.0

13 Number of decision-makers by job title Number Minister 1 12 13 Deputy minister/ department 11 88 99 President-general of independent department 0 15 15 Head of government office/ department 172 1822 1994 Commissioner 2 28 30 Provincial governor 0 17 17 District administrator 20 158 178 Official of Attorney General 8 55 63 Judge and official of the courts 6 26 32 Head of private organization/ NGOs 47 393 440 Deputy head of private organization/NGOs 45 466 511 Deputy head of government office/ department 493 4006 4499 Other 5 31 36 Not stated 133 737 870 Total 943 5878 8797

14 Current work grade of decision-makers (government officials)

Number

Out of rank 12 47 59 Above over rank 5 78 83 Over rank 12 74 86 Grade 1 7 170 177 Grade 2 132 1825 1957

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Grade 3 516 4064 4580 Parliament staff 20 44 64 Province council 18 65 83 Not stated 35 215 250 Total 757 6582 7339

15 Top five occupations of decision-makers in current positions

Percent

Managing directors and chief executives 18.8 25.1 24.5

Education managers 18.1 14.0 14.4

Services managers not elsewhere classified 7.6 7.0 7.1

Human resource managers 7.1 5.4 5.6

Professional services managers not elsewhere classified

5.8 5.3 5.4

16 Number of years of job experience in the current position

Years 5.3 5.6 5.6

Government 5.6 5.6 5.6 Private 4.5 5.3 5.2 NGOs 4.0 6.2 5.8

17 Average number of staff supervised by decision-makers

Number 52 50 50

Government 55 50 51 Private 41 51 50 NGOs 44 48 47

19 Proportion of decision-makers bearing the responsibility budget holder

Percent 17 26 25

Government 12 21 20 Private 35 57 55 NGOs 40 46 45

20 Top five occupations of spouses of decision-makers Number Primary school teacher 15 504 519

Secondary education teacher 15 403 418 Services manager not elsewhere classified 104 114 218 Personal services worker not elsewhere classified 123 69 192

21 Highest educational qualification of spouses of decision-makers

Number

Primary education 16 1584 1600 Secondary education 7 766 773 High school 114 1523 1637 Vocational education 74 960 1034 Bachelor’s or equivalent 295 979 1274 Master’s or equivalent 94 147 241 PhD or above 15 18 33 Illiterate (no education) 13 1291 1304 Not stated 13 175 188 Total 641 7443 8084

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22 Decision-makers bearing the responsibility of head of household

Percent 22.1 78.7 72.7

Head of the household of respondent 4.7 95.3 100

23 Women having problems in participating in decision-making

Percent 83.4 69.9 71.4

24 Top five existing problems of women in participating in decision-making

Percent

Discriminatory practices in society against women 69.8 51.7 54.0 Lack of adequate educational qualification 39.8 55.2 53.3 Taking care of children and family members 37.9 47.4 46.2 Household responsibilities 36.3 47.4 45.9 Lack of professional and vocational skills 30.0 47.9 45.7

25 Top five programmes suggested by decision-makers to help women in decision-making process (multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Professional and technical capacity building for women

82.8 79.2 79.6

Public awareness about gender equality and women empowerment

65.9 61.8 62.3

Leadership training programmes for women 68.3 57.7 59.0 Recruitment facilitation for women 63.2 54.7 55.8

Change men to increase women’s participation in decision-making

60.4 50.2 51.5

26 Whether workplace environment is appropriate for women to participate in decision-making

Percent

Workplace environment is appropriate 82.1 84.9 84.6 Workplace environment is not appropriate 17.9 15.1 15.4

27 Top five factors affecting workplace environment (multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Lack of hygienic workplace 50.3 64.5 62.7 Lack of knowledge and information sharing 34.9 48.7 47 Lack of recognition of hard work 55 42.1 43.7 Lack of day-to-day interactions between staff 43.2 43.6 43.5 Lack of logistics and stationaries 38.5 43.5 42.9

28 Top five ways to increase participation of women in decision-making (multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Training women to ensure participation in decision-making

72.1 68.4 68.8

Establish confidential and rights based complain and accountability system

57.1 53.2 53.6

Establish yearly targets to increase women's participation

48.5 45.1 45.4

Ensure proper implementation of anti-harassment regulation

41.8 42.9 42.8

Develop retention program for women at all levels of decision-making

47.5 38.9 39.8

29 Whether organization can raise the visibility of women of successful women

Percent

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Organization can raise the visibility 77.6 75.5 75.7

30 Top three ways of raising the visibility of women (multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Promote her as role model within and outside the organization

77.9 73.9 74.3

Utilize her skills and experience to achieve organizational goal

74.5 72.0 72.3

Publicize her success stories to attract new arrivals 59.2 57.4 57.6

31 Whether organization has a gender unit Percent Has gender unit in the organization (overall) 53

Government Private NGO

- - -

- - -

57 27 45

32 Whether the organization works on gender related issues

Percent - - -

Work on gender issues (overall) - - 59

Government Private NGO

- - 61 39 63

33 Allocation of budget in the organization to promote gender equality and women's empowerment

Percent - - 22

34 Organization having gender responsive budgeting practices (overall)

Percent - - 25

35 Whether actions have taken to improve the life of people

Percent

Actions have been taken 68 69 69

36 Top five actions taken by decision-makers to improve the life of people (multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Recommended for scholarship 65.5 63.2 63.5 Provided free education 56.9 51.6 52.1 Provided financial support to needy people 36.5 45.2 44.3 Provided health services 46.2 36.6 37.6 Distributed goods 33.1 30.3 30.6

37 Proportion of decision-makers who were invited to national consultative meetings on women

Percent 46.7 43.4 43.8

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Female respondents only

SN Indicator Unit Value

1 Awareness of training offered by the organization (national) Percent 64.7 Government 65.8 Private 54.5 NGOs 66.7

2 Awareness of top three courses (multiple choices permitted) Percent English 98.7 Computers 69.2 Management 59.7

3 Participation in different courses by type of organization (national) Percent 58.2 Government 57.6 Private 52.5 NGOs 70.1

4 Participation in top three courses (multiple choices permitted) Percent Computer 76.9 Management 66.3 Women's right 52.3

5 Main helping persons in household chores: (multiple choices permitted) Percent Household member other than husband 43.8 Husband 33.1 Household helper 11.6 Nobody 16.3

6 Proportion of women facing problems in performing work in the office (national)

Percent 26.7

Government 29.3 Private 14.1 NGOs 18.4

7 Top five problems facing by the women in performing work in the office (Multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Feeling unsafe due to security 46 Discrimination against women and favouritism to men 32 Overload in work 27 Imposing illegal/unethical actions of senior managers 27 Lack of reward and punishment system 26

8 Perception of decision-makers whether their family and surrounding people are supportive to them (multiple choices permitted)

Percent 90.3

Government 89.7 Private 96.0 NGOs 89.7

9 Top five supportive persons towards women decision-makers (Multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Husband 59.4 Brother 58.5 Mother 55.8 Sister 52.5

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SN Indicator Unit Value

Father 48.0

10 Top three objections reported by women from society (multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Concern about what society think of them as living off women's income 15 The employment sector is inappropriate 13 Women need to work at home not for others 9.3

11 Top three persons resisting women in their work places (multiple choices permitted)

Percent

Male superior 51.4 Male colleagues 40.3 Male subordinate 16.0

12 Key decider having a child Percent Husband 63.5 Women (decision-makers) 21.4 Husband and wife mutually 11.2 Family members 2.0 Not stated 1.9

13 Gender preference by women decision-makers Percent No preference 81.4 Daughter 10.1 Son 6.4 Not stated 2.0

14 Proportion of co-wives (polygyny status of husband of female decision-makers)

Percent 3.4

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The third phase of the Women and Men in Decision-making Survey was conducted by the

Central Statistics Organization (CSO) in 2016, aiming to collect data on the status of women

in decision-making positions in Afghanistan’s government, private and NGO sectors, compare

this with the previous phases in 2009 and 2013, and assess progress towards the country’s

commitment to achieve 30 percent representation by 2020.

The survey covered 33 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, with 8,797 respondents in decision-

making positions from the three sectors – about 83 percent from government, 12 percent from

the private sector, and 5 percent from NGOs.1 A total of 1,424 organizations were surveyed.

Women accounted for 11 percent of decision-makers who responded to the survey, up from 10

percent in 2013. This annual growth rate of 3 percent representation of women amongst

decision-makers since 2013 renders it impossible for Afghanistan to reach its target of 30

percent representation by 2020.

More than half of all respondents (58 percent) were below 45 years of age, and over two-thirds

were under 50. The proportion of decision-makers aged 20–25 amongst women was higher

than amongst men. The proportion of women in their thirties plunged dramatically relative to

men, suggesting that women in their childbearing years were not in the workforce. A ‘bulge’

then appeared amongst women in their late forties, about ten years higher than the

corresponding bulge amongst men, indicating that women experience delays in achieving

decision-making positions.

Nearly 92 percent of respondents were married, but women decision-makers were more likely

to be unmarried than their male counterparts. Women were nearly six times (26 percent) more

likely to be unmarried than men (5 percent).

Similar proportions of men and women had achieved bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

However, women were more likely to have attained a vocational degree. Women were less

likely to pursue disciplines such as engineering and agricultural science; however, nearly 23

percent had bachelor’s degrees in law, 12 percent in literature and 6 percent in computer

science. Women were also less likely (9 percent) to have studied outside Afghanistan than men

(14 percent).

1 Data has been rounded to the nearest percentage point in the text. In tables and figures percentages are given to one decimal place.

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Almost half of the decision-makers (50 percent) worked in Kabul, the national capital, and

where there are typically more jobs at decision-making levels. While 48 percent of men worked

in Kabul, the rate for women was as high as 63 percent, reflecting greater acceptance and

opportunities for women in this region. However, the proportion has declined since the

previous survey when 70 percent of women and 55 percent of men were in Kabul.

A fifth of respondents (22 percent) were also born in Kabul province, with a greater proportion

of women (41 percent) born here than men (20 percent). Poorer access and quality of girls’

education in rural Afghanistan may also contribute to the fact that only a quarter of female

decision-makers were born in rural areas compared to over half of male decision-makers.

Women were more likely to work as Grade 3 government officials than higher ranks. More

than two-thirds of women (68 percent) were at Grade 3, a higher proportion than men of whom

62 percent were at Grade 3. While the largest group of women in decision-making position

were managing directors and chief executives (19 percent), a comparable group (18 percent)

were education managers. By comparison a larger proportion of men, 25 percent, were

managing directors and chief executives and only 14 percent education managers.

Respondents had, on average, 5.6 years of experience in their current positions. Women had

less experience, at 5.3 years. Only a quarter of respondents were budget-holders and women

were less likely to hold budgets at 17 percent of female respondents compared with 26 percent

of male respondents. Women and men supervised roughly equal numbers of staff, averaging

50.

While 79 per cent of men were heads of their households only 22 percent of women had the

equivalent role. Less than 2 percent of households of male respondents were headed by women

while 25 percent of households of female respondents were headed by women. Overall, less

than 5 percent of households were headed by women. About 17 percent of men reported that

their spouses were illiterate, compared to only 2 percent of female respondents. Indeed, a very

high proportion of female respondents had husbands with at least bachelor’s degrees. Nearly

three out of four spouses of decision-makers (74 percent) – predominantly wives – worked in

the home.

While 71 percent of respondents stated that women faced problems in participation in decision-

making processes, the issues identified by women and men differed. A greater proportion of

women identified structural factors and social challenges such as discrimination (70 percent of

women), lack of social acceptance (58 percent) and marginalization in the workplace (57

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percent) while men identified women’s educational qualifications (55 percent) followed by

discrimination (52 percent) and lack of professional skills (48 percent).

To address challenges women faced, respondents recommended professional and technical

capacity building for women (80 percent), public awareness about gender equality and

women’s empowerment by the organization (62 percent), leadership training programmes for

women (59 percent), recruitment facilitation for women (56 percent) and changing patriarchal

mind-sets (51 percent). Every suggested action was proposed by at least half of women – a

higher proportion than men – with particularly strong support for the creation and

implementation of affirmative and supportive policies and laws within organizations and in

law.

Less than a fifth of women and women felt that the workplace environment was not conducive

for women – slightly more women (18 percent) than men (15 percent) held this view. Male

respondents were overwhelmingly more likely to identify the lack of a hygienic workplace (65

percent) while women themselves most commonly identified lack of delegation of power to

women (67 percent).

Proposed remedial measures included training for women (69 percent) and the establishment

of a confidential complaints and accountability system (54 percent), with similar trends among

both men and women.

Over three-quarters (76 percent) of recommended that their organizations enhance the visibility

of women leaders, with suggestions as to measures including promoting them as role models

(74 percent), utilizing their skills and experience to achieve organizational goals (72 percent)

and publicizing women’s success stories to attract new female recruits (58 percent).

More than half of respondents (53 percent) were aware of a gender unit in their organization,

with access to decision-making, and 59 percent stated that their organizations worked on

gender-related issues. About 61 percent of the respondents from government, 63 percent

respondents from the NGOs and 39 percent respondents from private organizations stated that

their respective organizations work on gender related issues. Only 25 percent of organizations

had gender responsive budgeting practices. More than two-thirds (69 percent) of total

respondents stated that they have taken some actions to improve the lives of other men and

women.

19

The results revealed that 44 percent of respondents were invited to national consultative

meetings on decision-making processes for women by their respective organizations. The

proportion of invitees among female decision-makers (47 percent) slightly exceeded those

among men (43 percent) however there was a sharp decline in the former since 2013, while the

proportion of invitees among men remained roughly the same.

About 65 percent of women were aware of trainings offered to women by their organizations

in the past two years, though women in the private sector had less knowledge (55 percent) than

those in the government (66 percent) or NGO sectors (67 percent). About 58 percent of female

respondents had attended such courses, with those in private sector organizations (53 percent)

were less likely to have attended than those in government organizations (57 percent) or NGOs

(70 percent). About 77 percent had taken computer courses and 66 percent management

courses of any level from basic to advanced.

Of the 27 percent of women who stated they faced problems at work, 46 percent identified

insecurity, 32 percent discrimination and 27 percent excess workload and unethical behaviour

by senior managers. A fifth or less identified issues related to responsibilities in the home or

lack of support from family. In the workplace, 51 percent faced resistance from male superiors,

and 40 percent from male colleagues.

Female decision-makers reported high levels of support from their families and other associates

at 90 percent, rising to 96 percent for women in the private sector. Husbands and brothers were

most commonly cited as supportive, while fathers- and mothers-in-law were the least

supportive.

Despite this family support, however, 16 percent of women retained responsibility for unpaid

household chores. Although this figure has not improved since the 2013 survey, it is

encouraging that 33 percent cited husbands as main helpers while 44 percent cited other family

members.

Women who faced objections from their communities or families most commonly cited

concerns about how men would be regarded if they appeared to be reliant on a wife’s income

(15 percent). Some (13 percent) also cited objections that employment was inappropriate for

women.

Key decisions regarding their reproductive rights remained out of the control of women, Only

21 percent stated of women stated they were the decision-makers regarding childbearing, while

20

11 percent stated the decision was made jointly by husband and wife; thus 32 percent of their

husbands may be held to be supportive of their wives’ reproductive choices. Nearly two-thirds

(63 percent) stated that husbands were decision-makers regarding childbearing.

About 81 percent of women stated that they had no gender preferences, while of the rest a

slightly larger proportion preferred daughters. About 3 percent of women were in polygynous

marriages, which is comparable to the 3 percent of male decision-makers who were in similar

marriages and lower than the national prevalence of 6 percent.

Key conclusions drawn from the survey are:

Afghanistan will not achieve its aim of 30 percent representation of women in

decision-making positions by 2020.

Decision-makers are concentrated in Kabul province and urban areas.

Women have less decision-making power even in the household.

Discrimination against women and the lack of adequate educational qualifications

hinder women in decision-making positions.

Acknowledgement and encouragement is necessary even for successful women

All organizations should provide capacity building to women, and enhance public

awareness of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Training, confidential rights-based complaint systems and accountability

mechanism and setting yearly target is necessary to increase women’s

representation.

Insecurity, discrimination against women and favouritism to men and overload of

work have negative effects on women’s performance.

Society is not positive about women’s participation in decision-making positions.

Even women working in decision-making positions do not fully exercise their

reproductive rights.

21

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Equality in roles and responsibilities, and access to and control over resources irrespective of

gender, are key determinants of human development. Yet gender gaps and inequalities in access

to education, training, professional development, decision-making, and resources for self-

actualization remain a reality across the world. Economic and sociocultural factors,

discriminatory attitudes and practices and gender stereotypes against women have a negative

impact on women’s career advancement as and involvement in higher-level decision-making

positions.

1.1 Background Women constitute nearly half of Afghanistan’s population. According to CSO estimates for

2015–2016, the population of the country is 29.2 million, of whom 14.9 million (51 percent)

are male 14.2 million (49 percent) female.

Women in Afghanistan face significant challenges in terms of empowerment and gender

equality. In 2015, Afghanistan’s gender inequality index was 0.667, ranking 154th out of 159

countries,2 while the country ranked fourth from the bottom in terms of legal gender

restrictions.3

1.1.1 National and international commitments Afghanistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

Women (CEDAW) without reservations in 2003. Afghanistan is also committed to enhancing

gender equality and women’s empowerment under its commitments to achieving the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 5 –

Promote gender equality and empowerment of women and girls by 2030).

National legislation to protect the rights of women include specific constitutional provisions

for women’s quotas in both the Wolesi Jirga and Meshrano Jirga houses of parliament. In 2009,

a law on the elimination of violence against women was passed.

The National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA) 2008–2018 sets targets

and guides current efforts to empower women. Under NAPWA, the GoIRA has committed to

achieving 30 percent representations of women in decision-making positions by 2020. To this

end, a series of initiatives to increase women’s leadership and participation in all spheres of

life, especially in decision-making and policymaking have been taken. National peace and

2 UNDP Human Development Report 2016. 3 World Bank Women, Business and the Law Report 2016.

22

reconstruction, in particular, require tremendous efforts in bringing a critical mass of women

into decision-making positions.

1.2 Women and Men in Decision-making Survey, 2016 In order to establish a baseline and monitor progress achieved on Government commitments,

CSO conducted a three-phase survey on the representation of women in decision-making. With

financial and technical support from UN Women, UNFPA and GIZ, CSO conducted the first

and second phases in 2009 and 2013 respectively. The third phase was conducted with support

from UN Women in October 2016.

1.2.1 Objectives The main objective of this survey is to generate updated and comprehensive data on the

participation of men and women in decision-making in Afghanistan. The specific objectives

are to:

Update gender data on decision-making by type of organization;

Obtain basic demographic data on men and women at the highest levels of decision-

making within the workplace;

Determine differences in the socio-demographic characteristics of men and women

working at decision-making levels;

Identify the number and extent of the difference in the representation of men and

women in decision-making;

Determine the problems that men and women face in participating in the decision-

making process; and

Determine the reproductive right of women working at decision-making levels and their

preferences regarding the gender of their children.

1.3 Methodology The survey was conducted in several stages, including planning, data collection, data

processing and analysis.

During the planning stage, formal and informal meetings and discussions were held with

stakeholders to seek suggestions on the survey questionnaire. Three technical committee

meetings were held on 3, 7 and 10 August 2016, and a steering committee meeting was held

on 17 August 2016 at the CSO.

23

The technical committee comprised members from organizations in Government, development

partners and civil society, and headed by the CSO President-General. This technical committee

approved the draft questionnaire before fieldwork began.

To develop master trainers for the training of enumerators and supervisors, a Master Training

of Trainers was held on 24 and 27 August 2016. Ten CSO staff who participated in this training

pretested the draft questionnaire on 28 August 2016 in Kabul in order to assess survey

instruments and data collection procedures. The draft questionnaire and its enumeration manual

were then revised for final use. A data entry application program was developed in the Census

and Survey Processing System (CSPro) and was also pretested.

A two-day training to enumerators and supervisors was conducted on 2–3 October 2016 with

the participation of 160 CSO staff members. Ten resource persons, who had undergone the

Master Training of Trainers, delivered this two-day training.

1.3.1 Data collection The survey was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, CSO updated its list of targeted

organizations and eligible respondents with the help of its provincial offices. Before data

collection began, an official letter and a copy of the questionnaire and its enumeration manual

along with the tentative date of the interview were sent to targeted organizations. Ministries

and government institutions were requested to inform their provincial and district offices about

the survey. The heads of CSO provincial units were assigned to coordinate the survey with

government offices. The cooperation of governors and district administrators was deemed to

be necessary to the successful conduct of the survey, and an official letter was sent to them

before fieldwork began.

In the second stage, field staff collected data from eligible respondents from the targeted

organizations. Actual data collection began in the first week of October and was completed in

November 2016. The CSO Field Operation Department took overall responsibility for survey

operation.

Data collection was primarily done through face-to-face interviews using a structured

questionnaire. Some telephone interviews and email communications were also used where

face-to-face interviews were not feasible due to security or other reasons. Randomly selected

questionnaires were verified by the supervisors for validation during the survey operation in

the field.

24

1.3.2 Data processing and analysis All completed forms were collected in CSO for data processing. Manual editing, coding and

consistency checks were performed before data entry into CSPro. The cleaned and finalized

data was exported into the Statistical Package on Social Science (SPSS) computer program for

analysis. Data cleaning and transformations, with the creation of tables, graphs, and charts took

place using SPSS.

1.4 Scope and coverage This survey is a special type of study of a domain population of individuals working in the

government and private sectors, and NGOs, on census basis. The survey collected information

from decision-makers spread all over Afghanistan. Government and private sector

organizations and NGOs with eligible respondents were selected for data collection. The

domain was determined based on the objectives of the survey. Three criteria were set to define

the domain and eligible respondents:

All senior government officials, Members of the National Assembly and Provincial

Councils who are currently at Grade 3 or higher rank;4

Heads and deputy heads of private sector organizations with at least 50 employees;

Heads and deputy heads of NGOs with at least 15 employees.

People in the defined domains were considered decision-makers for the purpose of this survey.

Military officers of the Defence Ministry, Ministry of Interior, and the General Directorate of

National Security were not included in this survey. Advisors, consultants and foreigners

leading NGOs5 were also not included.

A total of 8,797 decision-makers were included in the final dataset, including 943 women (11

percent) and 7,854 men (89 per cent). Of the total respondents, 7,339 were from government,

1,030 were from the private sector and 428 were from NGOs.

1.5 Organizations covered in the survey In total, 1,424 organizations were covered in the survey. These included 1,108 government or

public sector offices, 166 private sector organizations, and 150 NGOs. The following

government organizations with their respective branch offices were included:

4 This group includes both civil service and senior elected officials as well as appointed government officials. 5 Many international NGOs have foreign individuals at senior positions. As the purpose of the survey was to capture decision-making status of Afghan nationals, data was not collected from foreign citizens working in Afghanistan.

25

Government Organization Administrative Office of the President Ministry of Finance Ministry of Commerce and Industries Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Ministry of Higher Education Ministry of Education Ministry of Mines & Petroleum Ministry of Repatriation and Refugees Affairs Ministry of Public Health Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Ministry of Water & Power Ministry of Public Works Ministry of Economy Ministry of Women Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Frontiers, Ethnics and Tribes Affairs Ministry of Information and Culture Ministry of Justice Ministry of Urban Development Affairs Ministry of Religious Affairs and Hajj Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled

Ministry of Transport Ministry of Counter-Narcotics Office of the State Minister for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs Ministry of National Defence Ministry of Interior Affairs Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Meshrano Jirga (upper house of Parliament) High Court Academy of Science Central Statistics Organization Office of the Attorney General High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission Kabul Municipality Afghan Red Crescent Society National Disaster Management Authority Afghan National Standards Authority Geodesy and Cartography Head Office Supreme Audit Office

26

Independent Directorate of Local Governance Afghanistan Investment Support Agency National Environmental Protection Agency Chamber of Commerce and Industry Olympic Committee National Olympic Department Banks (Government) Independent General Directorate of Nomads Independent Election Commission Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution Atomic Energy High Commission National Radio Television Department Independent Civil Aviation Authority Arianna Afghan Airlines Independent Election Complaints Commission Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission Afghanistan Independent Land Authority Provincial Council Provincial Governors High Office of Peace Council

1.6 Limitations of the survey Some responses to the survey were not received. Data collection was not possible in Urozgan

province due to the security situation. Results need to be carefully interpreted, keeping in view

the survey objectives, coverage and non-responses.

1.7 Organization of this report Chapter 1 introduces Afghanistan’s commitments to enhancing the role of women in decision-

making, and describes the background and conduct of the survey. Chapter 2 discusses the

survey’s main findings on the representation of women and men in decision-making, along

with descriptions of the social and demographic characteristics of decision-makers. Chapter 3

gives information on strategies that can be implemented by organizations. Chapter 4 provides

information on the reproductive rights of women decision-makers. Finally, chapter 5 presents

the conclusion and recommendations based on the survey findings.

27

CHAPTER 2: CHARACTERISTICS OF DECISION-MAKERS

This chapter describes the distribution and characteristics of decision-makers by age and sex,

their marital status, education and field of specialization, place of birth, position in the

organization and grades of government officials. The occupations and educational attainments

of the spouses of decision-makers, and information on the heads of households, is also

presented.

2.1 Women and men in decision-making This survey covered 1,424 organizations and enumerated 8,797 decision-makers from the

government (7,339), private (1,030) and NGO (428) sectors.

The survey showed that in 2016, about 11 percent of those in decision-making positions were

women. This represents almost no change from the second phase of the survey, in 2013, when

about 10 percent of those interviewed were women.

Government, private sector and NGOs comprised 84 percent, 12 percent and 5 percent of

respondents. The NGO respondents had a significantly higher representation of women (20

percent), almost twice those from government (10 percent) and the private sector (10 percent)

(see figure 1) – however, the actual numbers of those interviewed was low (see table 1).

Figure 1: Women and men in decision-making positions (%)

Table 1: Number of decision-makers by type of organization and sex (2009–2013)

Year Government Private NGOs Total

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Total 20096 4,034 359 - - - - 4,034 359 4,3932013 5,137 559 243 6 14 1 5,568 609 6,1772016 6,582 757 931 99 341 87 7,854 943 8,797

6 The first survey in 2009 covered the public sector only.

89.7% 90.4%79.7%

89.3%

10.3% 9.6%20.3%

10.7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Public Private NGO Total

Male Female

28

Figure 2, below, compares targets and achievements over the three survey years. Though the

number of women decision-makers has increased since the first survey in 2009, the rate of

growth has declined in recent years. For example, the annual growth rate between 2009 and

2013 was 5 percent, falling to 3 percent between 2013 and 2016. As a result, gaps between

targets and achievements have widened in each successive survey year. If extrapolated, only

12 percent of positions will be held by women decision-makers in 2020, and more than 60

years will be required to achieve the national goal of 30 percent. In other words, to achieve 30

percent women in decision-making positions by 2020, an annual growth rate of 45 percent is

required.

These findings clearly indicate that current efforts to increase women’s representation

in decision-making positions are inadequate.

Figure 2: Achievement against targets for women in decision-making (%)

2.2 Composition of decision-makers by age and sex More than half of all respondents (58 percent) were below 45 years of age, and over two-thirds

were under 50.

Table 2: Decision-makers by age group and sex

Age group

Number Percent Cumulative percent of

total Male Female Total Male Female Total

20-24 115 67 182 1.5 7.1 2.1 2.125-29 837 132 969 10.7 14.0 11.0 13.130-34 1,314 130 1,444 16.7 13.8 16.4 29.535-39 1,155 119 1,274 14.7 12.6 14.5 44.040-44 1,086 152 1,238 13.8 16.1 14.1 58.1

Target, 8.2%

Target, 16.1%

Target, 22.1%

Target, 30%

Achievement, 8.2%

Achievement, 9.9%

Achievement, 10.7%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

2009 2013 2016 2020

29

Age group

Number Percent Cumulative percent of

total Male Female Total Male Female Total

45-49 800 170 970 10.2 18.0 11.0 69.150-54 780 104 884 9.9 11.0 10.0 79.155-59 949 50 999 12.1 5.3 11.4 90.560-64 714 17 731 9.1 1.8 8.3 98.865+ 104 2 106 1.3 0.2 1.2 100.0

Total 7,854 943 8,797 100 100 100 -

As figures 3 and 4 show, a higher proportion of female decision-makers were in their twenties

than male decision-makers. Men in their thirties, however, accounted for nearly a third of all

male decision-makers surveyed. By comparison, amongst female decision-makers there was a

greater proportion in their forties. This suggests that the mean age of women in decision-

making is higher than of men – this may be attributable to slower advancement for women in

their twenties or thirties due to childcare or other obligations in the home. Women in their late

fifties onwards accounted for a fraction of decision-makers of their gender compared to men,

which may be attributable to the far lower levels of female education and opportunity for older

women, particularly those who came of age before the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Figure 3: Number of decision-makers in each age group by sex

67

132

130

119

152

170

104

50

17

2

115.

837.

1314.

1155.

1086.

800.

780.

949.

714.

104.

1600 1100 600 100 400 900 1400

20‐24

25‐29

30‐34

35‐39

40‐44

45‐49

50‐54

55‐59

60‐64

65+ Men Women

30

Figure 4: Proportion of decision-makers in each age group by sex

A comparison of the age distribution amongst male and female decision-makers in 2013 and

2016 (see figure 5) shows that in 2013, there was a distinct ‘bulge’ amongst women aged 40–

44 years. By 2016, this bulge had moved to the 45–49 age group, implying that the same cohort

was continuing at decision-making levels, and that there was not necessarily an influx of

younger cohorts to replace them in the 40–44 year age group. This may be attributable to

affirmative recruitment measures for these women which were not available to those in the

succeeding cohort.

Figure 5 also shows a significant proportion of young women aged 20–24 years in 2016, about

10 percentage points higher than in the 2013 survey. However, this increase between 2013 and

2016 is not maintained across successive cohorts. Thus, retaining these younger women who

enter decision-making positions may be an important priority in the coming years.

7.1

14.0

13.8

12.6

16.1

18.0

11.0

5.3

1.8

0.2

1.5

10.7

16.7

14.7

13.8

10.2

9.9

12.1

9.1

1.3

20 15 10 5 5 10 15 20

20‐24

25‐29

30‐34

35‐39

40‐44

45‐49

50‐54

55‐59

60‐64

65+Men Women

31

Figure 5: Decision-makers by sex as a percentage of those in an age group (2013 and 2016)

The mean age of respondents was 42.6 years, slightly less than the results of the survey in 2013.

The mean age of women and men was 39.5 years (40 in 2013) and 43 years (45 in 2013)

respectively. Respondents in the private sector (38.1 years) and NGOs (38.3 years) were

younger than government officials (43.5 years), a pattern maintained across genders and

suggesting that there is no strong gender component (see figure 6).

Figure 6: Mean age of decision-makers by type of organization and sex (year)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

20‐24 25‐29 30‐34 35‐39 40‐44 45‐49 50‐54 55‐59 60+

Men (2013)

Women (2013)

Men (2016)

Women (2016)

43.8%

38.7%

39.6%

43.0%

41.0%

33.2%

33.5% 39.5%43.5%

38.1%

38.3% 42.6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Government Private NGO All

Male Female Both

32

2.3 Marital status

2.3.1 Marital status by sex Out of 8,797 people surveyed, nearly 92 percent were married at the time of data collection.

Women were less likely to be married, at 68 percent, than men at 95 percent.

Women were nearly six times more likely (28 percent) than men (5 percent) to be never

married. Women decision-makers were also more likely to be single due to divorce, separation

or widowhood (collectively 4 percent) than men (0.2 percent). This points to the barriers to

work, particularly work leading to advancement to a decision-making role, faced by married

women who are expected to focus on their family duties instead. This may also be related to

the finding discussed in chapter 4 that in-laws are most likely to pose barriers to women in

decision-making positions. Conversely, widowed, divorced and separated women are more

likely to need to be economically self-reliant. Organizational support for married women with

children, such as family-friendly hours and support with childcare, as well as broader

communication campaigns directed at families and communities, are examples of measures to

address the barriers married women face, and to help women achieve career progression on par

with men.

Figure 7: Marital status of decision-makers by sex (%)

2.3.2 Marital status by age Among unmarried respondents, nearly 75 percent of decision-makers were below 35 years and

57 percent below 30 years of age. By comparison, only 26 percent of married respondents were

below age 35 and 10 percent below age 30. Among unmarried respondents, the highest

5.0%

94.8%

0.2%

27.7%

68.0%

4.3%7.4%

91.9%

0.7%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Single Married Other

Male Female Both

33

proportion were aged 25–29 years, while married were highest in the 30–34 year age group

(see figure 8).

Figure 8: Decision-makers by marital status and age group (%)

2.3.3 Polygyny among male decision-makers Afghanistan permits polygyny under Islamic law. Of the 7,444 married male respondents, 278

(under 4 percent) had more than one wife, showing that though not common, polygyny exists

even among those in decision-making positions (figure 9), although at a lower rate than the 6

percent reported for the general population.7

Figure 9: Male decision-makers with one or more than one wife (%)

7 DHS CSO 2015.

18.3%

38.4%

7.2%

8.3%

4.7%

2.1%

1.2%

1.1%

0.3%

0.8%

8.8%

15.1%

14.6%

11.5%

10.7%

12.1%

8.8%

1.2%

0.0% 5

.1% 1

0.2%

11.9%

10.2%

13.6%

25.4%

16.9%

5.1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

20‐24 25‐29 35‐39 40‐44 45‐49 50‐54 55‐59 60‐64 65+

Single Married Other

96.3%

3.7%

One wife

Multiple wives

34

2.3.4 Women decision-makers involved in polygynous unions

About 3 percent of women surveyed reported that their husbands had another wife, a result

similar to that reported by male decision-makers (4 percent). Though Afghanistan law allows

a man to have up to four wives, polygyny is not significantly widespread among the spouses

of women decision-makers.

Figure 10: Women decision-makers in polygynous marriages (%)

2.4 Education status More than half (57 percent) of decision-makers had completed a bachelor’s degree or

equivalent, while 21 percent had completed a master’s degree or equivalent. Similar

proportions of men and women had these degrees.

However, women were more likely than men to obtain vocational education: 20 percent of

women had a vocational degree compared with 13 percent of men. Both women and men were

more likely to have obtained a vocational degree than simply high school education. A small

number of respondents had a PhD or above, or had achieved secondary education or less.

Nevertheless, more than a fifth of respondents had not attained a bachelor’s or higher degree.

Women were less likely than men to have a bachelor’s level education: 24 percent of women

were not educated up to this level, compared to 20 percent of men (figure 11).While this points

to the need to support women’s education in Afghanistan, it is also a signifier of how

exceptional many women in decision-making positions to achieve this status despite lower

education qualifications.

96.6%

3.4%

Non‐polygynous

Polygynous

35

Figure 11: Educational status of decision-makers by level of attainment and sex (%)

Overall, 6,950 (79 percent) of respondents, including 79.2 percent of male respondents and

75.8 percent of female respondents had completed at least a bachelor’s degree, in a wide range

of specializations. Law, economics and literature (all at bachelor’s level) were the most

common subjects. The top five subjects accounted for more than 43 percent of the total:

Bachelor’s degree in law: 14.9 percent;

Bachelor’s in economics: 9.0 percent;

Bachelor’s in literature: 9.0 percent;

Master’s of law: 5.3 percent; and

Bachelor’s in social science: 5.0 percent.

Women (nearly 23 percent) were more likely than men (14 percent) to have achieved a

bachelor’s degree in law (see figure 12); they were also more likely to have studied literature.

Very few women have specialized in traditionally male-coded fields (and, presumably, their

related occupations) such as engineering and agricultural science, while a larger proportion of

women than of men had studied the newer field of computer science, probably correlating to

the population of young women in their twenties.

0.8%

0.6% 5.5%

13.1%

57.0%

21.4%

1.4%

0.2%

0.2%

0.2% 3.9%

19.7%

55.6%

19.6%

0.6%

0.1%

0.7%

0.6% 5.4%

13.8%

56.8%

21.2%

1.4%

0.2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Primary Secondary Highschool

Vocational Bachelor's Master's PhD Not stated

Male Female Both

36

Figure 12: Areas of specialization of decision-makers (%)

Note: B = Bachelor and M = Master

A total of 8,665 respondents (7,735 men and 930 women) responded to a question on where

they completed their education. Of these, 86 percent had completed their education in

Afghanistan; at 9 percent, women were less likely than men (14 percent) to obtain their

education from abroad. Eighty-seven countries including Afghanistan were cited by

respondents, while other commonly cited countries included Pakistan (3 percent), India (2

percent), Russia (2 percent) and Iran (2 percent), an indication of the diversity of the

backgrounds of decision-makers.

About 84 percent of respondents had acquired their education from public institutions and 16

percent from private institutions, with similar patterns for both men and women. Women were

slightly more likely to have studied at private institutions. Less than one percent of respondents

(0.4 percent), predominantly men, had acquired their education from religious institutions.

Only 0.1 percent of women had studied at religious institutions, suggesting that a conventional

education was a better predictor for both genders, but especially women, of advancement to


13.9%

9.6%

8.6%

5.3%

5.0%

5.0%

4.8%

4.4%

3.4%

2.9%

22.8%

4.6%

12.1%

5.3%

5.6%

1.4%

0.9%

4.3% 6.4%

1.7%

14.9%

9.0%

9.0%

5.3%

5.0%

4.6%

4.4%

4.3%

3.7%

2.8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Male Female Total

37

Figure 13: Educational attainment of decision-makers by type of institution (%)

2.5 Provincial and rural/ urban distribution 2.5.1 Distribution by province Almost half of decision-makers (50 percent) were working in Kabul province, where the

country’s capital is located and where a large number of government, private and NGO offices

are based. The share of decision-makers in Kabul has decreased by 7 percentage points from

57 percent in 2013.

Women were more likely than men to be located in this area: 63 percent of women decision-

makers, compared to 48 percent of men, were in Kabul province. However, this imbalance in

favour of Kabul has declined for both genders since 2013, with 70 percent of women and 55

percent of men were in Kabul province. The opportunities for growth offered by Kabul have

made it one of the fastest growing cities in the world; women also have greater opportunities

for entering the workforce and rising to decision-making positions than other areas of the

country. Indeed, as table 3 shows, Kabul is the only province which had female respondents in

the triple figures. By comparison Zabul and Wardak had no female respondents.

The top five provinces with decision-makers are:

Kabul: 50 percent;

Balkh: 4 percent;

Herat: 4 percent;

Nangarhar: 3 percent; and

Jozgan: 3 percent.

83.0% 82.1% 83.7%

15.6% 17.8% 15.9%

0.4% 0.1% 0.4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Male Female Both

Religious

Private

Public

38

Table 3 presents the number of decision-makers in 33 provinces by type of organization and

by sex. Eight province of those surveyed exceeded the national average of 11 percent women

decision-makers amongst respondents: Kabul, Badakhshan, Balkh, Sar-e-pul, Daykundi, Herat

and Farah, with the greatest proportion in Farah (15 percent). By contrast, Wardak, Zabul,

Nooristan and Paktia had less than 2 percent.

Table 3: Decision-makers by province, type of organization and sex

Province Government Private NGOs Total Both sexes

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female # %

Kabul 3,202 472 419 71 162 50 3,783 593 4,376 49.7Kapisa 100 8 4 0 3 0 107 8 115 1.3Parwan 133 8 6 0 7 0 146 8 154 1.8Wardak 86 0 1 0 0 0 87 0 87 1.0Logar 61 6 4 0 0 0 65 6 71 0.8Nangarhar 173 11 83 2 5 1 261 14 275 3.1Laghman 152 4 18 1 13 1 183 6 189 2.1Panjsher 56 3 2 0 1 0 59 3 62 0.7Baghlan 98 8 27 1 2 0 127 9 136 1.5Bamyan 98 6 21 1 0 0 119 7 126 1.4Ghazni 141 11 32 5 0 0 173 16 189 2.1Paktika 62 3 5 0 0 0 67 3 70 0.8Paktia 58 1 26 0 3 0 87 1 88 1.0Khost 135 5 18 0 2 0 155 5 160 1.8Kunar 78 2 1 0 4 2 83 4 87 1.0Nooristan 63 1 1 0 0 0 64 1 65 0.7Badakhshan 154 12 27 3 23 15 204 30 234 2.7Takhar 134 9 19 0 3 2 156 11 167 1.9Kunduz 95 5 0 0 0 0 95 5 100 1.1Samangan 93 8 0 0 2 0 95 8 103 1.2Balkh 243 38 41 2 34 10 318 50 368 4.2Sar-e-pul 67 11 0 0 10 1 77 12 89 1.0Ghor 52 3 2 0 12 2 66 5 71 0.8Daykundi 90 14 2 0 0 1 92 15 107 1.2Urozgan8 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/aZabul 41 0 0 0 0 0 41 0 41 0.5Kandahar 134 15 40 0 27 2 201 17 218 2.5Jozjan 156 16 63 9 2 0 221 25 246 2.8Faryab 73 6 6 1 0 0 79 7 86 1.0Helmand 111 10 22 0 3 0 136 10 146 1.7Badghis 62 5 11 0 0 0 73 5 78 0.9Herat 245 40 22 3 20 0 287 43 330 3.8Farah 63 12 7 0 1 0 71 12 83 0.9Nimroz 73 4 1 0 2 0 76 4 80 0.9Total 6,582 757 931 99 341 87 7854 943 8,797 100

8 Data were not collected due to security problems.

39

2.5.2 Province of birth Almost all decision-makers (99.6 percent) were born in Afghanistan, with a fifth (22.3 percent)

born in Kabul province which is home to only 15.5 percent of the population. Women were far

more likely than men to be born in Kabul: 41 percent of female decision-makers and 20 percent

of male decision-makers were born in Kabul, suggesting that its highly urbanized and

cosmopolitan environment, and better education and opportunities for girls, is conducive to

women’s empowerment.

The five provinces with the highest proportion of people in decision-making were:

Kabul: 22 percent;

Nangarhar: 6 percent;

Parwan: 5 percent;

Ghazni: 5 percent; and

Laghman: 4 percent.

The findings suggest a need to target programmes focusing on girls’ education and opportunity

in other provinces. The detailed information of respondents according to their birth place, type

of organization, province and sex is presented in table 4. The proportion of women decision-

makers was higher than the national average of 11 percent in 11 provinces as well as those born

abroad. Other provinces with a high proportion of female decision-makers were Badakhshan,

Samangan, Balkh, Sar-e-pul, Daykundi, Kandahar, Jozgan, Faryab, Herat and Farah. The only

province which reported no female decision-makers born there was Urozgan, where data

collection was not possible due to insecurity. Collectively, 36 percent of female respondents

were born in Kabul or abroad, pointing to the lifelong importance of girls’ education in

encouraging women’s participation in decision-making.

Table 4: Places of birth of decision-makers by type of organization, province and sex


Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female # % Kabul 1,300 312 187 47 78 32 1,565 391 1,956 22.2Kapisa 244 22 13 3 10 3 267 28 295 3.4Parwan 332 27 28 2 18 2 378 31 409 4.6Wardak 265 5 64 2 15 1 344 8 352 4Logar 209 14 25 0 4 0 238 14 252 2.9Nangarhar 373 19 80 1 20 0 473 20 493 5.6Laghman 303 14 35 5 13 2 351 21 372 4.2Panjsher 145 9 11 2 8 0 164 11 175 2Baghlan 205 12 30 2 8 3 243 17 260 3Bamyan 121 5 37 3 7 2 165 10 175 2Ghazni 307 24 57 3 10 3 374 30 404 4.6

40


Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female # % Paktika 64 4 7 1 2 0 73 5 78 0.9Paktia 138 7 29 0 7 0 174 7 181 2.1Khost 158 6 21 0 3 0 182 6 188 2.1Kunar 124 6 13 0 5 2 142 8 150 1.7Nooristan 50 2 0 0 0 0 50 2 52 0.6Badakhshan 263 24 32 5 26 16 321 45 366 4.2Takhar 260 12 19 1 5 1 284 14 298 3.4Kunduz 144 11 9 2 8 2 161 15 176 2Samangan 91 10 5 0 5 3 101 13 114 1.3Balkh 206 39 44 2 17 6 267 47 314 3.6Sar-e-pul 79 13 7 0 7 1 93 14 107 1.2Ghor 60 4 1 0 9 1 70 5 75 0.9Daykundi 86 20 6 1 0 1 92 22 114 1.3Urozgan 17 0 3 0 1 0 21 0 21 0.2Zabul 33 1 0 0 0 0 33 1 34 0.4Kandahar 128 19 34 1 12 2 174 22 196 2.2Jozjan 108 18 40 9 4 2 152 29 181 2.1Faryab 128 16 17 2 6 0 151 18 169 1.9Helmand 125 13 22 0 5 0 152 13 165 1.9Badghis 58 5 8 0 2 0 68 5 73 0.8Herat 261 41 27 5 20 1 308 47 355 4Farah 113 16 14 0 5 0 132 16 148 1.7Nimroz 61 3 2 0 1 0 64 3 67 0.8Abroad 23 4 4 0 0 1 27 5 32 0.4Total 6,582 757 931 99 341 87 7,854 943 8,797 100

2.5.3 Urban/ rural place of birth There is relatively even distribution of respondents by place of birth (rural vs. urban). However,

with the rural population constituting 75 percent of Afghanistan’s total population, in reality

this represents considerable disparities. For women, this disparity is even greater: 26 percent

of women in decision-making positions were born in rural areas, compared with 53 percent of

men (see figure 14). This suggests a need for focus on education as well as communication

initiatives for women’s empowerment in rural areas.

41

Figure 14: Distribution of decision-makers by place of birth and sex (%)

2.6 Position in organization 2.6.1 Job title The greatest number of decision-makers interviewed had the job title of deputy head of

government office (nearly 51 percent), followed by head of government office or organization.

Women were less likely than men to work as heads of government office or organizations: only

18 percent of women had such job titles, compared with 23 percent of men (see table 5).

Table 5: Decision-makers by job title

Job title Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Minister 12 1 13 0.2 0.1 0.1Deputy minister/ department head 88 11 99 1.1 1.2 1.1President-general of independent department (public sector)

15 0 15 0.2 0.0 0.2

Head of government office/ department 1,822 172 1,994 23.2 18.2 22.7Commissioner 28 2 30 0.4 0.2 0.3Provincial governor 17 0 17 0.2 0.0 0.2District administrator 158 20 178 2.0 2.1 2.0Official of attorney-general 55 8 63 0.7 0.8 0.7Judges/ official of the courts 26 6 32 0.3 0.6 0.4Head of private sector organization / NGOs

393 47 440 5.0 5.0 5.0

Deputy head of private sector organization/ NGOs

466 45 511 5.9 4.8 5.8

Deputy head of government office/ department

4,006 493 4,499 51.0 52.3 51.1

Other 31 5 36 0.4 0.5 0.4Not stated 737 133 870 9.4 14.1 9.9Total 7,854 943 8,797 100 100 100

47.1%

74.3%

50.0%

52.9%

27.7%

50.0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Male Female Both

Urban Rural

42

The representation of women at all positions was relatively low compared to that of men, and

was highest amongst judges and officials of courts (19 percent) followed by officials of the

attorney-general (13 percent) and district administrators (11 percent). In contrast, their

representation was lowest for commissioners (7 percent, numbering only two) followed by

ministers (8 percent, numbering one) and heads of government organizations (9 percent).

Amongst the respondents to the survey, there were no women working as presidents-general

of independent departments or as provincial governors.

2.6.2 Official grade (government officials) The survey targeted government officials at Grade 3 or higher rank. About 62 percent of

respondents were at Grade 3, 27 percent at Grade 2 and 2 percent at Grade 1, the most senior

rank.

Both women and men were more likely to work at Grade 3 than other ranks though a slightly

higher proportion of women were at Grade 3 compared to men, while a greater proportion of

men were mid-ranking (Grade 2) compared to women. More than two-thirds (68 percent) of

women were at Grade 3, compared with 17 percent at Grade 2 and 2.4 percent at Grade 1.

Nevertheless, women comprised only 11 percent of all respondents at Grade 3.

Correspondingly, 62 percent of men were at Grade 3, 28 percent were at Grade 2, and 3 percent

at Grade 1.

There were, overall, 11 Grade 2 officials for every Grade 1 official, and two Grade 3 officials

for every Grade 2 official. This distribution was heavily skewed for women, among whom

there were 19 Grade 2 officials for every Grade 1 official, and four Grade 3 officials for every

Grade 2 official. Thus, the proportion of women decision-makers diminishes as one rises

through the hierarchy.

43

Figure 15: Decision-makers in government positions by grade and sex (%)

As figure 16 shows women’s representation was highest in parliamentary staff (31 percent)

followed by provincial council (22 percent) and in ‘out of rank’ positions (20.3 percent).9 In

contrast, the representation was least in Grade 1 (4 percent) followed by ‘above rank’ positions

(6 percent) and in Grade 2 (7 percent).

Figure 16: Women decision-makers in government positions by grade (%)

9 ‘Out of rank’ refers to senior positions including ministers and heads of independent organizations. ‘Above over rank’ and ‘over rank’ refers to other senior positions including deputy ministers and deputy heads of independent organizations.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Male Female Both

31.3%

21.7%20.3%

14.0%11.3%

6.7% 6.0%4.0%

14.0%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

44

2.6.3 Occupation The survey collected information on the main occupations of respondents based on the

International Standard Classification of Occupations 2008. This showed that respondents were

more likely to work as managing directors or chief executives than other occupations. The chief

occupations under this classification were:

Managing directors and chief executives: 25 percent;

Education managers: 14 percent;

Service managers not elsewhere classified: 7 percent;

Human resource managers: 6 percent; and

Professional services managers not elsewhere classified: 5 percent.

Table 6: Main occupations of decision-makers in their current position by sex

Main occupations Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female TotalManaging directors and chief executives 1,974 177 2,151 25.1 18.8 24.5Education managers 1,098 171 1,269 14.0 18.1 14.4Services managers not elsewhere classified 553 72 625 7.0 7.6 7.1Human resource managers 424 67 491 5.4 7.1 5.6Professional services managers not elsewhere classified

416 55 471 5.3 5.8 5.4

Business services and administration managers not elsewhere classified

377 36 413 4.8 3.8 4.7

Research and development managers 359 52 411 4.6 5.5 4.7Finance managers 360 27 387 4.6 2.9 4.4Other services managers 321 36 357 4.1 3.8 4.1Health services managers 268 41 309 3.4 4.3 3.5Senior government officials 255 30 285 3.2 3.2 3.2Policy and planning managers 249 21 270 3.2 2.2 3.1Information and communications technology service managers

188 22 210 2.4 2.3 2.4

Advertising and public relations managers 157 26 183 2.0 2.8 2.1Lawyers 80 12 92 1.0 1.3 1.0Sales and marketing managers 88 4 92 1.1 0.4 1.0Manufacturing managers 85 6 91 1.1 0.6 1.0Construction managers 81 4 85 1.0 0.4 1.0Agricultural and forestry production managers 64 6 70 0.8 0.6 0.8Legislators 40 17 57 0.5 1.8 0.6General medical practitioners 47 9 56 0.6 1.0 0.6Financial and insurance services branch managers

38 1 39 0.5 0.1 0.4

Sports, recreation and cultural centre managers 26 3 29 0.3 0.3 0.3Mining managers 17 1 18 0.2 0.1 0.2Supply, distribution and related managers 15 2 17 0.2 0.2 0.2Child care services managers 15 1 16 0.2 0.1 0.2Hotel managers 8 3 11 0.1 0.3 0.1Professional services managers 2 0 2 0.0 0.0 0.0Not stated 249 41 290 3.2 4.3 3.3Total 7,854 943 8,797 100 100 100

45

A quarter of men were managing directors and chief executives, compared to 14 percent who

were education managers. Notably, a smaller proportion among women, 19 percent, were

managing directors and chief executives while 18 percent were education managers. This

suggests that women decision-makers were less likely to take the top role in their organizations,

but were more likely than men to be education managers – a more traditionally female role.

Figure 17: Top ten occupations for female decision-makers ( %)

2.6.4 Experience in current position About 87 percent of respondents had completed at least one year in their current position, and

the mean years of job experience was 5.6 years. Among women this declined to 5.3 years.

Decision-makers working in NGOs had more years of job experience than those in the

government and private sectors, with 5.8 years of work experience, followed by government

officials at 5.6 years and private sector staff at 5.2 years (see table 7). Women decision-makers

at NGOs had as little as 4.0 years of experience while their male counterparts had 6.2 years of

experience.

Table 7: Job experience of decision-makers by type of organization and sex (years) Type of organization Male Female Total

Government 5.6 5.6 5.6 Private 5.3 4.5 5.2 NGOs 6.2 4.0 5.8 Total 5.6 5.3 5.6

18.8% 18.1%

7.6% 7.1%5.8% 5.5%

4.3% 3.8% 3.8% 3.2%

0%

2%4%

6%8%

10%

12%14%

16%

18%20%

46

2.6.5 Budget-holding responsibility Budget-holders have critical decision-making powers in most organizations. The survey found

that 25.1 percent of respondents were budget-holders, with a 99.6 percent response rate to this

question (8,759 respondents). Women were far less likely than men to work as budget-holders:

17.2 percent of female and 26.0 percent of male respondents were budget-holders (see figure

18).

Respondents in the private sector and NGOs were more likely to hold budgets than those in

government. Nearly 55 percent of private sector respondents and 47 percent of NGO

respondents were budget-holders, compared to only 20 percent of government officials. This

may be an artefact of the population selected for the survey, as only the heads and deputy heads

of private sector organizations and NGOs were included, while all Grade 3 or above

government officials were surveyed.

Figure 18: Decision-makers holding budgets in their organizations (%)

On average, each respondent supervised 50 staff, with women supervising slightly more at 52

compared to 50 for men. Decision-makers in government supervised 51 staff members on

average, compared to 50 and 47 respectively in the private sector and NGOs.

2.7 Position within household 2.7.1 Head of the household The head of the household is the key decision-maker in the home’s financial management. This

decision-making power, along with six months residence, or intent to reside, is key to the

definition of the head of the household; it is not dependant on sex, age or the respect otherwise

accorded to individuals in a household.

25.1%

17.2%

26.0%

74.9%

82.8%

74.0%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Both

Female

Male

Yes

No

47

The survey examined whether respondents in decision-making positions were also the heads

of their households. Of the 8,797 respondents, 94 percent (8,746) responded to this question.

Of these, 73 percent said they were the heads of their households. However, this indicator

differed markedly by sex. Female decision-makers were far less likely to be the heads of their

households than men; only a fifth (22 percent) of women had this role, compared to 79 percent

of their male counterparts.

About 7 percent of respondents stated that their spouses were the heads of their households –

13 percent of men stated that their wives had this role, while 52 percent of women stated that

their households were headed by their husbands. Additionally, 17 percent of households were

headed by the father or father-in law; this was almost the same proportion for both male and

female respondents. Under 2 percent of male respondents’ households were led by women

including spouses and mothers or mothers-in law. Among women respondents, however, 25

percent of households were headed by female members of the family, including the respondents

themselves or their mothers or mothers-in-law.

However, only 5 percent of respondents’ households were headed by women, including those

headed by female respondents, by wives of male respondents, and mothers or mothers-in-law

of respondents of either sex (see figure 19). This limited power over financial management in

the home suggests that even financial independence due to achieving high rank at work does

not necessarily correlate with decision-making power in the home.

Figure 19: Persons bearing the responsibility of head of household by sex (%)

78.7%

1.3%

16.8%

0.9%

1.6%

0.1%

0.6%

22.1%

51.3%

17.5%

3.5%

4.8%

0.4%

0.4%

72.7%

6.7% 16.8%

1.1%

2.0%

0.1%

0.6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Male Female Both

48

Decision-makers working in government organization were more likely to bear the

responsibility of the head of household than those in the private sector and NGOs. About 75

percent of government respondents were heads of households, compared to 63 percent of those

working at NGOs and 62 percent of those in the private sector.

2.7.2 Education level of spouses About 20 percent of all respondents reported that their spouses had a high school education,

another 20 percent reported primary education and 16 percent a bachelor’s degree or equivalent

(see figure 20). Less than 1 percent had spouses with a doctorate, while 16 percent had spouses

without any education.

Unsurprisingly, given the low rates of female education in Afghanistan, the male spouses of

female respondents were less likely to be illiterate than the female spouses of male respondents.

Seventeen percent of wives of male respondents were illiterate compared to 2 percent of the

husbands of female respondents. Female decision-makers had high proportions of husbands

with bachelor’s or master’s degrees, suggesting that educated men are more likely to have –

and are thus more supportive of – wives who work and are at decision-making levels.

Figure 20: Educational attainment of the spouses of decision-makers (%)

2.7.3 Occupation of spouses Around 91 percent of all spouses of respondents were employed in five job types according to

the International Classification of Occupations, 2008. The top four jobs helped by spouses of

respondents were:

Primary school teachers: 6 percent;

21.3%

10.3%

20.5%

12.9%

13.2%

2.0%

0.2%

17.3%

2.4%

2.5%

1.1%

17.6%

11.5%

46.0%

14.7%

2.3%

2.0%

2.0%

19.8%

9.6%

20.2%

12.8%

15.8%

3.0%

0.4%

16.1%

2.3%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Primary Secondary Highschool

Vocational Bachelor's Master's PhD Illiterate Not stated

Male Female Both

49

Secondary school teachers: 5 percent;

Service managers not elsewhere classified: 3 percent; and

Personal services workers not elsewhere classified: 2 percent.

Thus, most spouses – who, given the relative sample sizes of men and women in this survey,

are mostly wives – were in traditionally female roles as homemakers or teachers (see Annex

II, table 15), while husbands of female decision-makers were most likely to be classified as

personal services workers.

50

CHAPTER 3: CHALLENGES FACED BY WOMEN IN

DECISION-MAKING

This chapter discusses the problems women faced in participating in the decision-making

process as well as policies or programmes suggested by women themselves that could help

overcome those problems. It also covers the suitability of the workplace environment, factors

affecting the workplace environment, and, possible actions organizations could take to increase

women’s participation in decision-making.

The chapter also provides information on organizations’ efforts to raise the visibility of

successful women, gender units established in organizations, their involvement in gender-

related issues and programmes, gender responsive budgeting and allocations to gender equality

and women’s empowerment, and actions taken by decision-makers to improve the lives of men

and women on behalf of their organizations and participation in national consultations on

decision-making process.

3.1 Challenges faced by women related to participation in decision-making Even where women are represented at decision-making levels, they may face specific gender-

related challenges to participation in the process. The survey queried both male and female

respondents about whether women faced specific challenges, and if so, what those challenges

were.

Altogether, 71 percent of respondents felt that women face problems in participation in

decision-making processes, a decline from 76 percent reported in 2013. Women respondents

were more likely than men to hold this perception: 83 percent of female respondents stated that

women faced problems, compared with 70 percent of male respondents (see figure 21). Thus,

almost a third of men believed that women faced no problems – twice the proportion of women

themselves.

51

Figure 21: Perceptions of whether women face problems in participation in decision-making (%)

Respondents who reported that women face problems in participation in decision-making were

further asked about the nature of problems faced, with the option of choosing more than one

response. The top five challenges highlighted by respondents were:

Discriminatory practices in society against women: 54 percent;

Lack of adequate educational qualifications: 53 percent;

Taking care of children and family members: 46 percent;

Household responsibilities of women: 46 percent; and

Lack of professional and vocational skills for the working environment: 46

percent.

As the list above shows, challenges fall into two broad categories: discrimination and social

expectations of women’s roles, and lack of capacity amongst women to enter working life.

There were variations in the opinions held by male and female respondents about women’s

problems in decision-making (figure 22). When responses are broken down by gender, for

example, it is notable that far greater proportions of men than women believe that women lack

educational or vocational qualifications, that men are more suitable and willing to take

decision-making roles, or that women have household or reproductive responsibilities that

prevent them from participating in the decision-making process. All these factors point at

limitations of women, rather than the structural factors that women noted.

71.4%

83.4%

69.9%

28.6%

16.6%

30.1%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Both

Female

Male

Yes No

52

By contrast, a higher proportion of women than men cited social challenges such as

discrimination, and lack of support or networks. This suggests that a greater proportion of

women believe that supportive structures for women in work and society are lacking to reduce

challenges to participation in decision-making.

Thus the highest proportions of women identified discrimination (69.8 percent), lack of social

acceptance (58.1 percent) and marginalization in the workplace (57.0 percent) as factors, while

men identified women’s educational qualifications (55.2 percent) followed by discrimination

(51.7 percent) and lack of professional skills (47.9 percent).

Figure 22: Type of problems women face in participation in decision-making by sex (%)

3.2 Proposed measures to enhance women’s participation in decision-making

55.2%

32.4%

47.9%

30.9%

47.4%

47.4%

32.9%

36.2%

51.7%

16.3%

20.3%

24.9%

29.0%

20.2%

32.5%

27.1%

30.0%

39.8%

28.2%

30.0%

17.3%

36.3%

37.9%

58.1%

57.0%

69.8%

22.1%

29.4%

34.1%

43.9%

14.8%

48.6%

21.9%

36.6%

53.3%

31.9%

45.7%

29.2%

45.9%

46.2%

36.1%

38.8%

54.0%

17.0%

21.4%

26.0%

30.9%

19.6%

34.5%

26.5%

30.8%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Lack of adequate educational qualifications

Lack of confidence

Lack of professional and vocational skills

Men are more suitable in decision‐makingthan women

Household responsibilities

Taking care of children and family members

Non‐acceptance by society for women towork in senior positions

Women deliberately neglected and marginalized by men in working environment

Discriminatory practices in society against women

Absence of women's network

Lack of support from female colleagues

Lack of support from male colleagues

Lack of political support

Women are not interested in decision makingresponsibilities

Lack of proper implementation of governmentpolicy

Reproductive role of women

Lack of support services at work

Both Female Male

53

Respondents were asked to provide suggestions on policies or programmes that could ensure

or enable women’s participation in the decision-making process. They were able to choose

more than one of the options provided. The top five policies or programmes suggested by

respondents were:

Professional and technical capacity building for women: 80 percent;

Public awareness about gender equality and women’s empowerment by relevant

organization: 62 percent;

Leadership training programmes for women: 59 percent;

Recruitment facilitation for women 56 percent; and

Changing patriarchal mind-sets to increase women’s representation in decision-

making: 51 percent.

Despite the significant variations in the types of problems identified (figure 21 above), the

proposed remedial actions followed relatively similar patterns across the genders (see figure

23). Interestingly at least half of women – a higher proportion than men – selected every single

proposed policy or programmatic action, showing particularly strong support for the creation

and implementation of affirmative and supportive policies and laws within organizations and

in law. Men, as well as women, expressed substantial support for capacity building

(approaching 80 per cent for each gender) and public awareness of gender equality (60–65

percent).

54

Figure 23: Proposed policies or programmes to address challenges (%)

3.3 Workplace environment The workplace environment can play a critical role in the degree to which it is welcoming to

and supportive of women. Gender-biased, gender-insensitive or unfair practices in the

workplace can have significant deterrent effects on women seeking to advance their career in


Respondents were asked about whether or not the workplace environment at their organizations

was conducive for women to participate in decision-making. Overall, 15 percent of respondents

reported that their workplace environment was not women-friendly, an improvement from the

25 percent reported in phase 2 of this survey in 2013.

A slightly larger proportion of women than men reported that their workplace environment was

not conducive for women: 18 percent of women and 15 percent of men (figure 24), a similar

pattern similar to that seen in 2013.

61.8%

79.2%

47.4%

54.7%

57.7%

44.7%

32.8%

39.2%

39.9%

50.2%

65.9%

82.8%

56.2%

63.2%

68.3%

52.7%

54.6%

50.4%

57.1%

60.4%

62.3%

79.6%

48.5%

55.8%

59.0%

45.7%

35.5%

40.6%

42.0%

51.5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Public awareness about gender equality and women'sempowerment


Equal pay (salary and concessions) for men and women

Recruitment facilitation for women

Leadership training programmes for women

Establish women friendly support mechanism

Develop in‐house strategy to increase the number ofwomen

Monitor the implementation of law

Affirmative policy action for increasing women indecision‐making

Change men to increase women’s participation in decision‐making

Both Female Male

55

Figure 24: Views on whether the workplace environment is conducive to women decision-makers (%)

Respondents who felt that their workplace environment was not conducive for women to make

decisions were further probed and asked to select one or more reasons from a list. The top five

factors affecting the workplace environment identified by all respondents were:

Lack of hygienic workplace: 63 percent;

Lack of knowledge and information sharing: 47 percent;

Lack of recognition of hard work: 44 percent;

Lack of day-to-day interactions between co-workers as well as between

subordinates and supervisors: 44 percent; and

Lack of logistics and stationery: 43 percent.

When the gender breakdown of responses is examined, however, it is notable that the greatest

proportion of women identified lack of delegation of power to women (67 percent), lack of

support from senior staff (57 percent) and lack of recognition of their efforts (55 percent) – all

factors related to acceptance of women as decision-makers in the workplace. By contrast, far

smaller proportions of men (34 percent, 34 percent and 42 percent respectively) identified these

concerns. Among men, the most commonly cited factor was lack of hygiene and the workplace

(65 percent) which was cited by 50 percent of women. The factor cited least often amongst

both men (27 percent) and women (35 percent) was harassment.

84.6%

82.1%

84.9%

15.4%

17.9%

15.1%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Both

Female

Male

Yes No

56

Figure 25: Factors that make a workplace environment less conducive for women (%)

3.4 The role of the organization in increasing women’s participation in decision-making Organizations play an important role in encouraging women’s participation in leadership and

decision-making, recognizing that aside from gender equity concerns, this has long-term

benefits for the organization and society as a whole.

Respondents were asked to identify one or more actions (from a list) that organizations could

take to increase participation of women in decision-making. More than two-thirds of

respondents advocated for offering training to women. The top five actions suggested by all

respondents were:

Offer training to women to ensure their participation in decision-making: 69 percent;

43.6%

48.7%

42.1%

43.5%

64.5%

34.3%

38.5%

38.4%

33.6%

26.9%

43.2%

34.9%

55.0%

38.5%

50.3%

66.9%

42.6%

46.7%

57.4%

34.9%

43.5%

47.0%

43.7%

42.9%

62.7%

38.4%

39.0%

39.5%

36.6%

27.9%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Lack of day‐to‐day interactions between staff

Lack of knowledge and information sharing

Lack of recognition of hard work

Lack of logistics and stationaries

Lack of hygienic work place

Lack of delegation of power to women

Lack of strong team work spirit

Lack of training on leadership and development

Lack of strong support from seniors

Harassment

Both Female Male

57

Establish a confidential and right-based complaints system and accountability

mechanism in case of violation of women’s rights: 54 percent;

Establish yearly targets to increase women's participation: 45 percent;

Ensure proper implementation of anti-harassment regulation: 43 percent; and

Develop retention programme for women at all levels of decision-making: 40 percent.

Female and male respondents showed similar patterns in the options selected, although a larger

proportion of women was generally in favour of each option (see figure 26). A slightly higher

proportion of men than women cited the implementation of anti-harassment regulations than

women.

58

Figure 26: Actions organizations can take to increase women’s participation in decision-making (%)

3.5 Visibility of women in decision-making Organizations can encourage or promote women to achieve their career goals and bear

responsibilities in higher positions in the workplace or public forums. Such efforts to increase

visibility of successful women as leaders in decision-making are held to attract other women

to enter decision-making positions.

About 76 percent of all respondents stated that their organizations could raise the visibility of

women leaders and decision-makers – 78 percent of women and 76 percent of men (see figure

27).

45.1%

38.1%

38.1%

68.4%

38.9%

53.2%

42.9%

12.8%

28.3%

33.2%

23.4%

31.8%

17.3%

26.4%

15.2%

48.5%

40.6%

40.5%

72.1%

47.5%

57.1%

41.8%

17.9%

32.8%

35.5%

25.3%

36.2%

24.1%

31.6%

18.9%

45.4%

38.3%

38.4%

68.8%

39.8%

53.6%

42.8%

13.3%

28.8%

33.4%

23.6%

32.3%

18.1%

26.9%

15.6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Establish yearly targets to increase women'sparticipation

Establish proper monitoring mechanism

Identify accountable official to ensure attaining ofthe target

Train women to ensure participation in decision‐making

Develop retention programme for womenat all levels of decision‐making

Establish confidential and rights based complaintsand accountability system

Ensure proper implementation of anti‐harassmentregulation

Establish hotline and online system to reportdiscrimination against women

Create job centre for women at all levels

Develop training for women at grade 3 and below

Develop mentorship programme for women ingrades 3 and below

Create awareness about gender equality andwomen's empowerment

Gender responsive budgeting, planning andreporting

Establish gender unit within organization withaccess to decision making

Designate at least one staff as gender nodal personin the organization

Both Female Male

59

Figure 27: Views on whether organizations can raise the visibility of successful women (%)

Respondents who felt that organizations could raise the visibility of women were asked to

select one or more options on the recommended process. Their top recommendations were:

Promote women as role models within and outside the organization: 74 percent;

Utilize women’s skills and experience to achieve organizational goals: 72 percent;

and

Publicize women’s success stories to attract new arrival or motivate other women:

58 percent.

Both male and female respondents shared similar recommendations, though a larger proportion

of women advocated for all options than men, other than appointing women leaders as gender

focal persons.

75.5% 77.5% 75.7%

24.5% 22.4% 24.3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Male Female Both

Yes No

60

Figure 28: Proposed ways to raise the visibility of successful women (%)

3.6 Organization measures to address gender-related issues 3.6.1 Gender units More than half of respondents (53 percent) stated that their organizations had a gender unit

with access to decision-making, including 57 percent of respondents from the government

sector (a slight decline from 59 percent in 2013), 45 percent of respondents from NGOs (a

slight increase from 43 percent in 2013) and 27 percent of respondents from the private sector

(an increase from 23 percent in 2013).10 The response from government decision-makers does

not fully align with the fact that all central government organizations have gender units within

their organizational structures; however, the survey also included provincial offices which may

have lowered this response (see figure 29). Private sector organizations were significantly less

likely than those in other sectors to include a gender unit.

10 Note that this question does not assess how many organizations have gender units, simply whether respondents are aware of one that exists in the organization.

72.0%

50.2%

73.9%

57.4%

46.3%

43.7%

74.5%

51.9%

77.9%

59.2%

40.0%

51.0%

72.3%

50.4%

74.3%

57.6%

45.6%

44.5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Utilize her skills and experience to achieveorganizational goals

Provide bigger and challenging platform

Promote her as role model within and outsidethe organization

Publicize her success stories to attract newarrivals

Assign her as a gender focal point of theorganization

Provide opportunity for exposure in nationaland international forum

Both Female Male

61

Figure 29: Awareness of existence of gender units in organizations (%)

3.6.2 Work on gender-related issues About 59 percent of respondents reported that their organizations worked on gender-related

issues, including 63 percent of respondents from NGOs, 61 percent from government, and 39

percent of private sector respondents (see figure 30).

Figure 30: Whether organizations are involved in gender-related issues (%)

Those who stated that their organizations worked in gender-related issues or programmes were

asked to identify one or more gender-related activities or programmes. Two-thirds of

respondents, including 79 percent of government respondents, stated that their organization

interacted actively with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, international gender institutions and

women’s organizations:

52.9%

44.9%

27.2%

57.0%

47.1%

55.1%

72.8%

43.0%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total

NGO

Private

Government

Yes No

61.2%

38.9%

63.1% 58.7%

38.8%

61.1%

36.9% 41.3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Government Private NGO Total

Yes No

62

Active interaction with Ministry of Women Affairs, international gender

institutions and women’s organizations: 66 percent;

Maintaining contacts and working with women's associations: 64 percent;

Maintaining contacts with representatives of NGOs: 57 percent;

Management to promote capacity building on gender: 50 percent; and

Maintaining contacts and exchange learnings with academic institutions: 43

percent.

Less than a third of organizations from all three sectors identified the following activities in

their organizations: budgeted gender equality objectives; gender mainstreaming strategies in

technical cooperation projects; posts and resources for gender specialists; use of gender-

disaggregated data in all areas; gender training modules; and incentives/ deterrents for staff

engagement in issues related to gender (see Annex II, table 24).

3.6.3 Gender responsive budgeting Gender responsive budgeting is an approach to integrating or mainstreaming gender issues into

all stages of the budgeting process for development plans and programmes. It helps to monitor

whether policy commitments related to poverty reduction and gender equality are reflected

through adequate budget allocations.

The survey asked heads of all organizations whether their organizations practiced gender

responsive budgeting. Only 25 percent of organizations had such practices. The survey also

asked each organization about the share of budget allocated to promote gender equality and

empowerment of women. On average, the heads of organizations surveyed stated that they

allocated 22 percent of their total budget to promoting gender equality and women’s

empowerment in the reference fiscal year. However, given global trends in this area, this figure

will need to be verified through a full gender responsive budgeting process.

3.7 Actions taken to improve lives Decision-makers can play a crucial role within their organizations to improve the lives of men

and women. More than two-thirds (68.7 percent) of respondents, roughly equivalent

proportions of men (68.8 percent) and women (67.7 percent) stated they had taken actions to

improve the lives of others on behalf of their organizations.

63

Figure 31: Actions taken to improve the lives of men and women (%)

NGO respondents were more likely (79 percent) to have taken such actions than those in the

private sector (72 percent) and government bodies (68 percent).

Those who responded in the affirmative were asked to indicate one or more actions taken. The

top three choices were:

Gave recommendation for scholarship: 64 percent;

Provided free education: 52 percent; and

Provided financial support to the needy: 44 percent.

Men were much more likely to provide financial support than women; otherwise, generally a

greater proportion of women than men replied in the affirmative to all types of actions (see

Annex II, table 26).

68.7%

67.7%

68.8%

31.3%

32.3%

31.2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total

Female

Male

Yes No

64

Figure 32: Actions taken by decision-makers for the improvement of people’s lives (%)

3.8 Invitations to national consultations The survey collected information on whether respondents were invited to “national consultative

meetings on decision-making process for women” by their organizations. About 44 percent of

respondents were invited to such meetings, including 47 percent of women and 43 percent of

men (figure 33). This represents a decline from the 58 percent reported for women in the 2013

phase of the survey, while the proportion of men invited remains almost constant (45 percent).

Thus, while women were more likely to be invited to consultative meetings than men, they

were less likely to be invited than in previous years. t

45.2%

63.2%

30.3%

51.6%

14.1%

21.6%

36.6%

16.2%

27.2%

36.5%

65.5%

33.1%

56.9%

14.4%

21.3%

46.2%

20.2%

30.6%

44.3%

63.5%

30.6%

52.1%

14.2%

21.6%

37.6%

16.6%

27.6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Provided financial support toneedy people

Recommended for scholarship

Distributed goods

Provided free education

Provided shelter

Served meals

Provided health services

Provided grant and soft loan

Mobilized staff to support victimsduring disaster

Both Female Male

65

Figure 33: Invitees to national consultative meetings by sex (%)

Respondents working in NGOs were slightly more likely to be invited to such meetings (46

percent) than those in government (45 percent) or the private sector (32 percent).

43.4% 46.7% 43.8%

56.6% 53.3% 56.2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Male Female Total

Yes No

66

CHAPTER 4: CAPACITY, SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION

As described earlier in this report, both men and women identified the need to build women’s

capacity to participate in decision-making processes. This chapter discusses awareness of

existing capacity building measures, as well as the use women make of training courses. It also

considers the support women receive – and the barriers they face – in fulfilling their duties in

their workplace and at home.

4.1 Training courses Of the 943 women respondents, 610 (65 percent) were aware of trainings offered to women

during the reference period, a sharp decline from 82 percent in 2013. In 2016, women working

in private organizations remained less likely to know about such trainings. In the private sector,

55 percent of women were aware of training programmes offered by their organizations

compared to 66 percent of women in government and 67 percent of women in NGOs.

Government and NGO workers both saw sharp declines since 2013, when 81 percent and 91

percent respectively reported awareness of training courses. By contrast, awareness amongst

women in the private sector rose substantially, from 33 percent in 2013.

Figure 34: Awareness of trainings offered by organizations to women (%)

Respondents who were aware of trainings offered to women as a part of capacity building

programme by their organizations were asked to describe the type of trainings or courses

offered and the level at which these were offered (basic, intermediate, advanced). More

respondents noted trainings for English (99 percent), management and women’s rights (see

figure 35). The lowest proportion was for religious courses: only 36 percent respondents were

aware of at least one religious course.

64.7%

66.7%

54.5%

65.8%

35.3%

33.3%

45.5%

34.2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total

NGO

Private

Government

Yes No

67

Figure 35: Awareness of trainings offered for women by type of course and level (%)

4.1.2 Participation in training courses The survey also collected information on whether respondents had attended training or capacity

building programmes or courses targeted at women during the last two years. About 58 percent

of respondents had attended such courses. At 53 percent, women working in private

organizations were less likely to have attended trainings than those working in the government

(58 percent) and NGOs (70 percent). Once again, participation by women in government bodies

and NGOs had fallen from 2013 figures (68 percent and 91 percent respectively), while private

sector participation had increased (from 17 percent).

Figure 36: Participation of women in training courses (%)

36.7%

14.4%

12.0%

11.8%

13.0% 24.1%

44.1%

30.7%

18.7%

20.7%

14.3%

29.5%

17.9%

14.6%

16.4%

12.6%

8.5% 15.6%

98.7%

59.7%

47.0%

45.1%

35.7%

69.2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

English Management Women'srights

Professional Religious Computers

Basic Intermediate Advanced Total

57.6%52.5%

70.1%

58.2%

42.4%47.5%

29.9%

41.8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


Yes No

68

About 77 percent had taken computer courses and 66 percent management courses of any level

from basic to advanced. A comparison of figures 35 and 37 suggests that the English courses

most commonly offered were not necessarily the ones that women decision-makers most

commonly opted to take.

Figure 37: Participation of women decision-makers in training courses by level (%)

4.2 Problems faced at work

Respondents were asked whether they faced problems in working. About 27 percent of

respondents reported problems, including 14 percent of women in the private sector, 18 percent

of women in NGOs and 29 percent of government decision-makers.

12.9%

5.6%

5.8%

4.7%

0.7% 7.5%

22.4%

25.3%

15.1%

12.2%

4.7% 12.9%

12.0%

26.0%

20.8%

17.1%

5.6%

9.1%

47.4%

66.3%

52.3%

50.1%

39.7%

76.9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

English Management Women'srights

Professional Religious Computers

Basic Intermediate Advanced Total

69

Figure 38: Women reporting problems faced at work (%)

Those who reported problems identified the following top five issues:

Feeling unsafe due to insecurity: 46 percent;

Discrimination against women and favouritism to men: 32 percent;

Excess workload: 27 percent;

Illegal/ unethical actions of senior managers: 27 percent; and

Lack of reward and punishment system: 26 percent.

Smaller proportions of women (a fifth or fewer) identified problems related to their families

and communities, such as lack of support or household responsibilities (see figure 39).

26.7%

18.4%

14.1%

29.3%

73.3%

81.6%

85.9%

70.7%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total

NGO

Private

Government

Yes No

70

Figure 39: Type of problems with work reported by women (%)

4.2.1 Resistance encountered in the workplace About 16 percent of respondents stated that they had faced resistance from their own colleagues

in the workplace. Male co-workers posed the greatest resistance, with male superiors cited by

more than half of respondents (51 percent), male colleagues of equivalent level by 40 percent

and female superiors by 17 percent. Even male subordinates posed greater resistance (16

percent) than female colleagues.

Figure 40: Persons from whom resistance was encountered in the workplace (%)

20.2%16.7%

8.3%6.0%

46.0%

19.4%

27.4%

10.7%

32.1%

26.6% 26.2%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

5.6%

16.0%13.9%

40.3%

17.4%

51.4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Femalesubordinate

Malesubordinate

Femalecolleague

Malecolleague

Femalesuperior

Malesuperior

71

4.3 Support and resistance at home

4.3.1 Support from family and community The survey collected information regarding respondents’ perceptions of the support their

families and other close associates provide to them as professional women. The results were

encouraging: 90 percent of women decision-makers reported that their families and close

associates were supportive. This figure was as high as 96 percent for women in the private

sector, while government and NGO workers reported 90 percent and 90 percent respectively.

Reasons may include cultural and socioeconomic factors associated with families of women

working in the private sector workers, as well as the possibility that such respondents may have

had more opportunities to work in their own or family businesses before joining their current

organizations.

Figure 41: Support to women from families and associates (%)

Respondents with supportive families and associates were asked to identify whom they

considered their major supporters. Generally, husbands (59 percent), brothers (58 percent) and

mothers (56 percent) were considered to be the most supportive family members. By contrast,

mothers-in law (12 percent) and fathers-in law (14 percent) were cited least often as being

supportive. The low support amongst in-laws, particularly, may provide hints as to gendered

expectations of women as caretakers in the home.

89.7% 96.0% 89.7% 90.3%

10.3% 4.0% 10.3% 9.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


Yes No

72

Figure 42: Family members and associates identified as supportive by women decision-makers (%)

4.3.2 Help with household chores Women in the workforce, particularly in traditional societies, are often expected to retain

disproportionate responsibility for household chores, which can be a deterrent to work

especially at higher, decision-making, levels. The multiple and competing burdens faced by

women are acknowledged as a challenge in NAPWA. Support with household chores can be

an important factor in increasing the representation of women in decision-making.

The survey found that family members (other than the husband) were the most commonly cited

main helpers (44 percent), followed by husbands (33 percent) and paid household helpers (12

percent). A substantial proportion (16 percent) did not receive any help at all, a proportion that

has remained roughly constant since the 17 percent reported in 2013. Thus, a significant

number of women in decision-making positions continue to perform unpaid labour at home,

above and beyond their financial contributions to the household.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

73

Figure 43: Main helpers in household chores (%)

4.3.3 Resistance from communities

The survey collected data on the types of objections women decision-makers received from

their own communities (see figure 44). The three most commonly cited objections were:

Stereotyping family members (especially husbands) who rely fully or partially upon

women’s income;

Considering employment as inappropriate for women; and

Not wanting women to work outside their home or for others.

Figure 44: Type of objections encountered by women decision-makers (%)

33.1%

43.8%

11.6%

16.3%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Husband Other familymember

Household help Nobody

12.7%

9.3%

5.6%4.3%

14.5%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

Employment isinappropriatefor women

Women shouldwork at home,not for others

By workingoutside, familyis neglected

Onlyirresponsiblewomen go out

to work

Socialperceptions ofmen who liveoff women'sincomes

74

CHAPTER 5: FERTILITY DECISIONS

It is widely assumed that women decision-makers are more likely to have greater influence

over fertility and related decisions within the home, and that they may drive a move towards

gender equity within families, e.g. by reducing the preference for boys over girls.

This chapter analyses the data collected by the survey on the reproductive rights of women

decision-makers in giving birth to their child, gender preference and the prevalence of

polygyny.

5.1 Childbearing decisions Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to

decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the

information and means to do so, the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and

reproductive health, and the right to make decisions concerning reproduction without

discrimination or coercion.

The survey asked every married woman about decision-makers regarding childbearing. Nearly

two-thirds (64 percent) stated that their husbands were the decision-makers, while 21 percent

stated they themselves were the decision-makers. Only 11 percent of respondents stated that

the decision regarding childbearing was based upon mutual understanding between husband

and wife. Thus, about a third of female decision-makers had husbands who were supportive of

their reproductive rights.

Figure 45: Key decision-maker in having a child (%)

Self, 21.4%

Self and husband, 11.2%

Husband, 63.5%

Family, 2.0% Not stated, 1.9%

75

5.2 Gender preference The survey asked women decision-makers whether they preferred a specific gender if giving

birth to a child. About 81 percent reported no preference, whilst 10 percent preferred daughters

and 6 percent preferred sons. Thus, while a slightly higher proportion preference for daughters,

the vast majority had no gender preference.

Figure 46: Gender preferences of women decision-makers (%)

Son, 6.4%

Daughter, 10.1%

No preference, 81.4%

Not stated, 2.0%

76

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Women and Men in Decision-making Survey 2016 provides a snapshot of the current

status of the representation of women in decision-making, shows progress since earlier surveys

in 2009 and 2013, and provides data to monitor the GoIRA’s commitment to achieve 30 percent

representation of women in decision-making positions by 2020. The survey shows that despite

the Government’s strong commitment, and substantial support from the development

community, the representation of women in decision-making remains low at under 11 percent.

While 20 percent representation in NGOs shows that there are pathways to improving this

figure, efforts are required to increase women’s representation in the public and private sectors.

Nevertheless, the figures suggest that under current trends, GoIRA will not attain 30 percent

women’s representation by 2020. Hence, there is an urgent need to review current policies

related to gender equality and empowerment of women and set realistic goals for

representation.

1. Thirty percent representation of women in decision-making positions by 2020 will not

be achieved.

GoIRA should review its existing policies and set new goals, including the adoption of

an affirmative action policy for women, supported by development agencies. Girls’

education, advocacy and massive awareness programmes on gender equality and

women’s empowerment are prerequisites for increasing women’s representation at all

levels, including leadership positions. Instituting a lot entry system for women in higher

positions for a fixed period would also help to increase women’s representation.

2. Decision-makers are concentrated in Kabul province and urban areas

The high proportion of decision-makers found in Kabul and urban areas indicates a vast

disparity between these areas and the rest of the country. Government and development

agencies should also target programmes focusing on gender equality and empowerment

of women in other provinces and rural areas where sociocultural barriers may be

greater. Decentralization of power to local government, with the establishment of

offices in all provinces, would encourage local people to work in their own areas instead

of migrating to Kabul or other cities, and increase equitable representation.

3. Women have less decision-making power even in the household

77

The low proportion of female-headed households (under 5 percent) even among

decision-makers indicates that women have a minimal decision-making role at the

household level. Plans and policies therefore need to include gender equality and

women’s empowerment within households.

4. Discrimination against women and the lack of adequate educational qualifications

hinder women in decision-making positions

Afghanistan’s low rates of female education, especially at higher levels, has a profound

impact on women’s inclusion in decision-making processes. Measures to encourage

women’s participation in higher and vocational education, alongside targeted

leadership and management courses, will contribute towards addressing this disparity.

5. Acknowledgement and encouragement is necessary even for successful women

Promotion of successful women as role models within and outside the organization,

utilization of their skills and experience to achieve organizational goals and publicizing

their success stories to attract newcomers, are essential for organizations to raise

visibility of successful women. Organizations should develop such strategies to

encourage women to participate in decision-making processes.

6. All organizations should provide capacity building to women, and enhance public

awareness of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Professional and technical capacity building activities for women, enhancing public

awareness of gender equality and women’s empowerment, and leadership training

programmes should form part of the priority agenda for GoIRA and development

agencies. The survey shows that courses in computer use, management courses and

women’s rights are popular courses and can enhance the capacity of women decision-

makers.

7. Training, confidential rights-based complaint systems and accountability mechanism

and setting yearly target is necessary to increase women’s representation.

The establishment of a confidential rights-based complaint system and accountability

mechanism in the case of violation of women’s rights, and setting yearly targets to

increase the representation of women in decision-making positions, should be

prioritized by all organizations.

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8. Insecurity, discrimination against women and favouritism to men and overload of work

have negative effects on women’s performance.

Appropriate actions should be taken by organizations to overcome these problems. In

particular, it is essential for senior staff to model positive behaviours and act promptly

against gender discrimination in their organizations.

9. Society is not positive about women’s participation in decision-making positions.

Active efforts are required by Government to create a conducive environment to

increase women’s participation. Development partners should also support the

government in creating such environment.

10. Even women working in decision-making positions don’t fully exercise their

reproductive rights.

Women lack decision-making power over their own pregnancies. Large-scale

awareness programmes establishing the reproductive rights of women, aimed at both

men and women and jointly conducted by Government and development organizations,

are required.

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ANNEX I: ADDITIONAL TABLES

Table 8: Women in decision-making positions Year Target

(%) Achievement

(%) Gap

(% points) Annual growth

rate (%) 2009 8.2 8.2 0 -2013 16.1 9.9 6.2 5.22016 22.1 10.7 11.4 2.92020 30.0 12.0 18.0 -

Table 9: Marital status and age groups of decision-makers Age-

group Number Percent

Single Married Others Total Single Married Others Total 20-24 120 62 0 182 18.4 0.8 0 2.125-29 250 716 3 969 38.3 8.9 5.1 1130-34 120 1323 1 1444 18.4 16.4 1.7 16.435-39 47 1221 6 1274 7.2 15.1 10.2 14.540-44 54 1177 7 1238 8.3 14.6 11.9 14.145-49 31 933 6 970 4.7 11.5 10.2 1150-54 14 862 8 884 2.1 10.7 13.6 1055-59 8 976 15 999 1.2 12.1 25.4 11.460-64 7 714 10 731 1.1 8.8 16.9 8.365 + 2 101 3 106 0.3 1.2 5.1 1.2Total 653 8085 59 8797 100 100 100 100

Table 10: Educational attainment of decision-makers by level and sex

Educational attainment Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Primary 62 2 64 0.8 0.2 0.7Secondary 50 2 52 0.6 0.2 0.6High School 434 37 471 5.5 3.9 5.4Vocational 1027 186 1213 13.1 19.7 13.8Bachelor or equivalent 4474 524 4998 57.0 55.6 56.8Master or equivalent 1678 185 1863 21.4 19.6 21.2PhD or above 113 6 119 1.4 0.6 1.4Not stated 16 1 17 0.2 0.1 0.2Total 7854 943 8797 100 100 100

Table 11: Areas of specialization of decision-makers

Major specialization Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Bachelor's in Law 855 160 1015 13.9 22.8 14.9Bachelor's in economics 586 32 618 9.6 4.6 9.0Bachelor's in literature 528 85 613 8.6 12.1 9.0Masters of law 323 37 360 5.3 5.3 5.3Bachelor's in social science 305 39 344 5.0 5.6 5.0Bachelor's in engineering 305 10 315 5.0 1.4 4.6Bachelor's in Agriculture 294 6 300 4.8 0.9 4.4

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Major specialization Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Bachelor's in Theology 267 30 297 4.4 4.3 4.3Bachelor's in Computer Science 210 45 255 3.4 6.4 3.7Bachelor's in trade and management 179 12 191 2.9 1.7 2.8

Table 12: Positions of government officials by sex

Grade Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Out of rank 47 12 59 0.7 1.6 0.8Above over rank 78 5 83 1.2 0.7 1.1Over rank 74 12 86 1.1 1.6 1.2Grade 1 170 7 177 2.6 0.9 2.4Grade 2 1825 132 1957 27.7 17.4 26.7Grade 3 4064 516 4580 61.7 68.2 62.4Parliament staff 44 20 64 0.7 2.6 0.9Province council 65 18 83 1 2.4 1.1Not stated 215 35 250 3.3 4.6 3.4Total 6582 757 7339 100 100 100

Table 13: Heads of household by sex

Head of household Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Myself 6184 208 6392 78.7 22.1 72.7 My spouse 103 484 587 1.3 51.3 6.7 Father/Father-in law 1316 165 1481 16.8 17.5 16.8 Mother/Mother-in law 68 33 101 0.9 3.5 1.1 Brother/Brother-in law 128 45 173 1.6 4.8 2.0 Others 5 4 9 0.1 0.4 0.1 Not stated 50 4 54 0.6 0.4 0.6 Total 7854 943 8797 100 100 100

Table 14: Educational attainment of the spouses of decision-makers by sex

Education by level Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Primary education 1584 16 1600 21.3 2.5 19.8Secondary education 766 7 773 10.3 1.1 9.6High School 1523 114 1637 20.5 17.8 20.2Vocational education 960 74 1034 12.9 11.5 12.8Bachelor or equivalent 979 295 1274 13.2 46.0 15.8Master or equivalent 147 94 241 2.0 14.7 3.0PhD or above 18 15 33 0.2 2.3 0.4Illiterate (no education) 1291 13 1304 17.3 2.0 16.1Not stated 175 13 188 2.4 2.0 2.3Total 7443 641 8084 100 100 100

Table 15: Occupations of the spouses of decision-makers by sex

Occupation of spouses Male Female Total Total (%)

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Primary school teachers 504 15 519 6.42Secondary education teachers 403 15 418 5.17Services managers not elsewhere classified 114 104 218 2.70Personal services workers not elsewhere classified 69 123 192 2.38University and higher education teachers 50 16 66 0.82Specialist medical practitioners 43 21 64 0.79General medical practitioners 36 25 61 0.75Human Resource Managers 31 22 53 0.66Midwifery professionals 42 1 43 0.53Managing directors and chief executives 6 22 28 0.35Other language teachers 20 4 24 0.30Senior officials of special-interest organizations 11 10 21 0.26Civil engineers 6 14 20 0.25Lawyers 9 11 20 0.25Industrial and production engineers 3 15 18 0.22Professional services managers not elsewhere classified 6 6 12 0.15Business services and administration managers 1 9 10 0.12Health services managers 6 4 10 0.12Senior government officials 3 6 9 0.11Nursing professionals 7 1 8 0.10Judges 6 1 7 0.09Dentists 3 3 6 0.07Vocational education teachers 5 1 6 0.07Education managers 3 2 5 0.06Special needs teachers 5 0 5 0.06Accountants 2 3 5 0.06Commercial sales representatives 0 5 5 0.06Sales and marketing managers 2 2 4 0.05Pharmacists 0 4 4 0.05Others 48 44 92 1.14Not stated 90 25 115 1.42Total 7443 641 8084 100

Table 16: Perceptions of whether women face problems in participation in decision-making

Response Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Yes 5493 786 6279 69.9 83.4 71.4No 2361 157 2518 30.1 16.6 28.6Total 7854 943 8797 100 100 100

Table 17: Decision-makers’ views on problems women face in decision-making

Women's problems in decision-making process Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female TotalLack of adequate educational qualification 3034 313 3347 55.2 39.8 53.3Lack of confidence 1780 222 2002 32.4 28.2 31.9Lack of professional and vocational skill 2633 236 2869 47.9 30.0 45.7Men are more suitable in decision-making than women

1697 136 1833 30.9 17.3 29.2

Household responsibilities 2601 285 2886 47.4 36.3 45.9Taking care of children and family members 2606 298 2904 47.4 37.9 46.2

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Women's problems in decision-making process Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female TotalNon-acceptance of the society for the women to work in a senior position

1808 457 2265 32.9 58.1 36.1

Women deliberately neglected and marginalized by men in the working environment

1991 448 2439 36.2 57.0 38.8

Discrimination practices in society against women 2842 549 3391 51.7 69.8 54.0Absence of women's network 893 174 1067 16.3 22.1 17.0Lack of support from women colleagues 1116 231 1347 20.3 29.4 21.4Lack of support from men colleagues 1366 268 1634 24.9 34.1 26.0Lack of political support 1593 345 1938 29.0 43.9 30.9Women themselves are not interested to bear decision-making responsibilities

1112 116 1228 20.2 14.8 19.6

Lack of proper implementation of government policy 1784 382 2166 32.5 48.6 34.5Reproductive role of women 1490 172 1662 27.1 21.9 26.5Lack of support services made available at the work 1646 288 1934 30.0 36.6 30.8

Table 18: Decision-makers’ suggestions on policies/ programmes to address challenges by sex

Proposed policy/ programmes Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female Total Public awareness about gender equality and women empowerment

3394 518 3912 61.8 65.9 62.3


4350 651 5001 79.2 82.8 79.6

Equal pay of salary and concession for men and women

2604 442 3046 47.4 56.2 48.5

Recruitment facilitation for women 3005 497 3502 54.7 63.2 55.8Leadership training programs for women 3170 537 3707 57.7 68.3 59.0Establish women friendly support mechanism 2457 414 2871 44.7 52.7 45.7Develop in-house strategy to increase the number of women

1803 429 2232 32.8 54.6 35.5

Monitor the implementation of law 2154 396 2550 39.2 50.4 40.6Affirmative policy action for increasing women in decision-making

2192 449 2641 39.9 57.1 42.0

Change men to increase women’s participation in decision-making

2758 475 3233 50.2 60.4 51.5

Table 19: Opinions of decision-makers about the suitability of the workplace environment (%)


Male Female Total Male Female Total Yes 6668 774 7442 84.9 82.1 84.6No 1186 169 1355 15.1 17.9 15.4Total 7854 943 8797 100 100 100

Table 20: Factors perceived to render the workplace environment inappropriate for women Environmental factors Number Percent

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Male Female Total Male Female Total Lack of day-to-day interactions between staff 517 73 590 43.6 43.2 43.5Lack of knowledge and information sharing 578 59 637 48.7 34.9 47.0Lack of recognition of hard works 499 93 592 42.1 55.0 43.7Lack of logistics and stationaries 516 65 581 43.5 38.5 42.9Lack of hygienic work place 765 85 850 64.5 50.3 62.7Lack of delegation of power to women 407 113 520 34.3 66.9 38.4Lack of strong team work spirit 457 72 529 38.5 42.6 39.0Lack of training on leadership and development 456 79 535 38.4 46.7 39.5Lack of strong support from seniors 399 97 496 33.6 57.4 36.6Harassment 319 59 378 26.9 34.9 27.9

Table 21: Actions proposed to increase women’s participation in decision-making

Type of actions Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female TotalEstablish yearly targets to increase women's participation

3541 457 3998 45.1 48.5 45.4

Establishing proper monitoring mechanism 2990 383 3373 38.1 40.6 38.3Identify accountable official to ensure attaining of the target

2995 382 3377 38.1 40.5 38.4

Training women to ensure participation in decision-making

5373 680 6053 68.4 72.1 68.8

Develop retention program for women at all levels of decision-making

3055 448 3503 38.9 47.5 39.8

Establish confidential and rights based complain and accountability system

4178 538 4716 53.2 57.1 53.6

Ensure proper implementation of anti-harassment regulation

3369 394 3763 42.9 41.8 42.8

Establish "hot-line" and "on-line" to report discrimination against women

1004 169 1173 12.8 17.9 13.3

Creation of job center for women at all level 2226 309 2535 28.3 32.8 28.8Develop training to women in grade 3 and below 2604 335 2939 33.2 35.5 33.4Develop mentorship program for women in grades 3 and below

1841 239 2080 23.4 25.3 23.6

Create awareness about gender equality and women empowerment

2498 341 2839 31.8 36.2 32.3

Gender responsive budgeting, planning and reporting 1362 227 1589 17.3 24.1 18.1Establish gender unit within organization with access to decision-making

2071 298 2369 26.4 31.6 26.9

Designate at least one staff as a gender nodal person in the organization

1192 178 1370 15.2 18.9 15.6

Table 22: Decision-makers’ opinion on whether organizations can raise the visibility of successful women


Male Female Total Male Female Total Yes 5926 732 6658 75.5 77.6 75.7 No 1928 211 2139 24.5 22.4 24.3 Total 7854 943 8797 100 100 100

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Table 23: Decision-makers’ opinions on how to raise the visibility of successful women

Methods of raising visibility Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female TotalUtilize her skills and experience to achieve organizational goal

4269 545 4814 72.04 74.45 72.30

Provide bigger and challenging platform 2973 380 3353 50.17 51.91 50.36Promote her as role model within and outside the organization

4378 570 4948 73.88 77.87 74.32

Publicize her success stories to attract new arrivals

3404 433 3837 57.44 59.15 57.63

Assign her as a gender focal point of the organization

2741 293 3034 46.25 40.03 45.57

Provide opportunity to expose in national and international forum

2587 373 2960 43.66 50.96 44.46

Table 24: Gender-related activities performed by organizations (%) Gender related activities Government Private NGO

Interact actively with Ministry of Women Affairs, international gender institutions and women's organizations

78.5 45.4 66.3

Maintain contacts with representatives of NGOs 46.8 44.4 56.7Maintain contacts and work with women's associations 65.7 50.6 64.1Maintain contacts and exchange learnings with academic institutions

39.6 57.9 43.0

Gender equality objectives reflected in both regular budget allocations and extra-budgetary allocations

22.9 20.7 29.3

Ensure that all technical cooperation projects implemented by the work unit include a gender mainstreaming strategy

19.5 19.7 25.9

Provides specific posts and resources for gender specialists/advisory staff in the unit

24.4 20.4 27.4

Management to promote capacity building on gender 48.6 43.9 50.0Sex-disaggregated data used in all areas of work, including staffing and organizational matters

21.1 19.7 30.0

Review of available gender training modules/tools 19.2 13.7 26.7Sex-disaggregated data collected and used systematically in planning and reporting

17.8 17.5 30.7

Staff members rewarded for or discouraged from engaging in gender equality issues

20.6 22.9 24.1

Table 25: Actions taken by decision-makers to improve people’s lives


Male Female Total Male Female Total Yes 5403 638 6041 68.8 67.7 68.7 No 2451 305 2756 31.2 32.3 31.3 Total 7854 943 8797 100 100 100

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Table 26: Types of actions taken by decision-makers to improve people’s lives

Type of actions Number Percent

Male Female Total Male Female TotalProvided financial support to needy people 2444 233 2677 45.2 36.5 44.3Recommended for scholarship 3416 418 3834 63.2 65.5 63.5Distributed goods 1636 211 1847 30.3 33.1 30.6Provided free education 2787 363 3150 51.6 56.9 52.1Provided shelter 764 92 856 14.1 14.4 14.2Served meals 1167 136 1303 21.6 21.3 21.6Provided health services 1978 295 2273 36.6 46.2 37.6Provided grant and soft loan 873 129 1002 16.2 20.2 16.6Mobilized staff to support victims during disaster

1470 195 1665 27.2 30.6 27.6

Table 27: Awareness of training courses offered to women (%) Course Basic Intermediate Advanced Total English 36.7 44.1 17.9 98.7 Management 14.4 30.7 14.6 59.7 Women's rights 12.0 18.7 16.4 47.0 Professional 11.8 20.7 12.6 45.1 Religious 13.0 14.3 8.5 35.7 Computers 24.1 29.5 15.6 69.2

Table 28: Participation of women in training courses by level (%)

Course Basic Intermediate Advanced Total English 12.9 22.4 12.0 47.4 Management 5.6 25.3 26.0 66.3 Women's rights 5.8 15.1 20.8 52.3 Professional 4.7 12.2 17.1 50.1 Religious 0.7 4.7 5.6 39.7 Computers 7.5 12.9 9.1 76.9

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ANNEX II: KEY TERMS

Affirmative action

The nature of affirmative action policies varies from region to region. Some countries, such as

India use a quota system whereby a certain percentage of government jobs, political positions,

and school vacancies are reserved for members of certain groups. In other areas minority group

members are given preference or special consideration in selection processes.

Budget-holder

An employee who is authorized to spend a portion of the budget of his or her organization is a

budget-holder of that organization or department. There is either an explicit provision to this

effect in the job description, or power is delegated by a higher authority for specified activities.

An organization may have more than one budget-holder.

Decision-maker

A person who is qualified to be a respondent in this survey is regarded as a decision-maker of

an organization. There may be more than one decision-maker in an organization.

Gender

Gender is a social construct whereby differences between men and women are the outcome of

the different roles they play within various institutional settings. Knowledge about gender roles

is transmitted through socialization that influences how individuals behave and define

themselves. Unlike sex, gender roles are not fixed and are subject to change.

Gender equality

Gender equality means that all human beings are free to develop their personal abilities and

make choices without limitations set by strict gender roles, and that the different behaviour,

aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favoured equally

(European Commission, 1998). Everyone should receive equal treatment, with no

discrimination based on gender.

Gender responsive budgeting

Gender responsive budgets are general budgets that are planned, approved, executed,

monitored and audited in a gender-sensitive way. Gender responsive budgeting is an approach

of integrating or mainstreaming gender issues into all stages of budget process of development

87

plans and programmes. This tools help to monitor whether policy commitments related to

poverty reduction and gender equality are reflected in adequate budget allocations. The main

objective of gender responsive budgeting is to integrate gender equality and women’s

empowerment into public financial management, helping to produce better development results

and a more equitable society.

Gender statistics

Gender statistics extend beyond displaying gender disaggregated data. An unbiased approach

is required to produce gender statistics at every stage of data production – planning, collection,

and data analysis and data dissemination. In this process, all tools, protocols, concepts,

definitions and classification schemes are made gender responsive, giving due attention to

gender issues, taking into account the concerns of data users at all stages of data production,

and creating an environment in which to seek support from decision-makers and make them

ready for change.

Household

A household is defined as a person or group of persons who usually reside in a house and share

a common kitchen. A person may be born in one place and move to another place in a pursuit

of work for a short (under six months) or long period (six months or more). If a person has left

his home for less than six months during the data collection period and is living in a new place

for work, he/ she is counted from his/ her home but not from the new place. However, if a

person is living away from home and residing in a new place for at least for six months, he/

she is counted from the new place but not from his/ her previous home. A recently arrived

person in a new place with an intention of living more than six months is counted from the new

place where he/ she is currently living. Children who are less than six months’ age are counted

from their mother’s home while a newly married bride who has been living with her husband

is counted from her husband’s home. Non-family members who are living as usual residents in

others’ home are also counted as current residents and treated as household members.

Head of the household

The member of a household who plays a key role in household matters including financial

management is defined as the head of the household. Any person can be a household head

regardless of age or sex provided he/ she plays a vital role in making decisions in the household.

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This status depends entirely on the role of a person, not on sex, seniority or respect accorded

to that individual in the household.

Hotline and online reporting

A hotline is a reporting mechanism established to seek assistance or information by dialling a

toll-free number from any part of the country. This is typically a 24-hour, non-commercial

service operated around the clock.

Online reporting is similar: people can send e-mails or text or voice messages to a designated

e-mail or numbers. Such mechanisms may be used to increase the participation of women in

decision-making.

Polygamy

Polygamy involves marriage with more than one spouse. When a man is married to more than

one wife at a time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband

at a time, it is called polyandry. Under Islamic law, polygyny is legal in Afghanistan.

Reproductive rights

According to WHO, reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples

and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their

children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest

standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions

concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence

Sex

Sex is a biological demarcation between male and female determined by chromosomes that

carry inherited traits from the father and mother to their children. On account of their inherited

traits, males and females are assumed to be different from the very moment of their conception.

Sex preference

Sex preference refers to the practice of giving preference to a boy or a girl prior to their birth.

It involves differences in the values attached to boys and girls.

Women’s empowerment

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Taking actions or activities focused on women to bring them into the mainstream of

development and to end discrimination is termed women’s empowerment. This is an integral

part of gender equality.

Work

All activities carried within the general production boundary of SNA 2008 fall under the broad

category of work while activities within the production boundary of SNA 2008 are counted as

employment-related jobs. All employment-related jobs are work but all forms of work may not

be employment-related activities. All activities carried out for pay or profit, like the production

of goods and services for others and production of goods for own use are employment-related

work, while the production of services for the household’s own consumption do not count as

employment.

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ANNEX III: QUESTIONNAIRE

SN of questionnaire

The responses to this questionnaire should be collected from all Senior Government Officials, Members of the National Assembly and Provincial Councils, who are currently working in the 3rd grade or higher rank and, the Heads and Deputy Heads of Private Sector and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) having employee size of at least 50 and 15 staffs respectively.

Section A: Introductory Information

QN Statement Response Code 01 Name of Province 02 District 03 Location 1. Urban 2. Rural 04 Country of assignment 05 Name of the

organization

06 Type of the organization

1. Government 2. Private Establishment 3. Non-Governmental Organization

Section B. Main information (Please ask from male and female decision makers)

QN Statement Code 01 Full Name: Nick name:

Telephone: Email:

02 Age:(Ask respondent the year of birth, then calculate completed years and write in the box) 03 Sex:

1. Male 2. Female

4A Current Marital Status: 1. Single/Never married 2. Married Q4B 3. Widow/Widower 4. Separated 5. Divorced

4B Number of wives (ask only for married male respondent) 5A Highest Educational Attainment:

01. Primary 02. Secondary 03. High School 04. Vocational education 05. Bachelor or equivalent 06. Master or equivalent 07. PhD or above 96. Other (specify if any):

5B If you have already completed bachelor’s degree or above , mention your area of specialization:

5C From which country did you complete your higher education?

According to Statistics Law 2013, individual

information collected through this

questionnaire are kept strictly confidential and

used exclusively for statistical purposes.

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Country Name…………………………………………

5D Type of educational Institution (please ask about highest degree): 01. Public 02. Private 03. Religious 96. Other (please specify):

06 Place of Birth

Name of Province:

Name of District:

Location: 1. Urban 2. Rural

Country of birth (applicable to only those who were born abroad):

07 Current Residence/usual place of residence (applicable to only those decision makers working within Afghanistan):

Name of Province: Name of District:

Location: 1. Urban 2. Rural

8A State exact title of the job that you are currently employed in: 01. Minister 02. Deputy Minister 03. President General of Independent Department 04. Head of Office/Department 05. Commissioner 06. Provincial Governors 07. District Administrators 08. Officials of Attorney General 09. Judges and officials of courts (primary, secondary and appeal) 10. Head of establishment/NGOs 11. Deputy head of government office/department 12. Deputy Head of establishment/NGOs 96. Other (please specify if any):

8B Current work grade (for government officials only): 8C Occupation in the current position/designation: 09 Number of years or months completed in current job:

Years Month (Write # of months if less than one year and “00” if less than one month)

10 Are you also a budget holder of your organization? 1. Yes 2. No

11 How many staffs are you supervising in your organization/department?

For currently married person ask question 12 to 13

12 What kind of work does your spouse do? (Briefly mention the main roles assigned for your job as per ISCO 2008) ……..…..……………………………………………………………

13 Highest Educational Attainment of spouse 01. Primary education

02. Secondary education 03. High School 04. Vocational education 05. Bachelor or equivalent 06. Master or equivalent 07. PhD or above

96. Other (please specify if any):

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14 Who is the head of your household (key decision maker)?

01. Myself 02. My spouse 03. Father/Father-in law 04. Mother/Mother-in law 05. Brother/Brother-in law 06. Sister/Sister-in law 07. Uncle 08. Aunt 96. Other (please specify if any):

15 Do you think women have problems in participating in decision making process in this country?

1. Yes 2. No Q18A

16 What are the existing problems of women when participating in decision making process in this country? (please select applicable options only)

01. Lack of adequate educational qualification

02. Lack of confidence

03. Lack of professional and vocational skill

04. Men are more suitable in decision making than women

05. Household responsibilities (cooking, cleaning and washing etc.)

06. Taking care of children and family members

07. Non acceptance of the society for the women to work in a senior position

08. Women deliberately neglected and marginalized by men in the working environment

09. Discriminatory practices in society against women

10. Absence of women's network

11. Lack of support from women colleagues

12. Lack of support from men colleagues

13. Lack of political support

14. Women themselves are not interested to bear decision making responsibilities

15. Lack of proper implementation of government policy

16. Reproduction role of women

17. Lack of support or extra services at the work place (for e.g. child care centres, transport services etc.)

96. Other problem (please specify if any):

17 What kind of policies or programs do you suggest in order to help women participate in decision making process?

01. Public awareness about gender equality and women empowerment by relevant organization

02. Professional and technical capacity building for women

03. Equal pay of salary and concession for men and women

04. Recruitment facilitation for women

05. Leadership training programs for women

06. Establish women friendly support mechanism (for e.g. child care facilities, transport service etc.)

07. Develop in-house strategy to increase the number of women in decision making position at Ministries/Institutions

08. Monitor the implementation of law

09. Affirmative policy action for increasing women in decision making

96. Other program and policies (please specify):

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18A

Is the work place environment of your organization appropriate for women to participate in decision making?

1. Yes Q19 2. No

18B

If no, please mention at least five reasons from the given options that is not making you work place environment appropriate for women to participate in decision making?

01. Lack of day-to-day interactions between co-workers as well as between subordinates and supervisors

02. Lack of knowledge and information sharing

03. Lack of recognition of hard works

04. Lack of logistics and stationeries

05. Lack of hygienic work place

06. Lack of delegation of power to women from higher authority

07. Lack of strong team work spirit

08. Lack of training on leadership and development

09. Lack of strong support from seniors

10. Harassment (Jealousy, back biting, teasing etc.)

96. Other (if any please specify):

19 What can your organization/institution do to increase participation of women in decision making?

01. Establishing yearly targets to increase women's participation

02. Establishing proper monitoring mechanism

03. Identify accountable official to ensure attaining of the target

04. Training women to ensure participation in decision-making

05. Develop retention programme for women at all levels of decision-making

06. Establish confidential and right-based complaint system and accountability mechanism in case of violation of women’s rights at work place

07. Ensure proper implementation of anti-harassment regulation

08. Establish "hot-line" and "on-line" to report discrimination against women

09. Creation of job centre for women at all level

10. Develop training to women in grade 3 and below

11. Develop mentorship programme for women in grades 3 and below

12. Create awareness about gender equality and women empowerment for men and women at all level of decision making

13. Gender responsive budgeting, planning and reporting

14. Establish gender unit within organization with the decision making power/access to decision making

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15. Designate at least one staff as a gender nodal person in the organization if the gender unit has not been established.

96. Other (please specify):

20A

Can your organization raise the visibility of successful women leaders and decision makers? 1. Yes 2. No Q21

20B

How can your organization raise the visibility of successful women leaders and decision makers? (select only those which are applicable )

01. Utilize her skills and experience to achieve organizational goal

02. Provide bigger and challenging platform

03. Promote her as role model within and outside the organization

04. Publicize her success stories to attract new arrivals

05. Assign her as a gender focal point of the organization

06. Provide opportunity to expose in national and international forum


21 Does your organization have a gender unit with access to decision making? 1. Yes 2. No

22 Does your organization/institution work on gender related issues? 1. Yes 2. No Q24

23 What type of gender related issues does your organization/institution work on?

01. Interact actively with Ministry of Women Affairs, international gender institutions and women’s organizations working for women’s advancement

02. Maintain contacts with representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

03. Maintain contacts and work with women’s associations

04. Maintain contacts and exchange learnings with academic institutions

05. Gender equality objectives reflected in both regular budget allocations and extra-budgetary allocations

06. Ensure that all technical cooperation projects are implemented by the work unit which include a gender mainstreaming strategy

07. Provides specific posts and resources for gender specialists/advisory staff in the unit

08. Management to promote capacity building on gender

09. Sex-disaggregated data used in all areas of work, including staffing and organizational matters

10. Review of available gender training modules/tools

11. Sex-disaggregated data collected and used systematically in planning and reporting

12. Staff members rewarded for or discouraged from engaging in gender equality issues

96. Others (Please specify) …………………………………………………………….

24A

Does your organization have gender responsive budgeting practices? (applicable to the head of the organization only)

1. Yes 2. No

24B

What percentage of budget has your organization allocated to promote gender equality and women empowerment in this fiscal year? (applicable to the head of the organization only)

95

25A

As a decision maker, have you ever taken any actions to improve the lives of men and women on behalf of your organization?

1. Yes 2. No Q26

25B

Which activities have you performed for the improvement of the lives of men and women? (please mention applicable options only)

01. Provided financial support

02. Recommended for scholarship

03. Distributed goods (foods, clothes, medicine etc.)

04. Provided free education

05. Provided shelter

06. Served meals

07. Provided health services

08. Provided grant and soft loan

09. Mobilized staff/s to support victims during disaster


26 Are you invited to national consultative meetings on decision-making process for women by your organization? (End interview if the respondent is male one)

1. Yes 2. No

Section C: Information on women (Please ask only from women decision makers) 27 Do you know of any training (capacity building, exposure visit etc.) offered for women

by your organization? 1. Yes 2. No Q29

28

If yes, please specify the trainings/course you know that have been offered in the last two years (applicable only).

(1. Basic 2. Intermediate 3. Advance)

Bas

ic

Inte

rmed

iat

e Adv

ance

01. English course

02. Management Course

03. Women's Rights Course

04. Professional Course

05. Religious Course

06. Computer Course


29 Did you participate in any training/course (capacity building, exposure visit etc.) in the last two years?

1. Yes 2. No Q31

30 If yes, specify the trainings you attended in the last two years and Level (applicable only).

(1. Basic 2. Intermediate 3. Advance)

Bas

ic

Inte

rmed

iate

Adv

ance

01. English course

02. Management Course

03. Women's Rights Course

96

04. Professional Course

05. Religious Course

06. Computer Course


31 Who are your key helping persons in your household chores?

01. Husband 02. Family member other than husband 03. Household helper 04. Nobody


32 Do you have any problems in performing your work in the office? 1. Yes 2. No Q34

33 What problems are impeding your work performance?

01. Household responsibility (cooking, cleaning and washing etc.)

02. Taking care of child and family members

03. Lack of support from husband

04. Lack of support from family members other than husband

05. Feel unsafe due to security

06. Lack of support from officemates

07. Overload of work

08. Harassment by colleagues

09. Discrimination against women and favouritism to men

10. Illegal/unethical actions of senior managers

11. Lack of motivation (reward and punishment)

96. Other (specify):

34 Would you generally perceive your family and surrounding people as supportive towards you as a professionally successful woman?

1. Yes 2. No Q36

35 Who are your major supporters?

01. Father

02. Mother

03. Brother

04. Sister

05. Husband

06. Daughter

07. Son

08. Friend

09. Father-in law

10. Mother-in law


36 What types of objections have you received?

01. The employment sector is inappropriate

02. Women need to work at home not for others

03. By working outside, family gets neglected

04. Only irresponsible women go out to work

97

05. Concern about what will society think of them as living off women’s income


37A

Do you face any resistance in the work place? 1. Yes 2. No Q38

37B

Who do you face more resistance from in your work place? 01. Male superior 02. Female superior 03. Male colleague 04. Female colleague 05. Male subordinate 06. Female subordinate 96. Other (please specify):

Please ask the following questions only to married women

38 Who decides in giving birth to your child? 1. Myself 2. My husband and me 3. My husband 4. Family members

39 If you were interested to give birth of a child, what would be your preference? 1. Son 2. Daughter 3. No preference

40A

Does your husband have multiple wives? 1. Yes 2. No End the interview

40B

How many wives does your husband have currently including you?

98

Documents

REPORT ON THE THIRD SURVEY OF WOMEN AND MEN IN DECISION-cso.gov.af/Content/files/Surveys/women in men decision making/Edit... · report on the third survey of women and men in decision-making