Human rights defenders and human
rights-focused civil society organisations are growing in strength and number
in Afghanistan. An international civil
society conference on Afghanistan took place in January, which made
recommendations direct to the foreign minister-level London Conference. Civil society campaigned for and won a place
at the table at the Kabul Conference, demonstrating the determination of Afghan
civil society groups and human rights defenders to make their voices heard on
the international stage.
There is an ever-growing network of
women’s NGOs and advocacy groups across the country. These groups are increasingly leading the way
in calling for change on both women’s rights issues and on the wider human
rights agenda.
In 2010 preparatory work was completed
on a multi-donor Civil Society Fund, which will launch in 2011. This fund aims to increase civil society’s
capacity for advocacy and constructive engagement with the Afghan government to
improve results in human rights, access to justice, anti-corruption,
peace-building and conflict resolution, and the media. We will contribute £20million over five years
to this fund.
In 2010 the UK continued to provide
support to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. We also supported the creation of a new
Afghan-led Human Rights Support Unit in the Ministry of Justice, which opened
on 29 September, to coordinate and advise on human rights policy and
legislation across the Afghan government.
