The DirPolis Institute of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies organises an international conference on Afghanistan, gender and justice which will take place on Friday, 23 September 2022 in aula 3 at the School and online with renowned international speakers.
Link to join the conference: https://santannapisa.webex.com/santannapisa-en/j.php?MTID=m82cc03b1de28dc5e6a9307d8e0ff2475
Since the Taliban took power, women’s rights in Afghanistan have been systematically eroded, with limits on their freedom of movement, access to education and health care, and employment, as well as the dissolution of vital institutions such as the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs. On the other side, women keep fighting for their rights and calling for equality. Throughout the decades, women's associations have become engines of development and accountability, with Afghan women at the forefront of the fight for their rights, and their advocacy has been crucial to the nation's success in terms of peace and progress.
Nevertheless, only a small portion of international development funding is still allocated to organisations that advocate for women's rights. The pandemic has also made it more difficult to enforce and protect women's rights, as violence against women is on the rise worldwide, including in Afghanistan. These are just a few of the cross-cutting issues considered in the debate over how to provide a gender-sensitive humanitarian response to the Afghanistan crisis of conflict, COVID-19, and climate. This should include ensuring that the needs of the most vulnerable women and girls are fulfilled and that women could indeed actively participate in the planning and delivery of the humanitarian response and transitional justice mechanisms. To ensure Afghanistan's future and long-term development, stability, and a thriving economy that can weather any crisis, women's full participation and leadership in public and political life is essential.
The Afghan case provides an invaluable opportunity to engage in an interdisciplinary discussion about the links between gender and justice, understood broadly to include past, recent, and future challenges to gender equality, transitional justice, and criminal justice from a gender perspective.
The opening ceremony of the Master’s in International Security Studies offered jointly by the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSA) and the School of International Studies (SIS) of the University of Trento, in the framework of the f the project AFGHAN FUTURES 21 - 5PERMILLE, provides an opportunity for the development of existing expertise while encouraging a critical examination of mainstream approaches to the study of gender and justice. Scholars and practitioners with expertise in politics and security in Afghanistan are invited to engage in a discussion on cross-cutting issues of great relevance for both academic and policy purposes.