Report: study of the causes and consequences of chronic poverty among women in Afghanistan

129 Pages·2010·1.13 MB·English

Research on Chronically Poor
Women in Afghanistan

FINAL REPORT

March 2008

Amélie BANZET, Marjan KAMAL, Peggy PASCAL,
Johan PASQUET, François GRUNEWALD

This research was conducted by Groupe URD with the support and funding of
JICA and GTZ
Acknowledgments

Firstly, we would like to thank the Ministry of Women’s Affairs
for initiating this research project and for their great work in
Afghanistan. Many thanks to the Department of Women’s
Affairs in Herat, Badakhshan, Bamiyan, Kabul city, the province
of Kabul and Nangarhar, for their guidance and their support
during every one of our visits.

We would like to thank all the families who received us in their
villages, in their communities, in their houses and took the time
to answer our questions. We are grateful to them for their
remarkable cooperation, taking time from precious work hours,
and answering our questions concerning their private lives.

We would like to thank all the NGOs and organizations who
facilitated our field research by taking the time to sit with us,
explain local particularities and introduce us to communities as friends and colleagues who
could be trusted.

A very special thanks to DACAAR for their help in Herat province, to Concern, Afghanaid and
CAF in Badakhshan province, to Solidarités and NRC in Bamiyan province and to the GAA team
in Nangarhar province and Farhad Sayed in particular. Many thanks as well to AIHRC staff
whom we visited in Badakhshan and Bamiyan and for their great work.

We are very grateful to JICA and GTZ, who funded this research and were present and
supportive throughout the whole process. A very special thank you to Carol Leduc for her
invaluable contribution on chapters 2 and 6. A particular thanks to Makiko Kubota, Palwasha
Hassan and Rachelle Wareham for their advice and support as well as to Dr. Paula Kantor of
AREU for her substantial input.

We are also very grateful to Doctor Brigitte Piquard, senior lecturer in International
Humanitarianism, Oxford Brookes University (England) and Doctor Elizabeth Hoffman (senior
lecturer and ccordinator of the network gender in action) who were part of the scientific review
committee. Last but not least, we would like to thank Farhad Antezar and Moulooda Abedazada,
translators and research assistants. Without their energy, patience and motivation, nothing
would have been possible.

Amelie Banzet, Johan Pasquet, Marjan Kamal and Peggy Pascal.

Groupe URD

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The team

Peggy Pascal is the former country director of Groupe URD in Afghanistan. She has been
working in Afghanistan for three years as Country Director and has worked on rural
development, agriculture, gender and water sanitation research programs and evaluation. She
was part of the field mission in Bamiyan province and was involved in defining the
methodological framework,, analysing data writing reports.

Amélie Banzet is the project manager for the research on chronically poor women. She has
been working in Afghanistan for more than two years on different issues such as IDPs in Herat,
Kuchis in Kandahar and cultural issues in Kabul. She has been working for Groupe URD since
September 2005 and has worked on several research projects especially in the education and
gender sector.

Marjan Kamal is a French-Afghan research officer who is doing a thesis in International
Relations in the Sciences Politiques University of Paris. She has been working in Afghanistan for
more than two years and has worked on several research projects. Marjan focused on the
province of Nangarhar for this research. She was involved in defining the methodological
framework, analysing data and writing reports.

Moulooda Abdezada is a research assistant for Groupe URD. Moulooda was part of the
“women” team during the field work.

Johan Pasquet is an agronomist research officer. He has been working with Groupe URD in
Afghanistan for a year and a half. Johan worked on research projects in Samangan, Baghlan
and Takhar as a farming systems researcher. Johan was in charge of interviewing the men,
analyzing the local context and the livelihood strategies in rural areas.

Fahrat Antezar has been working as a translator with Groupe URD for 5 years and was part of
the “men” team during the field work.

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Table of contents

List of tables and figures 7
Glossary 8
Acronyms 10
Executive summary 11

1 METHODOLOGY AND FIELD RESEARCH.....................................................20
1.1 BACKGROUND: THE INTERIM AFGHANISTAN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY.........................................................................................................................20
1.2 CHRONIC POVERTY AND FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS .....................................21
1.2.1 ABSOLUTE POVERTY AND RELATIVE POVERTY....................................................21
1.2.2 CHRONIC POVERTY..............................................................................................22
1.2.3 FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS...........................................................................23
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS............................................................................................23
1.4 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK.....................................................................................24
1.4.1 THE SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS FRAMEWORK....................................................24
1.4.2 GENDER ANALYSIS TO IMPROVE THE UNDERSTANDING OF CHRONIC POVERTY
AMONGST WOMEN.............................................................................................................25
1.4.3 POVERTY, A DYNAMIC TREND: TAKING A WOMAN’S LIFE CYCLE INTO
CONSIDERATION................................................................................................................25
1.5 FIELD RESEARCH.....................................................................................................26
1.5.1 SELECTION OF THE FIELD RESEARCH SITES........................................................26
1.5.2 TYPES OF INTERVIEWS AND INTERVIEWEES SELECTION PROCESS.....................27
1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY...................................................................................28
2 AFGHANISTAN CHRONICALLY POOR WOMEN POLICY OVERVIEW.30
2.1 AFGHANISTAN’S COMMITMENT TO WOMEN’S ADVANCEMENT..............................30
2.1.1 POLICY COMMITMENT...........................................................................................30
2.1.2 CORE INTERVENTION STRATEGY.........................................................................31
2.1.3 INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP AND STRUCTURAL SUPPORT...................................31
2.2 PRIORITY ISSUES FOR ALLEVIATING WOMEN’S POVERTY...................................33
2.3 THE PRIORITY ISSUES FOR ADVANCING WOMEN....................................................34
2.3.1 HEALTH.................................................................................................................34
2.3.2 EDUCATION..........................................................................................................35
2.3.3 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION....................................................................................36
2.3.4 ACCESS TO JUSTICE.............................................................................................37
2.3.5 ECONOMIC ‘EMPOWERMENT’...............................................................................39
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3 FRAMING THE ANALYSIS: WOMEN IN ABSOLUTE CHRONIC
POVERTY.......................................................................................................................43
3.1 SETTING THE FRAMEWORK OF WOMEN IN ABSOLUTE CHRONIC POVERTY...........43
3.1.1 WOMEN LIVING IN ABSOLUTE POVERTY...............................................................43
3.1.2 FRAMING THE CONTEXT OF WOMEN’S CHRONIC POVERTY..................................45
3.2 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN IN ABSOLUTE CHRONIC POVERTY........47
3.2.1 WEAK HEALTH......................................................................................................47
3.2.2 LOW LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND SKILLS...............................................................49
3.3 PARDAH AND WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE ROLE.......................................................51
3.3.1 PARDAH AT THE CORE OF A WOMAN’S LIFE .........................................................51
3.3.2 THE REPRODUCTIVE ROLE OF WOMEN.................................................................51
4 WOMEN’S EXPERIENCE OF CHRONIC POVERTY......................................52
4.1 VARIOUS LEVELS OF POVERTY................................................................................52
4.2 HUMAN CAPITAL AND HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION.................................................54
4.2.1 THE NUMBER OF YOUNG CHILDREN AND THE SEX RATIO.....................................54
4.2.2 THE NUMBER, SEX AND AGE OF BREADWINNERS.................................................55
4.3 ACCESS TO ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES.................................................................56
4.3.1 WOMEN’S MOBILITY LIMITED BY PARDAH PRINCIPLES.........................................56
4.3.2 WOMEN’S MOBILITY LIMITED BY GENDER-BASED DISTRIBUTION OF TASKS AND
DUTIES 57
4.3.3 ACCESS TO ASSETS AND INHERITANCE PRACTICES ............................................57
4.3.4 CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS AS A RESTRICTION TO WORK................................58
4.3.5 LIMITED EDUCATION AND LOW DIVERSITY OF SKILLS...........................................58
4.4 THE SOCIAL NETWORK............................................................................................60
5 FROM POOR TO POOREST.................................................................................61
5.1 AGE, MARITAL STATUS AND LIFE CYCLE................................................................61
5.2 MARRIED WOMEN...................................................................................................62
5.2.1 QUANTITATIVE DATA.............................................................................................62
5.2.2 FROM VERY POOR TO LESS POOR MARRIED WOMEN...........................................63
5.2.3 FROM LESS POOR TO VERY POOR MARRIED WOMEN...........................................63
5.3 FEMALE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD.............................................................................65
5.3.1 QUANTITATIVE DATA.............................................................................................65
5.3.2 FEMALE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD LIVING WITHOUT THE PROTECTION OF A MAN..66
5.3.3 FEMALE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD LIVING UNDER THE PROTECTION OF A MAN......68
5.3.4 WOMEN AS MAIN DECISION MAKERS BUT NOT BREADWINNERS?........................71
5.4 OLD WIDOWS WHO DEPEND ECONOMICALLY ON A MAN........................................71
5.5 YOUNG WIDOWS WITH YOUNG CHILDREN..............................................................72
5.6 DIFFERENT POVERTY DYNAMICS FOR DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF CHRONICALLY
POOR WOMEN....................................................................................................................74
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6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................77
6.1 WHO ARE THE CHRONICALLY POOR WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN?..........................77
6.1.1 FACTORS INFLUENCING WOMEN’S CHRONIC POVERTY........................................78
6.1.2 DRIVERS AND MAINTAINERS OF WOMEN’S CHRONIC POVERTY............................79
6.1.3 DEFINITION OF ‘FEMALE CHRONIC POVERTY’.......................................................79
6.1.4 DEFINITION OF ‘FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLD’...................................................80
6.1.5 WHO ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE AMONG CHRONICALLY POOR WOMEN?.........80
6.2 IS EMPLOYMENT THE SOLUTION FOR CHRONICALLY POOR WOMEN?...................81
6.2.1 ADDRESSING INCOME ENHANCEMENT FOR CHRONICALLY POOR WOMEN...........81
6.2.2 IS INCOME ENHANCEMENT APPROPRIATE FOR FEMALE HEADED HOUSEHOLDS?86
6.3 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BENCHMARK....................................................................86
6.3.1 DEFINE POVERTY AND CHRONIC POVERTY..........................................................86
6.3.2 REVIEW THE TARGET GROUP...............................................................................87
6.3.3 REVIEW ‘EMPLOYMENT RATE’ AS THE MEASURE OF CHANGE..............................88
6.3.4 REVIEW THE TIMELINE..........................................................................................88
6.3.5 A PROPOSED REVISED BENCHMARK....................................................................88
6.4 SOCIAL PROTECTION MEASURES FOR CHRONICALLY POOR WOMEN....................88
6.4.1 PROGRAMS DEDICATED TO WOMEN WITHIN THE SOCIAL PROTECTION STRATEGY
OF THE GOA......................................................................................................................89
6.4.2 QUALIFICATIONS ON RELEVANCE OF SOCIAL PROTECTION POLICIES..................91
6.5 RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................92
6.5.1 INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS.......................................................................................93
6.5.2 POLICY ACTIONS...................................................................................................94
6.5.3 PROGRAM ACTIONS..............................................................................................96

TABLE OF ANNEXES ……………………………………………………………………..98

BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………….………………………...127
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List of tables and figures

TABLE 1: CLASSIFICATION AND KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRONICALLY POOR WOMEN.............................14

TABLE 2: DATA ON THE 5 SELECTED AREAS OF FIELD RESEARCH..................................................................26

TABLE 3. REPARTITION OF INTERVIEWS PER PROVINCE.................................................................................28

TABLE 4: GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS HAVING DEDICATED GENDER EXPERTISE........................................32

TABLE 5: QUICK SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT SECTORS IN ANDS MIGHT DO FOR CPW.....................................39

TABLE 6. CATEGORIES OF WOMEN AND INFLUENCE OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES, HUMAN CAPITAL AND SOCIAL
NETWORK......................................................................................................................................................70

FIGURE 1: LIFE CYCLE OF CPW.....................................................................................................................76

TABLE 7: SOCIAL PROTECTION (SP) MEASURES............................................................................................91

FIGURE 2: SOCIAL PROTECTION POLICIES FOR CHRONICALLY POOR WOMEN (ADAPTATION OF CPRC FIGURE)
......................................................................................................................................................................89
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Glossary

Arbab: Village headman usually appointed by the state (Rubin, 2002)

Âyed : Income / âyed-e nâ monazam : Irregular income

Bewa : Widow / Kwonda in Pashto.

Dehqâni : In farm daily wage activities

Ehtiâj o mohtâj : Dependant. State of someone who is economically and socially
dependant and relies on relatives or wider social network for survival.

Gharib : Poor / Gharibi : Daily work activities as well as poverty / Gharib kâri : Daily
work activities.

Hâji : Title given to someone who has been on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The title of hâji
implies a higher social status and a wealthier economic condition.

Hamsâya : Those who live under the shade of the same wall. Designates the way the
poorest and most vulnerable layers of the population access land in rural areas, mainly
returnees.

Haq-e Mehr : A bride’s price. A sum of money the husband is committed to give to his
wife in case of repudiation. The sum is fixed during the religious celebration of a
wedding, in the presence of the mullah.

Jerib : Traditional unit of land area in Afghanistan, it is usually equal to 1/5 hectare
(2000 square meters or 0.494 acre)

Jwâligari : packer

Kerâh : Rent / Kerâhi: for rent.

Kharch : Expenses / Kharch-e Khana: Household expenses linked to food
consumption of household members.

Khayrât : Charity.

Mahram: Male relative who accompanies Afghan women in public spaces.

Maska: Traditional butter

Mâst: Traditional yogurt

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Malek : Elder, representative of a community.

Mayub : Disabled.

Muhâjirin : Refugees. / Hejrat: Exile.

Muzdur : Daily labour

Namad: Felted woollen rugs

Pardah: Curtains and by extension, decency. Set of rules determining socially
constructed relationships between men and women in Afghanistan.

Pand : Dried wood and grasses women bring from surrounding mountains when they
collect natural resources in rural areas. A pand is the quantity of wood and grass they
carry on their head in one trip.

Patay : Small agricultural plot (in mountainous areas)

Qawm : kin or group identity based on kinship or geographic origin.

Qrut: Dried cheese made by women from goat and cow milk.

Quintal: Unit of weight equal to 100 kg

Ser: Unit to measure yields (Around 7 kg)

Shura: Assembly where male or female community members discuss a given issue.
Shura members are often elders (malek). There are also Community Developing Council
shura-s implemented by the National Solidarity Program.

Tchalma: Dried dung

Tandor : Oven to bake bread

Wakil-e gozar: Community representative in urban areas

Zanana: Place reserved for women and their male relatives in public spaces.

Zamin: Land (zmeka in Pahsto) / Zamindar : Landowner.

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Acronyms

AIHRC Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
ANDS Afghanistan National Development Strategy
BPHS Basic Package of health services
CSO Central Statistics Office
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women)
CPW Chronically poor women
CRC Convention of the rights of the child
DAI Development Alternative Inc
DFID Department for International Development
DoLSAMD Department of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled for
employment and skills development
DoWA Department of Women’s Affairs
CGs Consultative Groups
GoA Government of Afghanistan
Groupe URD Groupe Urgence Réhabilitation et Développement
GTZ Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development
IDP Internally displaced people
ILO International Labour Organization
JCMB Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
MAIL Ministry of agriculture, irrigation and livestock
MoE Ministry of Economic Affairs
MoF Ministry of Finance
MoWA Ministry of Women’s Affairs
MRRD Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development
NAPWA National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan
NDSA National Disability Survey in Afghanistan
NGO Non Governmental Organizations
NSDP National Skills Development Programs
NSP National solidarity program
NRC Norwegian Refugee Council
NRVA National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment
NSP National solidarity program
NSS National Food Security and Nutritional Surveillance System
OSC Presidential Oversight Committee of the ANDS
RT Research Team
SLF Sustainable Livelihood Framework
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
VAU Vulnerability Analysis Mapping Unit

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