Fri, 03 Jan, 2014 04:13:02 AM Afghanistan fails to show progress of women status FTimes-STT Report, January 3 ![]() File picture of Afghan women walk past Muslim devotees praying to celebrate Eid al-Adha. Photo – AFP / Lehtikuva. Finland will continue dispatching aid packages to Afghanistan, although the Afghan government has failed to bring significant progress in the status and welfare of women as per commitment, official sources said.
Afghanistan is a major recipient of Finnish development aid, getting about €30m annually; the pledge is to continue the aid until 2024.
Meanwhile, Norway downsized its development aid to Afghanistan for autumn by 7% – worth over €90m – on the grounds that the country has not done enough to alleviate the disparity in the statuses of women and combat corruption.
The international community set a condition before the Afghan government asking it to submit a report on the progress it has made in curbing violence against women.
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File picture of Afghan schoolchildren take lessons in an open classroom at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province. Photo – AFP / Lehtikuva. The report was scheduled to be submitted by July last year but Afghanistan has not yet delivered.
In 2009, the Afghan parliament blocked a law – approved by President Hamid Karzai – that termed violence against women as crime.
Parliament raised objections with the legislation arguing that the law was non-Islamic. Various religious groups also demanded the closure of women shelters.
Presently, girls aged 16 years on an average are being married off in the country.
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