Year Established: 2015 (Founder – Wazhma Frogh)

Organization name: Women & Peace Studies Organization – Afghanistan (Formerly RIWPS)

Women and Peace

The wars and civil unrest in Afghanistan have all been led and fought by men. The concept of war and peace has been entirely a man’s business in a country like Afghanistan. However, the informal and implicit roles and contributions of Afghan women have always been overlooked or deliberately ignored. Afghan history books do not even name the female warriors; the society still cannot connect women with war and peace. Both are considered a man’s legacy and responsibility. Currently, a new wave of violent extremism and radicalization is breeding among young men as a result of a complex set of grievances, which are too often untold and unheard. Women, as mothers, wives, and sisters can prevent the spread of violent extremism in their homes and communities if they have the right knowledge and tools. Women are critical in domestic affairs of families, tribes and communities in settling disputes and making big decisions, and have a decisive informal role. Women can prevent extremism and insurgencies from within homes, communities and villages, and this role need to be explored, studied and advocated for by civil society organizations.

Women and Peace Studies Organization: WPSo

Women and Peace Studies Organization, referred as WPSo here after, is a civil society initiative built on the experience and expertise of the previously existing RIWPS-Afghanistan and aims at furthering the knowledge and realization of women’s perspectives and roles within the framework of peace and security in Afghanistan.

Vision

Promoting the knowledge and realization that inclusive peace and security frameworks lead to sustainable peace & harmony in Afghanistan.

Mission
To study and raise awareness about women leaders in grassroots movements, empower them in these roles, and to conduct research and advocacy that will increase peace and security by the systematic inclusion of women’s perspectives and roles in programs, policies and structures.

In 2013, WPSO (formerly RIWPS) came up with the initiative of creating a parliamentary watch organization, whose ultimate objective was to improve the transparency and accountability of Wolesi Jirga.

2013 Project Focus: “Observation of parliament”

The overall objective of the project is to improve the transparency and accountability of Wolesi Jirga (lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan), principles which are increasingly necessary for the operation of a democratic government. This objective was to be achieved through the creation of a public observation system of the National Assembly (Wolesi Jirgar) and of the legislation and parliamentary procedures, conducted by civil society.

2014 Project Focus: “A step towards transparency and accountability”

The Parliamentary Watch Program and the current research report constitute a step towards a democratic Parliament through the oversight of Parliamentary activities. This research is about increasing accountability and transparency in the Afghan Parliament, because the current lack of transparency and accountability, and the perception by MPs that their legal immunity absolves them from any legal responsibility is an ongoing challenge for the Afghan Parliament. In a traditional culture one can’t ask the government about their activities and operations. On other hand, the general public does not have the power to criticize, discuss and persuade representatives to be transparent. Hence, the Parliamentary Watch Program is seeking to empower the general public to persuade MPs to be accountable to the people, because the current Afghan Parliament has so far failed to do so.

2015 Project Focus:

The Parliamentary Watch Program is a relatively new concept whose objective is the observation of the performance of the House of Representatives, and to raise awareness amongst the general public keeping them better informed of how their representatives are acting, and to empower them to make informed choices in future elections. This program aims to monitor the representatives and make them more accountable to the people they claim to be representing. The overall objective of this program is to protect the public interest, and increase people’s participation in the decision making process. Holding representatives accountable to their constituents is the first step. The daily and monthly report and assessment of the annual performance of parliamentary plenary sessions in the fields of legislation, monitoring government and representing people, enables citizens to:

Inform themselves of parliament’s functions,
Be aware of MPs’ actions and achievements
Pose questions to MPs

2016 Project Focus:

During this 4^th year, WPSO’s parliamentary experts will continue focusing on public education and raising awareness about the accomplishments and shortfalls of the parliament with an increased emphasis on engaging citizens in holding parliament to account in the public interest and promoting citizens’ democratic participation. As the government is currently planning the 17^th term of parliamentary elections, this year’s focus will be mainly assessing the entry of individuals and party representatives into the parliament, women’s engagement and political participation as well as the reforms in the parliamentary elections.

2016 new initiative

WPSO-Afghanistan is in the design phase of a new electronic platform called“Weinparliament”.

The project weinparliament.com is an effort to monitor the performance of the parliamentary institution often referred to as “wolesi jirga in pashtu”. It is currently the only tool of its kind available to Afghanistan, bringing the global trend of parliament monitoring to Afghanistan.

The English side of “WJ monitor” is under development and soon will be available for a non-afghan audience. We aim to help you understand what issues are important to Afghans such as how the WJ and its closely associated institutions work, while providing you with a weekly snapshot of what happens in WJ.

Contact: nzulfiqar@wpso-afg.org
Facebook: wpso-afghanistan
Twitter: WPSOAFG
www.wpso-afg.org