Fact sheet: political participation

Government Office

• Women represent 27% of the National Assembly: 68 out of 249 seats in the Wolesi Jirga and 23 out of 102 seats in the Mesherano Jirga in 2007 [UNIFEM]

• As per the 2004 Constitution, 68 seats in the lower house are reserved for women [UNIFEM]

• In the 2005 election, 11.7% (or 317) of the candidates for the lower house of parliament and 7.5% (or 211) of candidates for the provincial council were women [UNIFEM]

• "20% more women are standing for the provincial council in this year's polls than those who stood last time." [UNAMA]

• Of the 420 seats in the Provincial Council, 124 are reserved for women. In 2005, there were not enough women to meet the quota at the Provincial Council elections, and 3 seats had to be given to men [UNIFEM]

• Only one cabinet member is female (the Minister of Women's Affairs) [UNIFEM]

• Out of the total 17 Ambassadors of Afghanistan to other countries in 2007, only two were women [UNIFEM]

Employment in the Government Sector

• From 2002 to 2008, the percent of female employees in the Ministry of Women's Affairs decreased from 76% to 58% [CSO]

• However, during the same period, the percent of female employees in the Ministry of Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled increased by 43%, from 5.1% of employees in 2002 to 48% in 2008 [CSO]

• Females make up less than 10% of employees in 16 of the 25 Ministries (2008) [CSO]

• In 2008, 18.4% of all government workers were females, a decrease from 25.9% in 2005 [CSO]

• In the Wulus-e-Jirga and Meshrano Jirga in 2008, women made up 14% and 16% of all members, respectively [CSO]

• The number of female regular government employees decreased from 31.2% in 2005 to 22% in 2007 [NHDR 07]

• Women in government contractual service decreased from 10.3% in 2005 to 7.5% in 2006 [NHDR 07]