AFGHANISTAN - Public space 'shrinking' for women - UN official

Eight years after the formal end of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women are facing growing challenges in public life and have limited access to justice, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). "The space for women in public life is shrinking," warned Norah Niland, head of UNAMA's human rights unit and a representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Under the Taliban, women had few rights, and though efforts have been made since then to boost them, progress has been inhibited by armed conflict, weak political commitment, corruption, and strong patriarchal traditions. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) is concerned that initial gains made after 2001 are being lost. The number of women working in the government is "steadily decreasing" and their participation in other decision-making processes such as voting in elections has also gone down, according to the UNAMA.