Friday March 8, 2019
Kabul (BNA) Chairman of the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC), in a gathering which observed Women’s Day, said that women’s share in the civil services had a five percent increase in just one year (2018.)
Ahmad Nader Nadery, Chairman of the IARCSC, considers individual capacity and skill growth, government leadership’s support for women, optimized recruitment process, and conducting nationwide collective exams as major factors in women’s increased presence in the civil services.
In 2017, women only made up 22 percent of civil servants, but as of now they have reached 27.3 percent. Chairman of the IARCSC expressed hope that participation of women in the civil services, in the future, will get to fifty percent.
Mr. Nadery, said: “The year that is about to end is one of the best years for women in Afghanistan civil services. In the past years, women had a larger share in the health and education sector, but today, luckily, women’s presence in other fields and different levels of management has also been made possible.”
Mr. Nadery warned that the changes that made the increase in women’s share in the civil services possible are not fully institutionalized and there is still a serious risk of rollback.
He said: “We can see these risks in different elements, whether in the political discussions, in the promising debate about end of the war, or in the discussion of the social and cultural barriers that women face.”
Referring to the policy of increasing participation of women in the civil services, Mr. Nadery said, optimizing procedures and Civil Service’s policies in recruitment and other fields have created a better and more favorable environment for women, so that they could be more competitive and more successful.
The policy of Increasing Women's Participation in Civil Service has recently been approved by the Cabinet and should be implemented by all government agencies. The policy is designed to provide women with possible opportunities, to create a safe working environment, and to encourage their involvement in the civil services.
The head of the Commission wants the media to hold those agencies accountable that do not properly cooperate in the implementation of this policy.
8th March, International Women’s Solidarity Day was celebrated at the Awtar Singh Hall in the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC).
M.A.Ansari