Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA in a meeting with Afghan women from civil society organizations, academia and advocacy groups expressed said that the participation of women in the upcoming elections in Afghanistan is extremely vital for the elections to be credible.
“Elections are only truly representative and credible when women fully participate and are included in all parts of the electoral process,” said Yamamoto.
On Monday said at a press conference, IEC Chief Abdul Badi Sayad pointed out how the elections are an Islamic practice and called on the religious scholars to spread positive information about the elections and encourage people to vote.
UNAMA also pointed out that 16% of the candidates are women, which is just a marginal increase from last elections. The data was extracted from IEC’s statistics.
UNAMA’s statement also read “The mission is mindful of the great personal risk that numerous female candidates and women’s rights activists routinely face in promoting women’s full inclusion as candidates, voters, election staff and observers.”
