[{"bbox": [145, 152, 1083, 326], "category": "Text", "text": "result of a long and mostly donor-funded process involving the creation and revision of laws - the most notorious one being the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW), which was considered a landmark legislation toward better protection and enforcement of the rights of Afghan women. Other improvements include advances in legal aid services, training of women lawyers, judges and prosecutors and awareness efforts from civil society."}, {"bbox": [145, 337, 1084, 743], "category": "Text", "text": "These advances have been one of hardest hit by the Taliban takeover; and an increase in violence against women has already been reported by UN Women. Previous legal dispositions, including the EVAW law, are not operative. It is unlikely that commitments of the Afghan State to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (ratified in 2003 without reservations) will be upheld. The Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) was dismantled, gender units in Ministries, previously funded through donor support, ceased to function, as did, at the local level, Family Response Units and Elimination of Violence Against Women Units. The dissolution of the MoWA, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, the police and justice systems means that the multisector referral system for victims of gender-based violence is now mostly inaccessible to women and girls, limiting their access to services. Shelters have been under pressure, and most of them stopped their operations after the 15 August 2021, while the majority of women organisations working on GBV are now keeping a low profile. The recent closures of many safe houses for women who suffer domestic violence have left women and girls in even more vulnerable situations."}, {"bbox": [145, 755, 1084, 1046], "category": "Text", "text": "On 3 December 2021, the Taliban released a \"special decree on women's rights\" setting out the rules governing marriage and property for women, with instructions for implementation. The decree states that \"[A] woman is not a property, but a noble and free human being; no one can give her to anyone in exchange for peace deal and or to end animosity\". It also states that women, including widows, should not be forced into marriage and that widows have a share in their husband's property. The extent to which this decree translated into action and effectively prevents the practices listed remains unclear. Later decrees and announcements by the DFA have increased concerns over women's access to basic rights - this includes, in March 2022 the postponement *sine die* of the reopening of secondary school for girls, or the order in May 2022 imposing a restrictive dress code and further restricting women and girls' mobility."}, {"bbox": [145, 1066, 259, 1094], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## Education"}, {"bbox": [145, 1106, 1084, 1310], "category": "Text", "text": "Significant progress has been made in Afghanistan's education sector over the last twenty years. Participation in education increased from less than 1 million in school in 2000 (around 10% girls) to 9.2 million students (38% girls) in 2018. Although access to schooling has improved significantly in the last decade, completion rates remain low with increasing gender disparities in the upper levels and in rural areas. For every 100 urban boys, only 78 urban girls attend school and in rural areas, the number plunges to 50 girls for 100 boys (2019 Girls' Education Policy)."}, {"bbox": [145, 1321, 1084, 1496], "category": "Text", "text": "The collapse of the Afghan economy following the events of 15 August 2021 put in serious danger these achievements, especially in the context of the previously existing substantial gender gap since the literacy rate for men stood at 55% and for women only at 29.8%. Despite the progress, 12 million youth and adults (15+) in Afghanistan still lack basic literacy skills. UNESCO estimated that in 2020 the literacy rate has increased to 43% in comparison to 2016/17 when it was 34.8% and the literacy rate for youths aged 15 to 24 stood at 65%."}, {"bbox": [145, 1507, 1084, 1596], "category": "Text", "text": "However, despite the period of uncertainty and worsening economic situation, the education sector remained partially functional. Afghanistan still remains bound to the respect of child rights, including the rights of all girls to education in line with the Convention on the Rights of"}, {"bbox": [1069, 1641, 1083, 1663], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "8"}]