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Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA)

Communication and Outreach Strategy

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Disclaimer of Opinion:

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) communications strategy was prepared by Sayara

Strategies as part of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs Organizational Restructuring and

Empowerment (MORE) project. MORE is a USAID supported project implemented by The

Asia Foundation in Afghanistan. MORE’s objective is to strengthen the capacity of the

Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Directorates of Women’s Affairs (DOWAs) to perform

their primary functions and carry out their organizational mandate more effectively. This

communications strategy was submitted to MoWA on September 2, 2015.

The views that are expressed in this communications strategy do not necessarily reflect the

views of Sayara Strategies, the Asia Foundation or USAID. The content of this document was

developed based on desk research, meetings, and consultations with Information and Public

Relations Directorate (IPRD) staff, CSOs and several ministries.

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 5

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Situational Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 7

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Goals and Objectives.............................................................................................................. 9

Target Audience .................................................................................................................... 11

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Internal Target Audiences ....................................................................................................... 11 External Target Audiences ...................................................................................................... 11

Priority Issues and Messages ......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Messages......................................................................................................................................... 12 Priority Issues .............................................................................................................................. 12

Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) ................................................................................... 13 Women’s Economic Empowerment ...................................................................................... 15 Girls’ Education ............................................................................................................................ 17 Women’s Presence in the Security Sector .......................................................................... 19 Women’s Access to Health ....................................................................................................... 19

Communications Actions ................................................................................................... 21

Communication Channels ................................................................................................. 23

Resources and TimeLine .................................................................................................... 28

Evaluation ............................................................................................................................... 29

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Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 29

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Acronyms

CSO - Civil Society Organization

DoWA - Directorate of Women’s Affairs

EVAW – Eliminating Violence against Women (Law)

IPRD - Information and Public Relations Department

MoE - Ministry of Education

MoHRA - Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs

MoI - Ministry of Interior

MoJ - Ministry of Justice

MoPH - Ministry of Public Health

MoWA - Ministry of Women’s Affairs

NAPWA - National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan

NGO – Non-governmental Organization

VAWG – Violence against Women and Girls

WPC - Women Protection Center

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This communications strategy will play a significant role in ensuring that all of MoWA’s

communications related activities are strengthened and that the coordination and

implementation of public outreach work related to women’s rights’ programs in Afghanistan

are successfully implemented.

This strategy provides a detailed overview of MoWA’s internal and external communication

opportunities and actions as well as specific recommendations for messages. Adopting these

recommendations will allow MoWA to better communicate its priority issues and adjust its

communication responses.

The priority issues outlined reflect themes within the National Action Plan for the Women of

Afghanistan (NAPWA) and suggestions for which public outreach activities are relevant and

necessary to effect positive change for women. These center on tackling violence against

women, economic empowerment, girl’s education, women’s representation in the security

sector, and women’s access to health.

The strategy also outlines ideas for improvements of MoWA’s existing communications

mechanisms, such as its magazine, newsletter, website, and Facebook page. It considers how

major events can be celebrated by linking them with proposed priority themes. Overall, it seeks

to ensure that MoWA’s use of resources is strategic.

Suggestions are also included to support increased efficiency within MoWA/IPRD, to assist it

in building stronger relationships with media organizations and keeping up-to-date contact

databases.

Understanding that shaping public perceptions and working towards behavioral change

requires long-term planning, this communications strategy will also lay a foundation for future

communications work. This will help MoWA to develop a detailed implementation plan and

to approach donors for specific funding. This strategy is an evolving document designed to

adapt to changing communication needs. The strategy will be updated and evaluated based on

the effectiveness of the communications activities outlined in the in this strategy.

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INTRODUCTION

Background

Years of violent conflict and ongoing extremism have slowed the progress of development and

stabilization in Afghanistan. Whilst these factors have had a devastating impact on the lives of

Afghans, women and girls have suffered the most. Women’s rights in the country have

progressed greatly since 2001 with millions of girls returning to school, women entering the

workplace, and women’s participation in civil society and government is on the rise. In

recognition of the concerted need to promote gender equity, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs

(MoWA) was established in Afghanistan in 2003.

The enactment of the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA) and the

subsequent law on the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) are perhaps

Afghanistan’s greatest achievements in regards to women’s empowerment. MoWA oversees

the implementation of NAPWA, which was launched in 2008 with a 10-year mandate, and

aims to strengthen gender equality and women’s empowerment. NAPWA is a multi‐sectorial

plan emphasizing access to education and healthcare services, economic empowerment,

security, political participation, as well as the elimination of violence against women.

Despite progress, women’s marginalization and particularly violence against women continue

to impede the full realization of their rights. It is necessary to continue to increase the capacity

of both the MoWA, and the various Directorate of Women’s Affairs (DoWAs) in the provinces,

which are tasked with achieving women’s empowerment and the objectives of NAPWA.

Moreover, apart from increased coordination and cooperation between MoWA and DoWAs, it

is also vital to strengthen ties between MoWA and other government agencies, local non-state

agencies, and civil society organizations (CSOs), to incorporate gender mainstreaming into

their agendas and policies. Importantly, MoWA’s capacity to conduct and implement

communication activities and broaden public awareness in all aspects of gender equality and

women’s rights can only be strengthened with strong coordination.

MoWA is also expected to take a leadership role in coordinating and working with other

ministries, external partners and the general public on gender issues. Realizing how critical the

function of coordination is, MoWA requires proper linkages with its allies, based on a clear,

manageable and well-structured system to guide its work. Given the range of issues and

challenges affecting women and girls, MoWA has devised a communications strategy to

prioritize issues, to develop its own mechanisms for the effective execution of communications

activities and to better communicate the role of MoWA and DoWAs.

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Situational Analysis

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is the only ministry specifically tasked with gender

mainstreaming and possesses a large network of 34 Directorate of Women’s Affairs across the

country to support women’s needs. Since its establishment, MoWA has worked to instigate

positive changes to the status of women and is one of the few government agencies to have

substantial presence at the provincial level. While the implementation of gender mainstreaming

is a collective responsibility of the all government entities, MoWA plays an instrumental role

in providing leadership and guidance across government.

MoWA’s communications strategy specifically seeks to provide MoWA with useful

recommendations to strengthen the way it communicates with audiences ranging from key

stakeholders to the Afghan public. To do so, between June-July 2015, a series of meetings

and consultations with MoWA’s staff, members of MoWA’s Strategic Communications

Committee, international implementing partners working directly with MoWA, International

NGOs, women’s rights CSOs and line ministries were held. Each meeting and consultation

was an opportunity to hear about the priority issues MoWA should be communicating on, as

well as discussing communication responses. The content of these consultations, as well as a

desk review, resulted in the following proposals and recommendations. A full list of the

consultations held can be found in Annex 7.1.3

Leading MoWA’s communications efforts is the Information and Public Relations Directorate

(IPRD, which is the central unit coordinating both internal and external communications within

MoWA. IPRD’s main goal is to control the information and publication of MoWA’s activities,

while building the capacity of provincial DOWAs to conduct outreach work. IPRD is also

responsible for gender training with government agencies as well as all external

communications. The unit identified internal staff should be exposed to internal

communications tools to effectively inform and develop mutually reinforcing skills to support

external communication activities.

MoWA’s communication practices, both internal and external, have weak structures and

processes that do not effectively support the ministry in achieving its mandate. The SWOT

analysis below illustrates the current communications environment MoWA is working in.

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

MoWA is the only ministry specifically

tasked with gender mainstreaming

MoWA possesses a large network of

provincial DoWAs which understand

local women's problems and needs

MoWA has the potential to be the “go

to” resource for all issues affecting

women in the media

Internally, MoWA has weak internal

communications structure and

processes. Especially when responding

to incidents or in case of crisis

communication, MoWA is either silent

or has a delayed response

Externally, too much emphasis is placed

on the self-promotion of MoWA's

activities and not enough on NAPWA

issues and the challenges women face

The lack of coordination with

stakeholders prevents broader campaign

support, unhelpful duplication and

contradictory messages

Media relationships are largely

underused and MoWA’s ability to

communicate key messages and speak

publicly about issues affecting women

remains limited

Opportunities Threats

Internally, MoWA can identify a unified

set of goals and objectives as well as

defining communications responses

Externally, MoWA can better

communicate its achievements and

policies by developing its media

relationships

Other government agencies, external

partners and civil society want to

increase its coordination and work with

MoWA

MoWA needs to strengthen stakeholder

perception, particularly among donors,

in its effort to mobilize resources for

outreach work

Lack of communication and

miscommunication can lead to a lack of

credibility among stakeholders and the

general public

MoWA has weak processes to respond to incidents or develop crisis responsive

communication, which has resulted in delayed or silence response to issues effecting women’s

rights. Traditionally, its external communication practices have rested on conventional media

and has proven to be an effective tool for information dissemination. However, it’s campaigns

have placed too much emphasis on the MoWA brand and not enough focus on the NAPWA

issues and the challenges women faced across the country. This has led to a lack of coordination

with other stakeholders, inconsistent and contradictory messaging duplication of work, and the

ministry lacks a strong voice to speak public on issues affecting women.

Overall the findings and recommendation focus on maximizing the functionality of MoWA’s

communications and the strategy aims for more active management of media relations and

strengthened operations for wider public outreach. MoWA’s lack of communication can result

in a lack of credibility and public mistrust among stakeholders and the general public and

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negatively impact its capacity to mobilize resources for its outreach work. In identifying current

weaknesses and challenges facing MoWA’s communications, many opportunities are present

for MoWA to learn from its lessons and upscale its communication practices and ensure its

mandate is implemented. As the lead organization working for women’s empowerment,

MoWA recognizes no single organization can shoulder the responsibility for the

implementation of women’s rights campaigns. It not a lone actor and MoWA will focus on

harmonizing its communication efforts with other government agencies and civil society.

This strategy does not identify specific public outreach roles for DoWAs. The role of DoWAs

is very important, however they should complement MoWA’s strategy at the central level.

Following on from this strategy, an implementation plan will be developed where DoWAs will

be able to clearly outline their contribution to public outreach work, within selected areas,

pending on both their staff capacity and financial situation.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is the lead agency for promoting women’s advancement in

Afghanistan. Its primary mandate is to support the government in responding to the needs and

issues affecting women in all aspects of life to attain gender quality and full enjoyment of

women’s human’s rights. MoWA’s communication strategy embodies the mandate and

communications will help advance MoWA’s mission to ensure that Afghanistan’s women’s

legal, economic, social, political and civil rights are respected, promoted and fulfilled.

The main responsibility of MoWA is to coordinate, support, and monitor the implementation

of international treaties, commitments, and national policies on the promotion of women’s

status in Afghanistan1.

The communication strategy is driven by two goals focused on internal and external

communications. Both goals are mutually reinforcing and support MoWA to effectively

communicate with its staff and external audiences.

Goal 1: Internal communications is optimized and effectively coordinated between

MoWA’s department

Goal 2: MoWA strategically communicates its mandate to the public and strengthens

its ability to engage with other government agencies, local non-state agencies,

CSOs and donors

The achievement of both goals will be supporting four communications objectives:

1 MoWA’s ToR

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Objective 1: Internal communication practices and tools are effective and support all MoWA

staff to be well informed and effectively communicate MoWA’s mandate to all stakeholders;

Objective 2: MoWA strategically develops public outreach activities on key priority issues

highlighted in the five-year strategy and focusses less on MoWA’s branding and

representation;

Objective 3: Strengthen MoWA’s networks with the media and promote trust, transparency,

and accountability to successfully execute time-sensitive and target public relations campaigns;

Objective 4: Strengthen MoWA’s ties with relevant Afghan ministries, civil society

organizations, local non-state actors, and other relevant key stakeholders to incorporate gender

mainstreaming into their communications plans and agendas; and

The communication strategy is designed with the reasoning that available conventional media

are still effective tools of information dissemination and can be made even more effective if

appropriate information is disseminated to the public in a timely manner.

The following factors necessitated the development of this communication strategy:

MoWA’s Information and Public Relations Directorate (IPRD) recognizes the need to

develop more coherent internal processes given the relatively small number of staff

(28) charged with a wide range of activities. IPRD staff needs to be supported to

coordinate more effectively for targeted and timely communications responses. This

can also be fostered by better defining roles and allowing a greater sense of ownership

over tasks.

Women’s rights remain a central issue in Afghanistan. Due to the pressures on

MoWA’s time and resources, this strategy prioritizes key issues in order to help MoWA

have a greater impact. The communications strategy will frame these issues in a way

that resonates well with the Afghan public. Targeted media and public outreach

campaigns will increase the public’s understanding of the societal harms caused by

women’s inequality.

All media work initiated by MoWA/DoWA raises awareness about the Ministry and its

provincial departments. This will result in increased public support for their work. This

strategy seeks to achieve a better balance between MoWA’s media work that is

strategically aimed at fostering change and self-promotional coverage.

MoWA recognizes the need to communicate with stakeholders about women’s

advancement and understands the complexity of its role. Therefore, the development of

a communications strategy and an implementation plan which follows the strategy, is a

fundamental step to enable MoWA to manage its external communications system. The

Ministry will build on its current successes to narrow the communications gaps, and to

establish a more robust communication system.

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MoWA seeks to showcase success stories and achievements to strengthen perceptions

of its work. It is particularly important for MoWA to have convincing and credible

public outreach work in order to mobilize financial resources from donors. The

agreement on a communications strategy and alignment of outreach work to the strategy

is a fundamental step for donors to consider supporting outreach work directly, instead

of through MoWA’s implementing partners.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Understanding MoWA’s audience is essential to its communication strategy having an impact.

By understanding the audience’s attitudes, habits and preferences, MoWA can help ensure its

communications are suitable, relevant and meaningful.

Internal Target Audiences

Effective communication between MoWA staff will enhance their level of engagement and

satisfaction, which is essential to the delivery of MoWA’s mandate and mission. Improved

internal communications will create clear and effective communication channels for MoWA

staff to engage with one another, influence the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of staff and

effectively communicate MoWA’s mandate, mission and strategic plan to all staff.

The MoWA Leadership will be responsible for actively informing all MoWA staff on MoWA’s

mandate and priorities. The leadership includes the Minister and Deputy Minister and

nominated spokespersons. As the public face of MoWA they play pivotal roles in

communicating MoWA’s mandate and priorities, and in facilitating communication among all

MoWA staff. In their roles chairing high-level meetings and in speaking to the media, senior

leadership set the tone and remits for MoWA’s public outreach work. It is crucial that senior

leadership is empowered with real time information to appear credible and responsive when

engaging the media, particularly during crisis response situations. Key internal audiences are:

External Target Audiences

MoWA will promote its messages to a large group of stakeholders in Afghanistan to support

its mandate. Appropriate messengers are very important in any communications effort to

transfer knowledge, have a positive effect on attitude, and eventually lead to behavioral change

amongst the target audience groups. The messengers who convey messages and

communications products need to be carefully selected in accordance with the preference of

each target audience group. Some examples can include:

People of similar backgrounds to the target audiences telling their success stories;

Influential leaders and social figures asking for commitments;

Radio and TV channels that have influence amongst the target audience group.

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The following four categories have been identified as key audiences:

Development Partners Financial Partners

Ministry of Education (MoE)

Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

Ministry of Public Health (MoPH)

Ministry of Interior (MoI)

Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs

(MoHRA)

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and

NGOs

UN Agencies

Afghan Independent Human Rights

Commission (AIHRC)

Donors and potential funders from the private

sector

Foreign Missions in Kabul

Political Partners Afghan Communities

Afghan Parliament

Provincial Governors Mullah

Elders

Teacher

Human rights activities

Youth

Women

MESSAGE AND PRIORITY ISSUES

Message

MoWA will focus its communication and outreach efforts on raising awareness of the priority

issues identified below and build public support for this type of progress and change in general.

Priority areas, all reflected in NAPWA, have been identified as the following: violence against

women and girls, women’s economic empowerment, education, security sector reform and

health for women. Building public support for women’s advancement in these areas is crucially

important, particularly in relatively insecure and conservative regions where awareness of

MoWA/DoWA and commitment to gender equality is often low.

Priority Issues

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For each priority areas listed below, key messages and communication responses have been

outlined to better communicate with the public and key stakeholders.

Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG)

Violence against women and girls remains a widespread reality in Afghanistan. Most incidents

of violence against women still remain largely underreported, especially in rural areas, due to

social norms and cultural restraints, discrimination against women, fear of social stigma or

exclusion and, at times, fear of reprisals. Many female rvictims of violence are unable or

unwilling to seek assistance due to a lack of awareness, fear of retribution and lack of access,

which demonstrates a need for improved awareness. MoWA remains the main Ministry

mandated with tackling VAWG and raising awareness of its harmful effects in partnership with

MOI and MoPH.

Physical violence, forced marriage, moral crimes and other harmful practices:

The high prevalence of violence against women, in particular domestic violence, rape, stoning,

and intimidation as well as at the persistence of cultural norms, practices and traditions such as

child marriage, baad, badal, honor killings and forced marriages are violations of women’s

fundamental rights and prevent women from participating in public life and exerting their legal

rights.

MoWA will work to:

Continue highlighting the importance of equal rights for both men and women and the

importance of women’s right to make life choices, especially regarding marriage.

Communicate the illegitimacy of violence towards women in adherence to the National

Afghan Constitution, Islamic laws and the EVAW Law.

Demonstrate the harmful and devastating effects of Baad/Badal and child marriage on

individuals and families.

Raise awareness of the need to have a proper legal marriage contract (Niqakhat) that

respects the will of the couple.

Raise awareness of the harmful effects of early marriage in accordance with Islam and

women’s legal rights under the Afghan Constitution.

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The issue of shame:

Most VAWG cases remain largely underreported due to fear of retaliation from the family or

because of the perception of shame and dishonor it will bring on the family.

Lack of trust in the formal justice sector:

Most cases of violence are reported to and raised with shuras or local jirgas rather than with

the formal justice system. There have always been negative perceptions among families about

women’s access to the formal justice sector. Women are not comfortable visiting judicial

institutions to address their legal rights, often because of the reception and questioning they

face. After a woman returns home, she is perceived as having lost her honor, which can further

increase violence against her. Large numbers of cases are resolved through informal dispute

resolution mechanisms, and even when referred to official judicial bodies, cases are referred

back to these informal mechanisms for mediation. In many instances of the latter, penal

sanctions for perpetrators under the EVAW law and/or the Afghan Penal Code are not enforced

and there is no monitoring of mediation processes. As a result of greater trust, and campaigns

to dispel issues of shame, reporting rates of violence against women may increase.

Resistance to Afghan law:

MoWA will work to:

1. Dispel perceptions of shame associated with reporting violence, especially in regions

where people are less likely to report cases of violence.

MoWA will work to:

1. Foster trust in the formal justice sector by reassuring families that their engagement

will result in help for those in need.

2. Share methods to promote contact with formal institutions, such as helplines and

advice to contact DoWAs.

3. Link traditional justice mechanisms to government authorities: Encourage the

DoWAs to provide capacity building on justice provision and teach traditional

leaders about national and religious laws on justice, fairness, and equality.

4. Raise awareness on women’s rights within the tenets of the national and

international laws and religious principles.

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Domestic violence is seen as one of the greatest threats to women, but too few believe that

domestic violence is unlawful. Women’s empowerment strategies based on Islamic law will

carry more legitimacy and buy-in among communities than a legal approach.

Uncertain legal protection:

Lack of awareness about the EVAW law among law enforcement agencies and individuals

hinders victims from accessing justice as implementation remains weak.

Women’s Economic Empowerment

Despite the objectives outlined by NAPWA, and recognition by the government that women’s

economic contributions are vital to lift Afghanistan out of poverty, few women work outside

the home. Overall, women still receive a lower level of education that men, and many remain

illiterate, the consequences of which impact women’s ability to access education and healthcare

as well as to progress economically.

Economic dependency and social constraints:

Lack of enforcement of women’s economic rights - including women’s rights to inheritance,

land, and control over earned income2 - is widespread and results in socio-economic harm,

2 Shaharzad Akbar and Taiba Pirzad, “Women’s Access to Property in Afghanistan: Law, Enforcement and Barriers”

(Kabul: Qara Consulting, 2011).

MoWA will work to:

1. Support public awareness of women’s rights vis-a-vis Islamic law at both the

national and community level. Public awareness campaigns should consider explicit

discussion on how women’s rights are in line with Islamic legal norms and generate

discussions of broader interpretations of women’s rights under Islam.

2. Raise awareness amongst religious and community leaders about the principle of

equality between women and men, as detailed in the Afghan Constitution, and the

Islamic Framework.

MoWA will work to:

1. Provide materials for DoWAs, Women Protection Centers (WPCs), police, attorney’s

and court officials, especially at the sub-national level, as they lack understanding of

VAWG issues and are unable to provide the necessary support to victims.

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depriving women of agency, decision making power, and employment opportunities. This can

also result in the detriment of their families who would be lifted above the poverty line if

women engaged in paid work. Social customs and practices have made work outside of the

household difficult, especially in rural areas.

Lack of skills and awareness of available programs:

In rural areas, many women work in unskilled agricultural activities, and in urban areas they

are generally paid less than men, and have fewer managerial opportunities. Communications

on access to markets and the presence of vocational training programs for women should be

encouraged. Public awareness of programs aimed at helping women find work is low.

However, the perceived effectiveness of such programs is high among the portion of the

population that is aware of them in their community.3

3 Sayara Research - Baseline public perception survey of the National Action Plan for the Woman in Afghanistan

(Final Report, March 2014).

MoWA will work to:

1. Portray women as being able to make choices about working and careers.

2. Present the public with religious and culturally acceptable female role models that

contribute to their household income, explaining how women’s earned income can

lift families out of poverty, provide a better future for children

3. Highlight the importance of women’s contribution to the economy at the national

level as well as at the family level by placing a financial figure on it. Communicate

the need to recognize the contribution that women make doing unpaid domestic

work such as cleaning, cooking and childcare.

4. Encourage the social acceptance of women working outside of their homes (in

accordance with Islam and women’s legal rights).

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Suitability of jobs:

The general public considers very few jobs suitable for women.

Girls’ Education

Of the 8.3 million students in schools across Afghanistan, nearly 40 percent are girls4; a record

high and a dramatic improvement on the situation in 20015. Yet, women continue to face

barriers in accessing education, which hinders their later opportunities for paid work and

accessing public services.

Lack of awareness of the value of education:

Whilst attitudes towards women’s education are generally supportive, several barriers prevent

girls from gaining or continuing their education. In rural areas where girls may need to travel

long distances, and there are security problems (lack of facilities such as girls-friendly schools

4 MoE meeting 5 UNAMA (2014) „UN report urges Afghanistan to recruit female teachers locally to boost girls‟ education‟,

UNAMA, http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?ctl=Details&tabid=12254&mid=15756&ItemID=37660

MoWA will work to:

1. Raise awareness of existing programs and build public support for this type of

programming in general. Increased public support, particularly in the most

conservative and insecure regions, should increase opportunities for the

expansion of employment programming.

2. Support women entrepreneurs, providing information on business registration

processes, property, loans, finance and access to markets.

MoWA will work to:

1. Increase support for women working in fields they have graduated in, such as

education, medicine. Support for women working in textiles, food services, and

then expanding to other professions.

2. Support equal treatment between men and women in business, showing that

women are just as capable at performing different jobs as men and taking on

managerial positions.

3. Encourage trust building through the promotion of role models (promoting the

recognition of female owned businesses) in order to encourage women to start

businesses.

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with boundary walls, insecurity while commuting to schools), families can be reluctant to allow

the girls to travel to school. Early marriage is also a large problem in school retention rates and

the actual attendance rates is well below enrollment levels. While gross enrolment rate in

primary schools for girls is 81%, net attendance rate is only at 46.4%. At every transition,

between primary and secondary, and secondary and tertiary, girls drop out due to a range of

pressures and decisions made by their family.

Lack of women teachers:

The presence of women teachers is essential to encourage girls’ school enrollment and reduce

gender disparity. The lack of women teachers in remote districts reinforces the conception that

education for women has no value and prevents a portion of the population from accessing

education.

MoWA will work to:

1. Highlight the benefits of education, to convince families that education for girls

is always necessary. Messaging should build on popular support for girl’s

education by focusing on the logical step from education to the workforce.

2. Push messages that educated women are more likely to be knowledgeable and

attentive to all aspects of life, and educated mothers lead towards healthier

families and safe communities. If men and women are educated, early marriages,

Bad and Badal, as well as other cases of violence against women would be

reduced. Education also empowers women to seek legal help.

3. Run a campaign at the provincial level encouraging women to transition to the

next level of education, by highlighting the benefits it can bring to families and

communities.

4. Highlight the equal rights of men and women to access education.

5. Inform girls and teachers about their right to education and the importance of

continuing their studies.

6. Raise the profile of literacy programs, especially in provinces.

7. Highlight the harmful effects of early marriage on girl’s education, especially

with teachers.

MoWA will work to:

1. Encourage women to work in the field of education, portraying teaching as a

notable profession for women within the Islamic context (positive examples from

Islamic history) and communicate the benefits of such a profession.

2. Inform people about MoE incentives for women teachers.

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Women’s Presence in the Security Sector

Only 2% of the Afghan National Police (ANP) force is female and virtually no female officers

are deployed to rural areas. This has resulted in a lack of female police available to investigate

cases of violence against women and address women’s needs6. While increasing the number of

women in the security forces is critical, institutional and attitudinal challenges are jeopardizing

the capacity of those institutions to attract more women. Sexual harassment and abuse have

also been too common within the ANP, and this has made families reluctant to allow their

daughters to join the force and creates negative perceptions of women police in communities.

Whilst many steps have been taken to address this issue, more work needs to be done to

encourage a critical mass of women to join the ANP, and to enable them to be deployed rurally.

Female police provide a number of critical services to communities, such as performing

culturally appropriate security checks, working within Family Response Units, providing

personal safety classes for girls, and ensuring women can access public life in other ways – for

example working as women searchers at national Elections.

Negative perceptions of women police among communities:

Lack of women representation in security institutions:

Women’s Access to Health

Health indicators for women remain excessively poor, and women and men experience

different vulnerabilities and health risks. Although there has been an increase in the number of

6 “Women and the Afghan police in Afghanistan”, Oxfam report, 2013.

MoWA will work to:

1. Communicate the important services women police provide and increase appreciation for

their work by highlighting the critical services they provide that are necessarily culturally

appropriate.

MoWA will work to:

1. Encourage more women to consider policing as a career option by portraying

women in security forces in a leading role.

2. Inspire young women and families to consider policing as a career option.

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women health workers and expansion of available health services, women face challenges in

accessing health services due to poor health infrastructure and gender norms that place barriers

on their access to health care.

According to 2014 UN estimates, Afghanistan experienced a 67% reduction in maternal deaths

between 1990 and 2013. There has also been a notable increase in the utilization of antenatal

care and skilled birth attendance in the last eight years. Despite these achievements, Afghan

mother and child mortality remains among the highest in the region. Women have less access

to health information, healthcare services, and resources to protect their health. Because of

poor literacy and education levels, women are disadvantaged in their ability to make informed

decisions about their own health and that of their children. Healthcare workers report low

capacity and comfort levels to treat patients on gender-sensitive issues such as physical and

sexual violence, sexually-transmitted infections, mental health or malnutrition7.

Social attitudes on access to healthcare:

Many men are often reluctant to allow their female relatives to visit a doctor due to cultural

restrictions on travelling outside the home, even with a mahram. This can prevent women and

girls from accessing care early on, and can be especially problematic during pregnancy. This

is also linked to the lack of female healthcare workers being available to treat women.

Lack of awareness about the importance of health services:

Women and communities, especially in isolated areas, do not understand the importance of

basic health and hygiene practices, (especially during childbirth) because they lack education,

health information and resources. In remote areas, this is far worse and services are more

limited.

Lack of specialist healthcare workers:

Given the challenges with girls’ access to education and transitioning to higher levels, along

with the reluctance of families to allow women to work outside the home, it is not surprising

that this has resulted in a lack of women doctors and healthcare workers. Where women are

working in this sector, their presence is largely in urban areas, leaving many rural women

underserved. Women healthcare workers can also be the victims of harassment and violence

which discourages women and their families from allowing them to pursue this career as well

7 WHO Sources?

MoWA will work to:

1. Address attitudes preventing women’s access to healthcare and highlight the

equity between girls and boys among communities.

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as attracting women patients.

COMMUNICATIONS ACTIONS

In order to operationalize the priority issues, IPRD should undertake a series of internal and

external actions to improve and strengthen communication practices.

Internal Actions: Sharing information between staff members underpins these organizational

and communications tools. Ensuring that all staff members are aware of their colleague’s

responsibilities and how to access resources will ensure these human and technical resources

are not underused.

1. Hold regular meetings for structured dialogue and planning for MoWA staff to identify

a unified set of goals and objectives as well as defining key messages/

communications responses. Setting goals and objectives can provide the basis for

weekly, monthly, and quarterly work plans as well as indicating an operating budget.

2. A Strategic Communication Committee (SCC) was set up in 2014 as a forum to

discuss key priorities and issues between IPRD and line ministries. This forum should

be maintained and supported within MoWA as it structures both the internal

communication processes within the ministry and builds relationships with other

participating ministries, NGOs and CSOs. Such a forum will also allow IPRD to discuss

message development and new communications initiatives.

3. IPRD will improve overall planning and coordination by hold staff meetings and

assign weekly and monthly deliverables and ensure that activities are not conducted

on an ad-hoc, crisis management basis.

4. IPRD will establish standard operating procedures for handling pre-determined

types of events and streamline reporting and communication processes.

5. IPRD will develop a series of standardized templates for each type of communication

material. These should be uploaded to shared databases for easy dissemination and use.

6. IPRD will work to develop the implementation plan for this strategy, outlining goals

and the operating budget required taking into account training and material needs

7. To fully integrate its staff members and ensure the efficiency of communications

activities, IPRD will produce an updated list of external points of contact (POCs) on

MoWA will work to:

1. Highlight the important role of women healthcare workers and doctors and promote

respect for all.

2. Support and encourage the recruitment of women healthcare workers who often play a

life-saving role in women’s health.

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other line ministries, donors, agencies and NGOs/CSOs as well as staff members within

IPRD who can manage relationships with these point people.

8. To make sure that MoWA’s activities are effectively communicated to its internal

network, the publication department of IPRD will review and improve the content of

both the magazine and the newsletter to cover NAPWA related issues and the broader

scope of activities MoWA and DoWAs are working on. Thought also needs to be given

about how to generate a greater readership. A detailed review and suggestions for these

two publications are available in section 3.2 Communication Channels.

External Actions:

1. IPRD will inform other inform other directorates of its communications tools as well

as establish regular meetings with line ministries to facilitate two-way communication.

This could be done through a committee rather than holding regular rounds of bi-lateral

meetings.

2. IPRD will develop advocacy materials, formulate media engagement strategies, and

update their website, publications (magazine and newsletter) and social media profiles.

3. To improve public knowledge of women’s rights, IPRD must identify key priority

issues that MoWA should communicate on as well as develop key messages that will

better resonate with specific audiences. A review of MoWA’s priority issues and

communication responses is available in section 3.1 Priority Issues and Message areas.

4. IRPD should rely more on information from DoWAs for awareness raising programs

rather than on traditional broad spectrum media campaigns. MoWA realizes that

coordination should not be limited to the stakeholders in Kabul, but must include the

provinces via the provincial DoWAs. Functions of the provincial offices make them an

extremely important part of the whole coordination system and a resource for timely

information on the conditions of women in all provinces

5. To make sure these messages have a greater impact on audiences, IPRD must

coordinate effectively with its media partners. IPRD should develop its working

relationships with non-government affiliated media agencies who can promote

MoWA’s activities to target audiences. Deeper relationships between IPRD and media

actors will place it in a prime position to conduct more effective and targeted public

relations campaigns, ultimately increasing the breadth and depth of its contact with the

public. This will also be important in maximizing free media coverage

6. IPRD will produce press releases, PSAs, reports, and campaigns on an ongoing basis

as determined by work plans and on ad hoc basis as major events arise.

7. IPRD will foster partnership and collaboration with NGOs, human rights activists and

civil society organizations working to advance women’s empowerment for advocacy

and mutual support in making government and donors respond effectively to women’s

needs. Working on women’s rights programs demands serious commitment and

credible knowledge. As such, MoWA will try to offer feedback on a regular basis

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to stakeholders on their contributions, the support they are offering, and suggest

necessary areas of improvement.

8. IPRD staff will hold meetings with relevant funding agencies. These meetings will

explore potential funding sources for the consecutive year’s budget as developed and

aligned with implementation plans. This will have the added effect of establishing a

working relationship between a funding resource and the agency, ensuring its future

viability.

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

The following tools have been identified as the most appropriate communication methods for

disseminating information and reaching out to wider audience groups:

Face-to-face meetings: Regular discussions in a range of forums such as conferences,

roundtable discussions, briefings, and committee meetings; issue based on consultations offer

important opportunities for MoWA to disseminate priorities and messages. Such meetings can

be conducted one-on-one or in groups. IPRD staff should actively engage with community

stakeholders who can further disseminate the information to their social groups while also

providing outside feedback that can act as a check on assumptions relating to current policies

and activities. These stakeholders include religious leaders, community elders and activists,

teachers, development personnel and youth leaders among others.

Audience: Internal MoWA Staff, DoWAs, development partners, financial partners, political

partners, civil society.

Emails: A database mailing list of different stakeholders is needed to spread messages more

widely. The database can be used to disseminate information and share documents such as e-

newsletters, links to radio broadcasts, policy updates, strategic pamphlets, upcoming events,

promote community roundtables, and other future plans, among others. Mailing lists can also

be separated by sector to ensure people are receiving relevant information.

Audience: Development partners, financial partners, political partners.

Magazine and Newsletter: MoWA has been producing Merman magazine and Irshad Ul

Naswan newsletter for many years. Most of the topics covered in these two publications are

similar and usually cover the Minister’s ceremonies, and MoWA events and meetings.

Information about DoWAs’ work in the provinces is not often included, nor are there

interviews, success stories or informative articles about NAPWA. The two publications would

benefit from a greater distinction from one another, and should avoid printing similar content.

While the magazine can promote information about women’s rights, including case studies and

success stories from the field to a broader audience, the newsletter could be used to highlight

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recent updates from MoWA (events, meetings etc) for more of an internal/governmental target

audience.

Below are recommendations for strengthening the quality of the two publications which will

likely result in an increase in the readership:

Merman Magazine:

The magazine should highlight the most engaging developments in the promotion of

women’s rights, illustrating the successes, and addressing the challenges in both a readable but

practical way. Including both successes and challenges will give the magazine more real-time

appeal, showing the progress of NAPWA while illustrating that MoWA is not deterred by

challenges and setbacks. It can be shared electronically with stakeholders and uploaded to the

website.

The magazine could be divided in four sections; section 1 – News updates, section 2 – Stories

(which includes women’s life stories or success stories), section 3 – Knowledge of the law

(Islamic law could be also included in this section), section 4 – Entertainment (jokes, basics of

English and IT, puzzles, cooking, and other interesting and informative topics can be included

in this section).

The news that is mentioned in the monthly newsletter could also be discussed in detail in

section 2 of the magazine (stories). For example, “a husband cut his wife’s nose in Baghlan

on”. This is news, but it should be discussed further in the magazine, like a case study,

explaining the reasons behind this type of violence, in which provinces it mostly happens, what

Afghan law and Islam says about this type of violence, what are the opportunities for reporting

such a case and seeking justice, etc.

Well written stories collected in the field, through the DoWAs can be published in the

magazine. This could be done in a thematic way, selecting a theme every two weeks and

illustrating it with stories. Alternatively, this could be organized geographically.

Also overtly identifying the challenges in the magazine will allow MoWA to properly

understand and mitigate weaknesses in future programming.

In each edition of the magazine, an article of Law on Elimination of Violence against Women

and the article of Afghan Constitution should be mentioned and discussed.

The magazine paper quality could be reduced; currently it is very expensive and consumes

much of MoWA’s budget.

Newsletter:

Interesting news and updates about MoWA should be prioritized and highlighted in the

newsletter.

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Not all meetings and events in which MoWA participates need mentioning unless something

exceptional occurs.

MoWA needs to adopt a more responsible approach to the use of photography. Images featured

in publications need to be high quality and checks need to be made to ensure that images are

both relevant, correctly attributed, and that consent was received from the subjects. Also the

pictures should have a captions answering who, what, and where.

Audience: Development partners, financial partners, political partners and the ordinary

people

Radio/TV: External communications are synonymous with public relations. To maximize

outreach, there will be regular press conferences and press releases on women’s rights efforts.

In this way the media will be able to give maximum coverage to the progress of women’s

rights, and promote NAPWA themes.

Radio is the principal medium for broadcasting program success throughout the country.

Including journalists and media outlets in the stakeholder engagement process will keep them

attuned to developments as they arise and provide a consistent and effective channel by which

to reach the public at large. Engaging with reporters and media firms from the beginning will

help to foster more public service announcements (PSAs) that will not require funding directly

from the implementation budget, but will rather be offered free of charge by the media firms

as a means of raising awareness and advocating for changes in public attitudes of women’s

rights.

For an outreach and communications strategy to be effective, radio is the most important

medium for reaching the widest audience, followed by television in the more urban areas. To

the largest extent possible, mullahs, elders, and other traditional authority figures should be

enrolled in direct community outreach campaigns to reinforce and multiply messages beyond

mass media.

Audience: Afghan communities.

Mobile Theater: Storytelling represents a powerful motivational tool to engage beneficiary

communities in effective two-way communications. It also helps transform communities from

beneficiaries to actual partners who understand the value and importance of promoting

women’s rights. Mobile theater performances can target those in remote locations who are cut

off from broader forms of communications. To implement and conduct mobile theater

activities, MoWA can partner with communication agencies that will rely on their mobile

theater teams in the field who will be responsible for reaching out to targeted communities and

further engaging them through reciprocal exchanges.

Audience: Afghan communities, especially those with limited access to traditional media.

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Print materials: Every piece of print material developed needs to ensure that messages and

communications products are easy to comprehend; timely to the needs and context of the target

audiences; social in their approach to rally message multipliers; attractive so as to garnish

attention; and use the appropriate messengers to carry the message.

Easy to comprehend: All messages and print products (i.e. brochures, billboards, etc.)

have to be developed respectful of:

The cultural and linguistic specificities of each region to make them easier to

understand;

Literacy level of the target audience groups;

Level of understanding of the subject matter among the target audience groups;

Harness the power of default – make it easier for the audience to receive information.

All messages and communication products have to focus on:

Attracting attention – make use of images, color or personalized/tailored messages;

Ensure a harmonized branding approach as appropriate to build the image of MoWA;

Make the desired behavior valuable – focus on the rewards/benefits of making the

change.

Newspapers: Given the low literacy rates in many rural areas of Afghanistan, newspapers have

a more limited appeal than radio but are still important in disseminating information throughout

literate and educated populations. They can be used to run PSAs and publishing reports; PSAs

in print can also include information on how to become involved in the promotion of women’s

rights, increasing the pool of stakeholders available to disseminate IPRD information to a wider

population.

Audience: Afghan communities, both literate and illiterate audiences.

Religious Leaders: Using religious leaders to influence men’s perception about women’s role

in society has been demonstrated as one of the most effective methods to bring about change.

Religious leaders in Afghanistan enjoy a high level of trust and authority in communities.

Greater cooperation and discussion between women’s rights advocates and religious scholars

may shift the debate on women’s advancement and could raise awareness and protection of

women’s rights in the long term.

In close cooperation with the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs (MoHRA), MoWA can

facilitate the organization of dialogues with religious leaders to discuss the importance of

defending women’s rights and promoting advancement during Friday prayers. Religious

leaders may encourage more egalitarian interpretations of Islam in local community forums or

negotiations or could act as entry points into the community for women’s rights advocates. The

discussions will convey important aspects of promoting gender equality in order to harness

community support for women’s advancement from credible traditional leadership.

Audience: Religious leaders and Afghan communities.

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Facebook: This platform will help stakeholders to keep in touch with one another and allow

the exchange of ideas through discussions. Those who engage in social media will be able to

participate in public dialogue focused on women’s rights and can include their respective

friends and contacts in the dialogue as the program develops over time. Currently MoWAs

Facebook activity is limited to a page on the Elimination of Violence against Women, but

MoWA should create an institutional page to feature their work and interesting material on

other issues affecting women.

Website: The objective of MoWA’s website is to provide access to important documents and

developments/reports/progress of relevant topics and activities of MoWA and other

stakeholders regarding gender, women’s rights and women’s empowerment, and notably to

publicize the challenges they face. Therefore, the website should act as an effective

communication and public relations tool for the Ministry.

The website should not only provide information about MoWA and its activities, but it should

also be a tool to reflect women’s challenges/concerns/aspirations/success stories and should

provide valuable information/recommendations for solutions to be used for public education

and awareness raising.

Color Scheme: Comparing MoWA’s website to the president’s website, the MoWA one is

much darker (less inviting) and needs a cohesive color scheme. The light blue in the header

could be kept as a consistent theme throughout the site, but there are all sorts of colors, from

green, blue, red, and brown. MoWA should stick to two main colors, such as the blue and

brown.

Home Page: The home page is very crowded and mainly focuses on MoWA’s

activities/reports/events/meetings, and not enough on gender/women related issues/topics. The

home page features images, picturing recent MoWA events/meetings, but those pictures are of

low quality and are too stretched. The biography of the current minister is visible in the home

page.

There are separate pages for different categories, such as; images/gallery, documents, job

announcements, MoWA priorities, plans, programs, structures and a brief biography of top

level officials in MoWA. There are also separate pages for each DoWA, where some stories

and reports can be published and are available. Much of this information could be moved to

subsequent pages to only keep the essential information on the home page (including important

links). There could be also be stories available updated on a monthly basis and drawn from the

magazine.

The NAPWA document is divided into chapters and each chapter is available on the home page

in separate PDF documents. Both Dari and English versions are accessible on the website.

However, the whole version of the NAPWA as a contiguous document is not available.

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The English version of the website site is an important outlet for communicating with

international NGOs, donors and Embassies. However there is minimal content on these pages

and a thorough edit is needed to correct spelling errors. Given the translation limitations within

IPRD for producing content in English, only the most important stories and executive

summaries of reports should be uploaded.

Photos, Audios and Videos: MoWA can create a ‘Media Section’ for the website, instead of

featuring each section separately on the sidebar, especially since audios and videos do not

include a lot of content.

Most of the photos are of meetings, it would be an improvement if they were: 1) given more

of a structure so that the viewer knows which event the photos are from, and 2) showing more

images of other events, or women in different roles/activities. All the pictures must be

categorized by date and arranged by folders, and new events pictures must be added regularly.

MoWA should also try to diversify the images they use away from static meetings, or

portraying women as victims of violence, to active and engaging photographs.

Publications: The publications are difficult to view, especially since they have to be clicked on

one at a time to be viewed. MoWA’s magazine and newsletter are not published on the website.

Only their cover page is published as an image. Some important and relevant (national or

international legislation, conventions, etc.) documents are not available, and those that are

available have not been translated into English properly,

Important links: MoWA should focus more on increasing the amount of information available

for each of the following sections: Resources, Contacts, Frequently Asked Questions and

Social Media. These sections need to be easier to find and include more information. The

contact section should also include an extensive list of CSOs and partners organizations that

work with MoWA in Kabul and the provinces that can provide support for women.

A feature/option can be added to monitor how many people visit the web site each week and

IPRD should be assessing the analytics of its website users.

Audience: Development partners, financial partners, political partners and young Afghan

communities, familiar with the use of Internet.

RESOURCES AND TIMELINE

Leading MoWA’s communications is the IPRD. IPRD is responsible for coordination

information on all of MoWA’s activities as well as building the capacity of provincial DoWAs

to conduct public outreach in their communities. IPRD is responsible for implementing the

following activities:

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- Coordinating and communicating with the media to spread news, announcements,

including the appointment of MoWA senior staff, conferences, and exclusive

interviews.

- Producing MoWA’s magazine and newsletter publications.

- Filming events and producing simple media products, such as radio spots and scripts

- Translating news into Dari/Pashto/English as needed

- Maintaining and updating MoWA’s website and the Elimination of Violence Against

Women Facebook page

- Providing ideas for key messages for the approval of MoWA leadership

EVALUATION

In order to promote progress on the advancement of women, MoWA will upgrade its

monitoring and evaluation department and enhance its ability to coordinate effectively with

line ministries who are responsible for implementing communication programs.

CONCLUSION

The overall goal of this communications strategy is to better communicate MoWA’s role and

activities by prioritizing issues and its own mechanisms for the effective implementation of

media activities.

Through the development of this communications strategy, some key challenges facing MoWA

were identified. Among them are the following:

Violence against Women and Girls: There are excessive cases of violence against women and

girls due to the prevalence of cultural and traditional norms, mistrust in the formal justice

sector, and the lack of consistent and robust law enforcement as pertains to women’s rights.

Women’s Economic Empowerment: Dependence and social constraints prevent Afghan

women from accessing economic opportunities and from gaining the skills necessary for the

workplace. Most professions cater to men, therefore leaving women unable to find employment

outside of the home and restrictring them to only traditionally and religiously accepted sectors.

Girl’s Education: The lack of women teachers and respect for girl’s access and right to

education is endemic throughout much of the country. The dropout rate remains high at every

transition from primary to tertiary.

Women in the Security Sector: Presently, there is an overwhelming underrepresentation of

women in the security sector due to negative perceptions of their roles and internal challenges

30

at work. The lack of adequate female representation within the security forces further prevents

women from accessing the formal justice sector.

Women’s Access to Health: Social constraints and cultural traditions prevent women from

accessing health services. Additionally, there is a lack of knowledge about the importance of

healthcare for women. The availability of female health professionals in the provinces also has

a detrimental effect on women’s access.

MoWA’s leadership role and strong coordination with ministries, external partners and the

public will broaden public awareness in all aspects of gender equality and women’s

advancement. It will also ensure the successful implementation of the communication activities, which

ultimately contribute to MoWA achieving its mandate and priorities.