The society of Afghanistan is characterized by very strong gender segregation and restrictive rules, especially for women. Within this social context, the living conditions of Afghan women are particularly poor. The NRVA 2007/8 confirms that a consistent pattern of relative deprivation exists across almost all development sectors.

The NRVA findings show large gender gaps in the education sector. In Afghanistan literacy of women is less than one-third of that of men. On the other hand comparison of literacy across age groups shows an accelerating increase of female literacy, which strongly suggests recent improvements of the educational system. This is supported by the increase of girls' enrolment in primary education since the previous NRVA assessment. Especially in urban areas the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA) target of 70 percent enrolment of girls is within reach. While among children the gender gap is continuing to narrow, NRVA shows a total of 9.5 million adults still in need of basic reading and writing skills: 5.5 million of this total is female.

Afghan women are experiencing high fertility (around 6.3 children per woman), closely spaced births, early pregnancies and poor maternal health care in terms of antenatal and delivery care. In addition, the health system provides gender-specific barriers to women because of their restricted mobility and unresponsiveness by providing insufficient female health personnel. Despite the very low levels of maternal health care provision, the NRVA surveys suggest significant improvements in the last few years.

Also in terms of age at first marriage noticeable changes can be observed. Increasingly smaller proportions of women marry at young (before 18) and very young (before 15) ages, and the average age difference between wives and husbands has significantly declined. These changes are important with respect to pregnancy-related health risks and more gender balance in household decision making. An issue that is partly related to large spousal age gaps is the large number of widows in the country - over half a million. In the context of Afghanistan, these women, along with 70 thousand female heads of households, can be classified as especially vulnerable.

Women's position on the labour market is also particularly weak, among other things indicated by their continuous very low participation in economic activities. Many factors bear down upon women's quest for economic productivity, including restrictions to mobility, reproductive responsibilities, limited economic opportunities, and covert preference for males on the labour market. Only 47 percent of the working-age females are currently active on the labour market, compared to the very high 86 percent labour force participation rate of males. Women's participation is larger in the rural and Kuchi populations (respectively, 61 and 70 percent), due to female engagement in agricultural and pastoral activities. In urban areas, female labour force participation is a very low 21 percent. Overall, it can be stated that women participate less in economic activities, for fewer hours and predominantly in vulnerable employment.

Women are much less predisposed to migration, as men represent the large majority of migrants. This especially applies to international migration. Women tend to migrate relatively more from rural to rural areas, probably due to marriage rather than to employment. Overall, female migrants are more likely to be economically inactive. The data indicate persistent cultural restrictions to women's mobility and highlight the dearth of economic opportunities for women in the country.

The NRVA findings on decision making indicate that women's say in various matters depends on the specific area of decision making, but that it is generally limited or very limited. On specific family affairs, such as family planning, marriage, care of the elderly and education of the children, women tend to have relatively more influence through joint decision-making with others, but even here far more often their husbands decide alone. In financial matters - household spending or taking or paying off debt - decision-making is in the large majority of situations the exclusive domain of the husband or father of the women. Even for the relatively few women who generate income themselves, only 20 percent decide on spending freely on their own. In various decision domains, however, women's empowerment seems to increase with age.

Table 8 Primary female household member's report on the usual decision maker in selected choice situations (in percentages)

Usual decision maker

 Representation of women's voices in the community is also poor compared to that of men. In the Community Development Councils, the rate of direct women's representation is only 60 percent of that of men, and in the traditional Shuras it is only 35 percent. It can, therefore, be concluded that in both these primary institutions of the household and the community, equity in decision making is far from established.

The general conclusion should be that huge challenges remain with respect to women's mobility, participation in public life, decision making, health, and access to economic and educational opportunities. The most urgent needs are found among the rural and Kuchi populations, and in line with that, gender gaps are usually larger among these than in the urban population, with the notable exception of labour force participation and employment. But on the positive side, the NRVA suggests that significant improvements can be achieved in a relatively short time span, as in the case of the education and health sectors.