Women's participation in the electoral process in Afghanistan is often marred by low literacy, cultural and social restrictions on their movements, and the lack of availability of candidate information.
Although they make up half their country's electorate, Afghan women's access to the electoral process remains dependent on a number of factors including voter education, qualified female staff at women-only polling booths, and female observer groups.
Through our support to The Asia Foundation, more than 13,000 home-bound women in Uruzgan and Baghlan provinces received training on electoral processes and the legal rights of women, and 225 women in 15 provinces have received election observer training as the country prepares for the 2014 presidential and 2015 parliamentary elections.
Australia has been providing support to the Afghan electoral process since the first presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2004. Australia's contribution has supported civic education and election monitoring, and voter registration campaigns, and strengthened the Independent Election Commission and the Electoral Complaints Commission.
For the 2010 Parliamentary election, Australian assistance contributed to increased public awareness of electoral processes, engaging civil society and media in election-related activities, strengthening the capacity of electoral institutions, and supporting an international election observer mission.