Women in government: the limits and challenges of a representative bureaucracy for Afghanistan (2001–2021)

ABSTRACT This article analyses the limits and challenges of positive discrimination policies in the Afghan government (2001–2021). One of the primary objectives of the international community after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 was to bring Afghan women back into public service. The government adopted international and national policy frameworks in this direction, notably positive discrimination policies such as quotas. It set an objective of 30% female participation in civil service by 2020. To analyze these policies’ effectiveness and identify the challenges faced, we analyzed official documents setting the stage for a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews with female civil servants and women’s rights activists. The study shows that the Afghan government failed to meet its objective. This was due to both institutional and non-institutional factors. These factors included the pervasiveness of sexual violence, discrimination, and corruption, and the impact of a traditional and patriarchal culture. These findings contribute to a better understanding of past policies. The article has important lessons for the study of mechanisms to promote women in government more widely.


Introduction
Representative bureaucracy is of core interest to practitioners and scholars of public administration (Andrews et al. 2005).It is rooted in the idea that the characteristics of the bureaucracy in general, and of bureaucrats in particular, can influence the nature, scope, and implementation of public policies (Smith and Monaghan 2013).A more equal representation of the different components of society contributes to legitimacy, accountability, responsiveness, and overall trust in governmental institutions (Schroeter 2018).
Positive discrimination policies have addressed institutional representation imbalances, including gender, in numerous western democratic institutions (Lee 2015).This article analyses the limits and challenges of implementing such measures for women in the Afghan public sector .In a traditional, economically underdeveloped, and systematically unstable country like Afghanistan, the challenges and limits to enacting these policies are likely to be quite different from those more broadly analyzed in stable, developed, and more egalitarian Western countries.There is a lack of research on this issue and in this context, a gap that this article aims to address.We address it through a documentary evaluation of initiatives and decisions taken by Afghan authorities and a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews with women working in Afghan civil service.
The analysis was conducted before the return to power of the Taliban in August 2021.The situation of women has changed dramatically since then.The international community has left, and most if not all women working in government were fired, many of them having to leave the country.The pre-August 2021 situation analyzed here nevertheless provides insights and lessons to confront the new reality and prepare for a stronger, more solid return to an open system in Afghanistan and it has wider lessons as a case study to illustrate the challenges involved in promoting women in government more widely.
In 1996, the Taliban, a more radical militant Islamist group, took power.They showed little interest or aptitude for governing aside from enforcing their strict, uncompromising vision of Islam (Waldman 2010).Under the Taliban, Afghan women were marginalized from all aspects of life.The Taliban believe that a woman's face is a source of corruption for men unrelated to them (Middleton 2001).The Taliban did not allow women to go to school or to work.Their participation in the government was almost non-existent (Cameron and Kamminga 2014).The Taliban regime collapsed in 2001 following the post-9/11 intervention by the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops.
The international intervention opened a new chapter for Afghan women (Ahmed-Ghosh 2003;Nawabi 2003).Under pressure from the international community, the newly established government of Hamid Karzai agreed to work on women's rights (Esser 2013;Jureńczyk 2019).The international community put pressure on the government to officially commit to women's rights (Junussova et al. 2021).
The United States provided approximately $1.5 billion to improve Afghan women's quality of life.This included promoting rights, providing scholarships, and developing capacity-building projects; for example, "Promote", aimed at ensuring a proper representation and providing jobs within the public sector for women (Jureńczyk 2019).
International aid helped expand public services, increased women's employment in public services, and helped develop public institutions.But, the nature of the international intervention, the fragmentation of aid, and the high level of corruption contributed to the ineffectiveness of state-building in Afghanistan (Bizhan 2018).
After 2001, the Afghan government deployed various policies and ratified several international agreements (Nijat and Murtazashvili 2015).These policies targeted diverse objectives linked to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).They were subsequently integrated with the newer Agenda 2030 of the United Nations and the Sustainable Development Goals (see Table A1).One of the various objectives was to ensure at least 30% of women participation in elected and appointed governmental bodies at all levels of government by 2013 (Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 2007).To fight against discrimination, the government ratified the "United Nations (1979) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women" in 2003.
Another fundamental step was taken in 2004 with the inclusion of Article 22 in the Constitution " … any kind of discrimination and distinction between citizens of Afghanistan shall be forbidden.The citizens of Afghanistan, man, and woman have equal rights and duties before the law" (Norris, 2015 ).According to Article 83, 27% of total seats in the Lower House (Wolesi Jirga) were reserved for women, comprising at least two women for each of the 34 provinces of the country.The electoral law recognized at least 25% of the seats in each Provincial, District, and Village Council for female candidates (Article 58(2), 61(2), 64( 2)) (Khan, Zyck, and Nijssen 2012).
Later, in 2008, the government introduced a gender policy named "National Policy on Gender Mainstreaming" aimed to ensure the actual participation and leadership of women in different government institutions, especially the civil service (Wordsworth 2008).This policy included "5 extra points" that were awarded to women during the recruitment process to qualify more female applicants to positions in the civil service sector.It also paved the way for capacity-building programmes (Larson 2016).The policy also stated that each ministry and independent department should have at least 30% of women on staff by 2020 (Larson 2016).In 2009 the "Law on Elimination of Violence against Women" was approved by the Council of Ministers (Ministry of Justice 2009), but it did not pass the Parliament (Jureńczyk 2019).
The concept of positive discrimination first appeared in the "National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (2008-2018)", and the "Afghanistan National Development Strategy ( 2008)" (Cameron and Kamminga 2014).Both aimed at reaching the 30% objective.Following that, another initiative of the government was the "Policy on Increasing Women's Participation in Civil Service" (2018) which also emphasized implementing positive discrimination.It aimed at a 2% annual increase in female civil servants.However, studies understanding their mechanisms, impact, and pitfalls are still lacking despite the relatively large number of initiatives.

Research questions
This article addresses three main questions: 1. What was the impact of positive discrimination policies on the integration of Afghan women into the public sector?
2. What specific barriers emerged in the deployment of these initiatives?3. What could be done in the future to increase the effectiveness of positive discrimination action in Afghanistan?
To address the above three questions, we first present a literature review on the topic, defining positive discrimination policies and presenting examples from Europe and the Global South, notably underlining cases in the Islamic world.In addition, we offer a short presentation of Afghan women's status throughout history, their participation in civil service, and the challenges they have faced.

Literature review
While the concept has existed since the late 1900s, the term "positive discrimination" was first introduced by President John F. Kennedy's Executive Order 10925 in 1961 (Lederer 2013).This Executive Order prohibited discrimination in federal employment and aimed to increase minorities' engagement in government contracting (Lederer 2013). In 1965-1971, the concept further developed in the United States to include preferential hiring for historically disadvantaged groups (Jacobson 1983).
The aim of positive discrimination policies is the promotion of social equity (Busby 2016).These policies aim to help those facing discrimination fulfil their potential (Deane 2017) and institutions to become more responsive and sensitive in their regard.But, these policies require a political, managerial, economic, and pragmatic commitment to these fight against discrimination (Dupont-morales et al. 2016).The policies are one of the main tools to achieve a more representative bureaucracy.

Positive discrimination and its application in different countries
Positive discrimination programmes operate at two levels: (a) promoting the education of disadvantaged groups for occupations that were not traditionally available to them (e.g.outreach or support programmes; allocation and reallocation of resources), and (b) creating quotas and forcing employers to hire disadvantaged groups (e.g.preferential treatment; targeted recruitment, hiring and promotion) (Burt 2005;Crosby, Iyer, and Sincharoen 2006;Stahl and Burgess 2012).
The definition and implementation of positive discrimination policies vary according to cultural, social, and political contexts (Edwards 1988).Different countries, institutions, and organizations also use other terms.Whereas countries such as Brazil, Namibia, Northern Ireland, the United States, and South Africa use the word "affirmative action", Australia uses the "equal employment opportunity", Canada uses "employment equity", the United Kingdom uses "positive action", India uses "positive discrimination and reservation".Sri Lanka uses "standardization" (Lederer 2013).
Positive discrimination is considered one of the main tools to combat discrimination based on race, gender, or ethnic origin (Fleming and Girma 2021).In India, positive discrimination has been applied on a vast scale favouring low-income groups (Abrha 2017) in education and employment.In Greece, the implementation of positive discrimination policies has helped the low socio-economic levels pupils boost their educational results (Zachos and Patsikouridi 2020) by implementing the "Educational Priority Zones" model, including positive actions (reception classes, tutoring departments, reinforcement teaching).In Iceland and Switzerland, positive discrimination is used in the pre-selection stage for employment as public institutions encourage underrepresented groups to apply for the advertised posts (McCrudden 2019).In the Netherlands, there are various training programmes directed at women (e.g. in leadership and career guidance) (McCrudden 2019).In Spain, Law 3/2007 establishes preferences for access to training for people who rejoin a job in the government after maternity, paternity, or parental leave (McCrudden 2019).In Germany, gender quotas covered by the federal and state equality statutes are applied not only in the case of recruitment and promotion but also in deciding on the allocation of traineeships (McCrudden 2019).In Norway, "special training" programmes (trainee positions) are temporary positions earmarked for certain underrepresented groups in that field (McCrudden 2019).

Positive discrimination and women's participation in civil service
Representative bureaucracy and positive discrimination are conceptually linked (Daley 1984).Positive discrimination functions as a foster tool to address the underrepresentation of women in civil service (Ruiz and Rubio-Marín 2008).For instance, positive discrimination in government is seen as essential for the equitable distribution of job opportunities and a symbol of a nation's commitment to end biases (Deane 2017).There has been numerous development at the international level fostering greater women participation in civil service.But, considerable barriers remain, notably in a country with low economic growth and more traditional cultural practices such as Afghanistan.While numerous studies look at the "Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development" (OECD) countries, examples from the global south are more relevant in this case.
For example, in Ghana, a study found that psychological intimidation, sexual harassment, and social-cultural discrimination are realities for women in politics and public service, which contributes to a narrative that women are less capable than their male colleagues (Bawa and Sanyare 2013).In Rwanda women in politics experience a variety of risks, including tensions with male relatives, marital problems, and an increased workload (Bauer and Burnet 2013).A study in Bangladesh shows that although the government has included positive discrimination in laws and policies, implementation has been weak and ineffective because the government is not committed to the meaningful implementation of quotas (Ferdous 2014).Another study in Nepal highlights that following the reservation policy, women`s entry into the civil service of Nepal increased from 11% in 2008 to 20% in 2017 (Khadka and Sunam 2017).In Kenya, the implementation of a positive discrimination policy in the public sector positively has impacted the quality of service delivery (Kilonzo and Ikamari 2015).
Some Islamic countries have also enacted positive discrimination policies.Jordan implemented reserved seats for women in parliaments at the national (2003) and municipal levels (2007) (Al Shalabi and Al-Assad 2012).The quota system has helped rural women in remote areas run for elections for the first time and gain political experience.Jordanian women's representation in the House of Representatives and the Senate increased to 15.4% in 2015 (Inter-Parliamentary Union 2015).In the civil service, women account for approximately 50% of employees (Hawamdeh and Al-Qteishat 2020).Following the 2017 elections, women in Jordan have filled an unprecedented share of municipal and governorship seats (28.8%) (Haase et al. 2017).
The literature shows that implementing positive discrimination policies can help minority groups obtain jobs in government agencies and better overall representation.In the case of Afghanistan, positive discrimination is mentioned in different policies, for instance, the "Policy on Increasing Women's Participation in Civil Service (2018)".

A challenging environment for Afghan women
Violence against Women (VAW) has been recognized as a crucial and ongoing problem in many countries (Altan Arslan, Kara, and Duranay 2022).In the international arena, gender equality, empowerment, and the elimination of violence against women have been claimed to be the bases for development (Altan Arslan, Kara, and Duranay 2022).The "Beijing Platform for Action Plan of 1995" urged action to prevent and eliminate VAW, by implementing mechanisms including legal reforms and data collection as it positioned combating VAW as a sustainable development target (Altan Arslan, Kara, and Duranay 2022).
According to the "Women, Peace and Security Index" (2021), Afghanistan is the most repressive society and, for women, the "largest prison" in the world (Rica 2021).In 2013, "Afghanistan's Gender Profile" stated that 80% of Afghan women are illiterate and only one in three girls go to school, and four out of five women are victims of domestic violence (Report 2013).Afghanistan ranks lowest in "South Asia's Gender Development Index (2010-2015)" (UNDP 2019).It does not fare better in the "Development Index (2015)" being ranked 171st out of 182 countries.Afghanistan also had the highest gender inequality index at 0.63, ranked 152nd in 2018 (The Institute for Economics and Peace 2018).
Violence against Women has been one of Afghanistan's most serious human rights challenge.It appears in various forms (see Table 1).In 2016, the Ministry of Women's Affairs of Afghanistan recorded 2,743 cases of VAW (Hakimi 2020).In the first ten months of 2020 alone, "Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission" recorded a total of 1241 cases of physical VAW, a total of 130 cases of sexual violence (Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission 2020).It is important to note that these numbers are probably marred by under-reporting and poor data management.

Afghan women's participation in civil service
Women's participation in the civil service sector is one of the most important indicators of women's access to political and decision-making positions (UNDP 2021).
In Afghanistan, the reign of King Zahir Shah  is recognized as a golden period for women, especially for their participation in the government (Nemat 2011).The Constitution codified several governmental reforms, including granting women the ability to vote and serve in government (Nemat 2011).Women did work in strategic positions: Najiba Popalzai (Minister of Labor), Shegufa Sherzai (Representative of the Northern Rug Cartel), Storai Zadran (Minister of Interior Affairs), Laleh Rahmanzai (Fruit Magnate), Dornaaz Jalbani (Minister of Urban Development and Housing), and Jamila Karzai (Leader of the Afghanistan Women's Council) (Nemat 2011).
In 2003, with the establishment of the "Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission", the international community tried to bring women back, especially in public service (Jureńczyk 2019).With the international community's full support, the Afghan government adopted the "Afghanistan National Development Strategy (2006Strategy ( -2007))".In addition, in 2010, the "Independent Administration Reform and Civil Service Commission" of Afghanistan, along with the "National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan", agreed to work on a formal mechanism for promoting gender equality in the civil service (Hashimi and Lauth 2016).The main goal was to improve and maintain gender awareness and a favourable environment for promoting women in the civil service to maximize gender equality (Junussova and Hashim 2019).Since then, there have been improvements, but the social atmosphere regarding women's employment remains plagued with challenges (Nehan and Cox 2022).As part of the "National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan", the government expected that implementing the following gender enhancement mechanisms should be achieved in the medium term including (1) the civil service will be composed of a higher percentage of women at different levels -(at least 30% of all civil servants will be women); (2) committees or institutions established by law, regulation or procedure shall have a higher percentage of women, (3) special gender units to be established in all ministries/agencies with significant progress towards gender parity in the government, and (4) reaching gender equality on working conditions, salary, and opportunities for advancement will be achieved (Tokhi 2012).
Additional legal and managerial tools for guaranteeing gender equality in Afghanistan are (a) CEDAWthe 1980 "Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women".However, the conflicts did not allow for the ratification before 2003 (UN & Government of Liberia 2014); (b) NAPWAin 2008, the government adopted the "National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan" as the primary instrument for fulfilling its commitments on women's empowerment and gender equality; and (c) EVAWthe 2009 "Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women" was signed by the president.This landmark law criminalized 22 acts of violence against women and harmful practices, including child marriage, forcing or prohibiting marriage, forced self-immolation, rape, and beatings for the first time in Afghanistan however, this law did not pass parliament, which raised concerns internationally (Ministry of Justice 2009).

Methods
This article integrates a documentary analysis and in-depth semi-structured interviews to address the three questions mentioned in section (1.2).
The documentary analysis focuses on official Afghan and international documents targeted at women's inclusion in the public sector.The documents were identified through a purposive sampling of the key documents on the theme as identified by larger international reports and by experts on the theme consulted by the authors.Afghanistan National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (2008Afghanistan ( -2018)), Afghanistan National Development Strategy (2008Strategy ( -2013)), National Policy on Gender Mainstreaming (2008), Afghanistan Gender Equality Report (2014), and Policy on Increasing Women's Participation in Civil Service (2018), and.Some related reports and surveys from the "SIGAR" (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) and the "Asia Foundation" were also analyzed.The documentary analysis process was followed by data reduction, data display/presentation, and conclusion drawing/verification (Miles and Huberman 1984).Through a documentary analysis, we looked for the interpretation of positive discrimination measures and their mechanisms for implementation.The analysis of these documents aims to identify the main issues concerning Afghan women's participation in civil service to be further investigated during the interviews.
The documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews are complementary.We carried out the documentary analysis to obtain an accurate and clear understanding of positive discrimination measures.These documents also provided us with the priorities and conclusions reached by both policymakers and funders on the topic analyzed.To test and further explore the results of the documentary analysis, we then conducted semistructured interviews.
The interviews aimed to understand the effectiveness, main barriers, and possible future steps related to the positive discrimination policies evaluated in the documentary analysis.Some 25 women were identified; 20 civil servants and five rights activists.All informants were selected in a snowballing method.Interviewees are from three different provinces (Kabul, Herat & Kunduz) and represent various sectors of activity.They also represent different administrative levels, from fifth grade as the lowest to first grade and out of grade as the highest (see Table A2).Note that these women are no longer in employment, most having left Afghanistan since August 2021.
The recruiting of participants for this study was a challenge.Several factors limited the willingness and capacity of women to take part.This included fear for their security; many potential interviewees refused to participate.A sampling approach would have provided more candidates and ensured greater representativeness.But, the reality of Afghanistan made this impossible.It has always been challenging to do research in the country, especially on sensitive topics such as the role of women.This is a reality that partly explains the lack of research on the subject.Nevertheless, these interviewees provided a general picture of Afghan female civil servants and provided credible and solid information to address the different research questions.
The interviewees answered questions in Persian.Interviews were subsequently translated into English.The interviews were held from January-March 2021 through Zoom, WhatsApp, and Skype.The interviews were conducted individually, and consent forms were presented in Persian and English, explaining the purpose of the study and guaranteeing anonymity.We used an inductive approach to analyze interview data.After translating the interviews, we coded the various fragments.We then drew connections between codes into different categories.After analyzing the primary data, we used the triangulation technique (Miles and Huberman 1984) to enhance the validity and credibility of our findings both from the documentary analysis and interviews.

Research findings
The findings are presented in two distinct sections.The first addresses the documentary analysis and evolution of metrics on the situation of women in Afghanistan, and the second is the results of the 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews with civil servants and women's rights activists.

Documentary analysis
The first step was to identify the structure of positive discrimination policies and the various barriers to their implementation as identified in the official documents outlined in section 2.4.The documentary analysis shows that the "Ministry of Women's Affairs" which was established in 2001, had the responsibility to monitor policies, laws, and other commitments related to the participation and rights of Afghan women, particularly monitoring the implementation of positive discrimination measures (Mahmood 2012).
The documentary analysis reveals that as part of the positive discrimination measures, stated that women should be informed of vacant positions in the government, awareness workshops about the exams should be organized in the governmental and private universities, extra points should be de facto awarded to female candidates, recruitment committees should be inclusive with women in key roles, women's career development centres should be established, the space of examination should be familiar and female-friendly, and protection facilities should be provided for female civil servants at the workplace (Barai 2019).However, the results show that the target of 30% was not achieved, and the last initiative of the government the "Policy on Increasing Women's Participation in Civil Service (2018)" failed to implement one of its main goals aimed at a 2% annual increase in female civil servants.
The documentary analysis also highlights that positive discrimination measures have only existed as sub-sections in other policies on women's rights in the country.It means, since 2001, there has not been a specific and official policy called the "Positive Discrimination Policy" to be implemented by the government.Other key findings coming from the documentary analysis indicate that the positive discrimination measures, targets, evaluation and monitoring mechanisms, and the deadlines for the implementation were not explained clearly in the policy documents such as the "National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (2008-2018)".
The documentary analysis shows that the implementation of positive discrimination measures and the "National Gender/Quota Law" brought positive changes in women's representation in government agencies (from almost 0% during the Taliban regime (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001) to 28% in civil service in 2020, also 27% of women's representation was ensured in the Parliament).Still, violence against female employees exists, and most of these women are at risk (Farooqi 2018).For example, conducting field research in five cities of Afghanistan, the International Crisis Group ( 2013), an international non-profit organization, found that although the "National Gender Quota Law" has increased women's formal participation, they face threats, attacks, and insults from male legislators, and there is widespread impunity for violence against women (International Crisis Group 2017).
Besides, the documentary analysis indicates that the structures of positive discrimination measures for implementation followed a "top-down" and "outside-in" approach (Nijat 2014).An approach more appropriate for a western developed country than for Afghanistan.In fact, since 2001, most Afghan government policies including policies on women's rights were designed and made by the international allies, especially the United States (Hashimi and Lauth 2016).This issue has raised concerns in society and among Afghan women that these policies were more imported ones rather than to be localized and reflect the realities of Afghan society (Farooqi 2018).Additionally, the documentary analysis indicates that Afghan female civil servants even those who worked in leadership positions were not directly engaged during the policymaking process including the positive discrimination policies.
The documentary analysis shows that Afghan women who wished to pursue working careers are often faced with abuse and oppression (Farooqi 2018).For instance, women who are in the workplace often face sexual harassment, lack of opportunities to advance, as well as institutionalized discrimination.For example, not allowing women to have paid maternity leave and other types of benefits that can help them advance in their careers (Farooqi 2018).In addition, the documentary analysis shows that once women are in elected office via quotas (5 extra points), it remains unclear what substantive changes and impact they can really bring.Traditional barriers, security challenges, limited education and investment in capacity development, and insufficient policy support are the major challenges faced by gender equality in the civil service of Afghanistan (Tokhi 2012).
The documentary analysis results also highlight that although the participation of female civil servants increased during different years, the government failed to achieve the 30% target by 2020, and significant gaps exist in various government agencies.For example, the data provided by the "Independent Administrative Reform Civil Service Commission of Afghanistan" show that the average percentage of women's participation in the civil service sector was 22.2% in 2014, which increased to 27.5% in 2019 and 28% by 2020.In addition, among the 56 ministries and independent departments, only 4 met the target of 30% women's participation (see Table 2).The low participation rate of women in the ministries and independent departments was below 5% (see Table 3).The same data source also indicates that only about 11% of Afghan women were in decision-making positions (see Table 4).It is noted that it was one of the international community's primary goals to bring more women into decision-making positions.
Findings of the documentary analysis indicate that (1) the target of 30% of women`s representation in civil service by 2020, the stated objective of the government, was not achieved; (2) the positive discrimination measures were mostly mentioned as a subsection in other broader government policies including the "National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (2008-2018)"; (3) the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for implementing positive discrimination measures were not explained clearly in the policy documentsmostly in the "National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (2008-2018)", and the "Policy on Increasing Women's Participation in Civil Service (2018)"; (4) the structure of positive discrimination measures for implementation followed a "top-down" and "outside-in" approach in most of the policy documents; and (5) the establishing of the "Gender Units" in each ministry, which was requested by the "Ministry of Women's Affairs" to monitor equal treatment in recruitment process, was not implemented in each ministry and remained politicized (UN & Government of Liberia 2014).
The documentary analysis results show that there are gaps in gender representation across different government institutions.There are several factors confronting female civil servants' equal participation (see Table 5).These results, and the situation they paint, raise additional questions as to the dynamics at play.We elected to use interviews as a way to further investigate the situation.
Reviewing the policy documents on Afghan women's situation, particularly increasing their representation in the civil service sector led us to Table 5, which identified some of  the general barriers confronting Afghan women's representation in government.Table 5 shows that Afghan women in general and female civil servants, in particular, have faced various challenges due to the existence of patriarchal mindsets, and traditions/cultural norms throughout history.

Interview results
The elements presented so far, from the general Afghan historical background to the situation of Afghan women and the establishment of positive discrimination policies, and the results of the documentary analysis, all serve as a basis for the in-depth semi-structured interviews.The interviewees' insights show that both the institutional and non-institutional factors, directly and indirectly, contributed to the ineffectiveness of positive discrimination measures put in place in Afghanistan (See Table 6).
The various elements and categories emerged from the different interviews and their coding.They reveal the glass walls and ceiling confronting women's advancement in government.The division between institutional and non-institutional aspects is significant.It identifies and structure the realities and nature of both government institutions and society regarding women's rights and equal participation.

Institutional factors
Institutional factors are all those elements mentioned by interviewees that are directly linked to the system's overall architecture or specific to institutions.They relate to the impact of system and organizations on women.
Lack of data, monitoring, and evaluation mechanisms -22 out of 25 interviewees stated that the lack of a transparent and systematic monitoring mechanism for reporting positive discrimination measures contributed to its ineffectiveness.Without knowing how  these policies evolved, it became impossible to bring any corrective actions.21 out of 25 interviewees believed that there had not been reliable statistics or serious research on women's situation.They insist that making policies on women's rights requires reliable surveys and statistics.They argued that most of the policies had been made based on assumptions regarding the data given that there has been a lack of access to parts of the country due to political instability.
Corruption -All the interviewees mentioned that corruption has existed in government institutions and international funding programmes.For instance, the United States in 2014 announced a $216 million investment in women's empowerment.However, at the end of 2018, only $89 million was invested in the programme (SIGAR 2018).The interviewees also declared that corruption also existed during the recruitment process in public service.There were cases where female civil servants were not benefiting from the approved "five quota scores" principle.
There is huge corruption during the recruitment process in Kunduz province.Some of the less qualified women are appointed, or most of the time, the men take the positions because they have political support and money.I was a witness that even the five quota score was not given to the female applicants during the recruitment process.
In the past, I participated in a Women's Affairs Ministry competition to get a position.I got the highest grade in the written test, but in the interview, because I did not have any political support, I failed to get the position.
Lack of guidelines for targets and deadlines -20 out of 25 interviewees claim that the government did not follow clear guidelines for deadlines.

POLICY STUDIES
I can claim that most Afghan women, especially female civil servants, are not informed of the government policies, guidelines, targets, and deadlines in favor of women.Therefore, it gives them a lack of sense of ownership and engagement with these policies.
Lack of determination -21 out of 25 argued that the implementation of positive discrimination measures was not a priority in most of the government's institutions beyond a source of additional funding.For instance, and as consequence, these interviewees stated that the participation of women in the civil service sector is not equal in the different provincesthey claimed that female servants' participation in Kabul (the capital) and Herat is estimated at approximately 30% (mainly in the Health and Education sectors), but this percentage decreases around 10% in Kunduz province and only 1% of female civil servants work in decision-making positions in this province.
… the government just accepted some international and national policy frameworks to convince the international community that the government has a commitment to gender equality, but the main aim was to receive more international funding.
Discrimination -20 out of 25 interviewees stated that historically Afghan women had faced discrimination.They argued that existing discrimination in government institutions took away many opportunities from female civil servants.
Unfortunately, female civil servants face discrimination in government agencies every day.For instance, in my office, it happened many times that there were domestic and international trips for my female colleagues and I.Still, officials decided to send men colleagues instead of us.I missed two important international trips because of being a female employee.
Sexual violence -All the interviewees declared that sexual violence (SV) is a reality in society and government institutions.21 out of 25 interviewees argued that sexual harassment in government institutions is present and has increased in recent years.They claimed that in some government institutions, female employees are asked to have sex to stay in the position or be promoted.From their point of view, the patriarchal and male-led leadership system in government agencies provided the space for SV against female civil servants and directly contributed to the ineffectiveness of positive discrimination measures.Women's rights activists interviewed believed that due to SV in government institutions, most families do not want their educated daughters to work for the government.They also mentioned that due to the traditional culture and lack of trust in institutions, most female civil servants facing sexual violence at work are not interested in following up on court cases or even sharing information with the provincial gender committees.For instance, all the interviewees from a given province underlined that cases of SV are present in almost all government agencies.This has led most women to leave their jobs.
One of the government officials in my previous job asked me for sexual favors, but I did not accept his request and directly shared the issue with my family.Since my parents knew some other government officials, this case was solved.At times I thought I would resign but, in the end, I stood up for myself and fought against it.Maybe all girls and women cannot fight, or their parents do not understand them.In these cases, they have two options: leave the job or accept a sexual request.
Insults -15 out of 20 female civil servants declared they had been both insulted and demeaned by other civil servants (male), especially by those in leadership positions.
Lack of trust in women -16 out of 25 interviewees stated there is a general lack of confidence in women's abilities.They declared that, in many instances, officials had not taken female civil servants' abilities, skills, capacities, and education seriously.There has always been the idea that women's participation should be mostly symbolic.
When I was recruited for the position, there was a negative view and little trust in my abilities in the office.But, in time, I showed that I have the ability and capacity to work right next to my male colleagues.Unfortunately, every male directorate in our office tries to have a small circle of people around himself.Women almost do not exist in this circle, our voices are not heard.The presence of women in our office is around 30%.
Patriarchal system -11 out of 20 female civil servants believed that a patriarchal system exists in most government agencies and this significantly contributes to the low percentage of female civil servants' participation.
When I became the deputy minister, the minister was a man.Critical topics were discussed in most of the meetings, but since the system was patriarchal, the men had already decided without considering my ideas.My ideas were more effective, but my voice was not heard because I was a minority and a woman.I witnessed that my female colleagues in the low positions faced challenges working with their male colleagues due to the patriarchal system.
Policy formulation issues -18 out of 25 interviewees believed that the formulation of most policies on women's rights was not based on Afghan women's actual status and demands.In addition, 20 out of 25 interviewees argued that positive discrimination action seems like a copy-pasted draft adopted from western countries and designed according to the western countries' realities, not Afghanistan's.To interviewees, the international logic and nature of these policies has led to them not being adopted.They stated that the adoption of western policies in a country like Afghanistan does not work because there are no similarities.They suggested the international partners of the Afghan government make and adopt policies based on the country's realities so that can be implemented effectively.
Unfortunately, the participation of Afghan women in making most of the policies and initiatives, including the positive discrimination, has been very limited and generally invisibleit is clear that these policies were mostly designed out of Afghanistan by western policy-makers.
Lack of a positive discrimination policy -22 out of 25 interviewees stated that positive discrimination measures only existed as sub-sections in other government policies.For them, there is a need for a specific policy that only focuses directly and exclusively on positive discrimination measures.
I think a five extra point is not enough for the female applicants during the civil service recruitment process because some women have a good educational background with zero working experience.This five quota is very humiliating and offensive for women.
… positive discrimination action must be changed to an individual policy as a long-term government plan for at least 5 or 10 years.
Lack of a safe and female friendly workplace -13 out of 20 female civil servants declared their workplace is not as safe and adapted for female civil servants to work comfortably with men.They also claimed that there are not enough kindergartens and nurseries in most government agencies to care for their children.In some cases, male officials do not allow the female civil servants to use their legal vacation during pregnancy.
Some of my male colleagues, especially those who work in leadership positions, comment on the clothes and makeup of female employees and interfere with their privacy.Sometimes this has led to illegitimate requests.It is tough to work in such a sexist atmosphere or when sexual poverty is rampant.
For the interviewees, the institutional factors presented above contributed to the ineffectiveness of positive discrimination.Afghanistan's governmental institutions follow a patriarchal system where women have to work "two times more than men" and show more effort to prove their abilities.At the same time, they must fight for their rights and against various discriminations and violence.Moreover, the interview results indicate that female civil servants have not been directly and actively engaged in the policy-making process to have their voices heard.As stated throughout the interviews, the Afghan government was not determined to implement positive discrimination policies and remove the challenges and barriers female civil servants faced in different government institutions.

Non-institutional factors
The interviewees also underlined non-institutional factors that contributed to the ineffectiveness of positive discrimination measures.By non-institutional factors we intend elements of an individual or societal nature that are not linked directly to the institutions where women work.
Security -All interviewees stated that the general lack of security prevented the government from implementing policies and programmes effectively.Interviewees working for the government declared that they do not feel safe on the way to work and returning home.In many cases, they were targeted by extremists.They believed that due to this lack of security, the government did not have access to implement its programmes in all parts of the country.
… besides the Taliban's attacks, the extreme ideology of other religious groups is also against female participation in the government, and it threatens our lives.
… when I leave home in the morning, I am not sure to be back home safe in the afternoon to see my husband and small daughter.
Awareness -A lack of understanding regarding positive discrimination policies and women's rights in society and government agencies hindered policy deployment.According to the interviewees (20 out of 25), this lack of awareness explains in part the fact that a large number of Afghan citizens, especially males, still believe that positive discrimination action goes against the traditional culture of the country.They blamed the government that did not promote positive discrimination policies and women's rights.They argued that this general societal lack of awareness sometimes led to institutional conflicts between male and female civil servants.
Unfortunately, positive discrimination action was not implemented effectively, and is due to a lack of awareness among the citizens, especially women.The government received millions of dollars for this but could not spend them transparently and effectively.
Lack of highly educated women-15 out of 25 interviewees declared that the government did not provide enough educational opportunities such as scholarships for Afghan women.They stated still there not enough well-educated women compared to men in society.
… still there are not enough professional women who can work in each government sector, or compete with the men in the recruitment processes.
Culture -Many interviewees (23 out of 25) stated that the traditional culture represent one of the biggest challenges for female civil servants' advancement and participation.Due to certain traditions, notably strict and rigidly enforced gendered roles in private and public life, equal participation of women in public service seems almost impossible.In addition, the majority of the interviewees (22 out of 25) declared that Afghanistan had been a traditional patriarchal society for most of its history.For them, this patriarchal mindset makes it impossible to have equal participation of women in government institutions.
… due to Afghan traditional culture, women working in the government agencies are called "Bad Women".This has affected families, leading them not to let their daughters and wives work outside the home.
Violence & harassmentall the interviewees believed that Afghan women face different and specific kinds of violence and harassment in society.They argued that violence and harassment cases have increased, thus hurting women's participation in government institutions.
For interviewees, female participation is low in the civil service sector of Afghanistan due to barriers such as a lack of effective government action, sexist attitudes (sometimes, but not always deriving from traditional practice), a corrupt and patronage-based political system, and violence against women.In addition, the majority of the interviewees believed that the lack of educated women in each province and existence of religious mindsets among the citizens also contributed to the low percentage of women in decision-making positions.The interviewees directly or indirectly blamed the government institutions and society for the low percentage of women's participation in civil service and the ineffectiveness of the positive discrimination measures implementation.

Discussion
Afghanistan is still a rural, patriarchal, traditional and religious society.Citizens identity is shaped by factors such as ethnicity, social privilege, financial wealth, or by one's authority position (Nijat and Murtazashvili 2015)."Afghan society is elitist at its core, populist in its aura, and misogynist in its heart, where women are secondary citizens, always one of four: someone's daughter, sister, wife or mother" (Nijat and Murtazashvili 2015).An overview of the past 40 years in Afghanistan and the various attempts are creating spaces for women in public institutions, has highlighted numerous challenges.From 2001 to 2021, the Afghan authorities signed and adopted several international and national agreements to ensure that more women integrate into public institutions.This developed partly due to the international community's push in this direction Anastasiya Hozyainova 2014).
Despite the international community's investments and efforts, it proved impossible to reach the goal of 30% female representation.A key element of the analysis is that the international community and the government have not fully taken into account the realities of Afghan society and of Afghan women in the policy development process.In a country that has faced invasion, civil war, and a challenging first Taliban regime (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001), the objectives set might have been completely unrealistic.At least in the short term.The documentary analysis and in-depth semi-structured interviews presented above have underlined the various barriers, institutional and non-institutional, that made this goal impossible.
The analysis results indicated that the representation of Afghan women is quite limited, and that government institutions are mostly male controlled and led.For interviewees, this is due to a society that is patriarchal, institutions being gender blind, and attention to women's issues driven by international presence.It is important to note that cut-and-paste policies do not work at all the time.In the case of Afghanistan, most of the policies on women's rights since 2001, have been designed based on the realities of a developed and wester country, not a developing and conflict zone where still patriarchal and traditional mindsets exist.One of the key concerns in the development and deployment of these policies is the "top-down" and "outside-in" nature of the reforms (Cheryl et al. 2008).The importing of western models, without the proper development of an appropriate and context-specific strategy, has been an important issue.
One crucial observation noted in this article is that women's lack of a sense of ownership and engagement has contributed to the ineffectiveness of positive discrimination measures.It is evident from this study that Afghan women, especially female civil servants, have not been engaged directly in any coherently worked-out schemes to ensure that positive discrimination measures were translated into a strategically sustainable progress for women.In this regard, women's role in actively participating in policy initiatives and relevant activities as far as positive discrimination and implementation are concerned is meager.Besides, the lack of clearly articulated policy objectives, mandates, strategies, and timeframe for achieving the stated goals has contributed to the ineffectiveness of positive discrimination measures.
The article also found that both government institutions and society more generally have limited knowledge and several misunderstandings on the concept of positive discrimination.As a result, positive discrimination continues to be viewed as a gift from the government to women rather than a way to rebalance institutions.This misunderstanding has also contributed to the significant lack of commitment to its effective implementation.
Additionally, the issue of gender equality has been discussed broadly in policy documents without referring to a specific definition and mechanism based on the realities of Afghan women's situation.For instance, there is not a clear policy that is action-oriented and result based.Moreover, core barriers identified by Afghan female civil servants in this study are rooted in traditional cultures, patriarchal and religious mindsets, and lack of literacy in society at large.One of the worst phenomena associated with these is violence, especially sexual violence.
The results also reveals that corruption and lack of determination in government institutions have made it hard to be optimistic about the equal participation of Afghan female civil servants.Afghan women are often employed in low-paid jobs and remain underrepresented in many occupations.There is little trust between the government and female civil servants.The findings show that female civil servants are not satisfied in terms of the policies implementation.According to them, positive discrimination is propaganda; it has no tangible, and practical effect.
These elements, lead to the identification of a number of key actions and considerations to move forward in this topic.A number of lessons have been learned and are central to any effective policy implementation in the future.Lessons for the future of Afghanistan, but also to better understand positive discrimination policies in similar traditional contexts across the Global South.
1.In Afghanistan, positive discrimination actions were introduced before preparing the necessary conditions on the ground in terms of awareness, attitudinal changes, and material conditions.These aspects are critical to any future strategy in Afghanistan and other countries with the same situation.2. Awareness-raising and sensibilization play an essential role in understanding positive discrimination policies' principles and thus ensuring their application.3. Implementation of policies in favour of women such as positive discrimination should be designed based on the realities of a developing country's situation not based on a developed and western country.In a country like Afghanistan where almost 60% of the population (above age 15) is illiterate and still a majority of citizens are not informed of women's rights, implementing a western model will fail because the society is not yet ready to accept it.An Afghan model needs to be developed.4. As mentioned by interviewees, in countries such as Afghanistan where patriarchal, traditional, and religious realities are still embedded in society and government institutions, some positions could simply be reserved, specifically and exclusively, for women.This action can provide a safe and friendly working environment for female civil servants and give them the chance to compete with other women during the recruitment process for specific positions.5. Women's lack of ownership and active participation during the policymaking process has contributed to the ineffectiveness of measures.It is recommended that female civil servants should be engaged directly in any coherently worked-out schemes to ensure that positive discrimination measures are translated into a strategically sustainable benefit for them.6.Government institutions, need to design monitoring, reporting, and evaluation arrangements aimed at assessing the implementation and compliance of the programmes.Such assessment will provide further insights into the progress made and the remaining barriers that need to be addressed to promote positive discrimination actions/policies.7. Limited knowledge and misunderstandings of the concept of positive discrimination both in government institutions and society contribute to the significant lack of commitment to its effective implementation.8.The research findings clarified that the effectiveness of positive discrimination measures depends on a commitment to involve all stakeholders.Commitment from all stakeholders must be gathered and solidified.9.There is a need for clearly articulated policy goals, mandates, strategies, and timeframe linked to the policy objectives.
10.A more pervasive approach to positive discrimination is needed in human resource management.The approach that should be deployed across all ministries and aim at developing more female-friendly spaces.

Conclusion
Positive discrimination is a contested yet crucial tool for a more equitable distribution of job opportunities and contribute to a more representative bureaucracy.A symbol of a nation's commitment to end discrimination.The limits and challenges of this particular approach, increasingly touted by international donors, has yet to be thoroughly analyzed in non-western contexts.With the analysis of Afghanistan, this article contributes to this growing literature.
The Afghan government (2001-2021) adopted positive discrimination policies to increase female participation in civil service with a 30% objective.It notably implemented a quota system.It did not manage to reach its goal across the country, with some ministries and some provinces faring better than others.
This article showed that a number of institutional and non-institutional barriers to positive discrimination proved critical.Violence against women, including sexual violence and discrimination, is still the biggest problem for Afghan women in government.To the interviewees, Afghan society is still not ready to accept such policies.To them, this is notably due to its traditional patriarchal cultures and low levels of education across the country.Many, especially but not exclusively men, consider that Islamic laws and traditions bar women from working outside the home.
Nevertheless, this mindset and the broader social realities have changed and evolved in the last 20 years.The effectiveness of implementing policies favouring and encouraging the presence of more females in public service needs to proceed incrementally and logically through the setting of efficient and transparent evaluation and monitoring mechanisms, fighting against corruption and patriarchal mindsets present in government institutions.To gain equal participation in civil service and implement policies such as positive discrimination, these barriers (institutional and non-institutional) need to be recognized and addressed by all stakeholders.As our article has shown, it was the case in the 2001-2021 period.
One of the most significant achievements of the international community since 2001 was to bring back women in the public space, notably in public service jobs.The policy experiment with positive discrimination in government has now closed.It is the responsibility of the international community to protect women's rights in Afghanistan and ensure that the achievements of the past 20 years can be preserved and in time reactivated.The elements outlined in this article should serve as a solid basis to make it, once again, possible for Afghan women to take their place in public service, in government, and in society as a whole.

Table 5 .
Factors and sub-factors affecting Afghan women's participation in civil service Lack of commitment to implement policies in favour of women/equal participation, lack of transparent evaluation mechanisms from policies, & lack of awareness of positive discrimination action Source: (Researchers 2021).

Table 6 .
Factors contributing to the ineffectiveness of positive discrimination measures.