No real peace ‘without women’
She was born in Afghanistan, a country ravaged by decades of war, famine and drought. Her name is Sharifa and she is just 8 years old. She is one of the millions of Afghans who had to flee their villages to escape famine and an all-out assault by US-led forces. She, like many others, found temporary shelter at a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan. There she attends classes, along with 700 other Afghan refugee children at a makeshift school built on the grounds of the refugee camp. Sitting on rugs and concrete floors, as the school lacks the essentials needed in order to operate, Sharifa still dreams about her future. At a time when most of her female classmates will either be given by their parents for marriage before they turn 14 or 15, or stay with their families to assist their mothers, Sharifa wants to be a doctor. «Doctor! I want to be a doctor and help other people,» she recently told a visiting team from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UN refugee agency reached an agreement yesterday in Athens with a Greek state agency, in launching a program to better serve and protect the basic rights of refugee women that reach Greek shores each year, and the dreams of refugee girls like Sharifa. The agreement, signed between the Athens office of the UNHCR and the General Secretariat for Equality (GSE), is the first of its kind reached by the UN refugee agency globally. «This is the first agreement that the UNHCR is going to sign with a country on gender issues of refugees,» Florinda Rojas Rodriguez, representative of the UNHCR in Greece, told a news conference held yesterday for the signing of the agreement. «Women and children refugees make up approximately 80 percent of the 21 million refugees worldwide. In Greece, it is estimated that there are 3,000 women refugees.» According to the UNHCR official, the majority of the refugee women in Greece come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran, Sierra Leone, Sudan and other countries from the African continent. «About 10 percent of refugees coming into Greece are women,» Effie Bekou, general secretary for equality, underlined during the news briefing. Bekou noted that the memorandum of cooperation resulted after genuine and close cooperation between the UNHCR and the GSE with the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Public Order and Health. Representatives of the ministries attended the news briefing and signing ceremony, demonstrating their determination to forge close cooperation in order to reach the goals provide in the agreement. «The cooperation of all these ministries is essential,» Bekou remarked, stressing that their synergy will be central to the implementation of the program, while underscoring the important role that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) played in the drafting of the agreement. Advanced protection Under the memorandum that was signed yesterday, the UNHCR and the GSE will commonly promote the rights of women and girls who have been granted asylum, are seeking asylum, or have been granted humanitarian status in Greece in accordance with the 1951 Geneva Convention. Specifically, the memorandum provides that the UNHCR inform the GSE of all cases of refugee women upon their arrival in the country, and to ensure that they receive assistance, especially the most vulnerable ones. Moreover, the UN refugee agency will: Apprise the Regional Committees of Equality of cases of refugee women who are being detained by Greek authorities in order to ensure that the conditions of their detention meet appropriate standards; visit, jointly with the GSE, facilities where refugee women are usually detained and submit written recommendations to the ministries of Public Order and Justice for their improvement; visit reception centers that are run or administered by the Greek government or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and assess the situation of all female refugees; facilitate cooperation between the GSE and NGOs implementing social inclusion and vocational training projects and tailoring them to female refugees; and examine, with the GSE and the ministries of Public Order and Interior, the legislation’s provisions designed to protect female victims of trafficking. «Refugee women and girls often fall victim to sexual abuse, torture and social exclusion,» Rojas declared in her speech, stressing that they are in need of special protection. According to Rojas, most of the predicaments faced by refugee women occur during their efforts to gain access to the asylum process, to successfully present their case and have their claims for asylum approved, and to be released from detention. Upon gaining asylum status, they face a number of problems before being integrated into the society of the host country, including the need to learn the local language, overcome cultural and social barriers, locate a job, and find decent shelter that will provide them with security and dignity. «The situation in Afghanistan today is an example of the fact that without the active participation of women, societies are plagued by instability and wars,» Rojas declared. «There can be no peace without women.»
