Radio Programming Inspires Afghan Women to Run for Office

Because, according to the May 1 2009 Independent Election Commission (IEC) report, no female candidates had registered for mid-2009 provincial council elections in Afghanistan's eight provinces, the radio programming service Salam Watandar produced a number of stories and interviews to highlight the lack of gender representation. In addition, and with the registration deadline just a week away, Salam Watandar, funded by Internews, created an outreach campaign focusing on potential female candidates in five key provinces. The message told women that it was their duty to run for provincial council. The Salam Watandar outreach campaign was funded by a grant from the United States Embassy. Internews’ projects in Afghanistan are funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

As a result, on May 9, the IEC announced that a total of 342 women had registered for 124 seats on provincial councils around the country. According to the article, "In addition to covering the role of women in the run-up to the presidential and provincial council elections scheduled for August 20, Salam Watandar has taken a lead in covering the historic vote in general. The elections will mark only the second time in Afghanistan’s history that citizens can vote directly for the president and provincial leaders. They are a matter of great concern not just for the IEC but also for the international community supporting Afghanistan’s democratic transition."