Page 19 - Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security

Leading drivers of insecurity
Respondents name a number of sources of insecurity, including terrorism and ongoing
armed conlict, weak governance and rule of
law, a lack of human rights, unemployment, limited development, old traditions and patronage systems, illiteracy, and ethnic discrimination. These issues cut across all ethnicities, communities and provinces and represent common and shared fears and threats amongst men and women.
Physical insecurity:
foreign troops and acts of violence
Physical insecurity continues to be a common
issue for most people in Afghanistan and those interviewed. However, the sources of insecurity vary considerably among different regional groups. As described below, the Taliban insurgency, international troops, private security personnel and warlords are some of the actors identiied as posing a threat to physical security. Interviewees emphasise that while the Taliban are an obvious security threat, the presence of NATO forces on the streets also causes much anxiety. They say altercations between NATO and the Taliban almost always
lead to civilian deaths and NATO forces sometimes target local civilians.
“Foreign troops and
a weak government add to my insecurity.”
Physical insecurity is deemed a bigger threat
by those living in rural areas than in urban
centres, because military operations against the insurgency are active in rural Afghanistan, such
as in the southern provinces. Seddiq Ahmad, a 25-year-old resident of Kandahar province, says, “Foreign troops and a weak government add to my insecurity. The presence of international troops on our roads poses a security problem for them and all of us. I always feel scared when I see troops
roaming the streets because I feel that they will be attacked at any moment and anyone around them will get hurt.”
Suicide attacks are a common a source of physical insecurity in the urban areas. Zohal, a 25-year-old female student from Kabul, says, “The Taliban and suicide attacks make me feel very insecure. These issues I think are caused by bad governance and police. The Taliban disrupt peace and security, and this disturbs everyone in their daily lives, especially young girls as it prevents them from moving around freely and living their lives free from fear. What makes suicide attacks the most serious threat to my sense of insecurity is that it can happen anywhere, at any time and is very dificult to predict.”
governance failures
The majority of interviewees point to a lack of good governance as a primary source of insecurity. Unaccountable political leadership, rampant corruption, injustice, lack of freedom of speech
or access to fundamental rights all contribute to
a sense of political insecurity. Irshad, a 32-year-
old ethnic Pashtun working as a shopkeeper
in Kabul, says, “The current government is the most important driver of my insecurity because
it is supposed to be responsible for our safety
and security. But instead it’s just a collection of warlords, and this makes me feel unsafe as I fear this country will go back to old times again.”
Mizra Ahmad, an ethnic Tajik in Kabul, comments on the lack of political will to provide human security, “Traditions and culture in Afghanistan and promotion of warlords have created a government that does not care for its people. I don’t feel secure myself. If there is no international support, this country is going to fall down after they leave. I think these issues are concerns for everyone but especially for those who live in the provinces.”
Dr. Wadir Sai is a Pashtun who works as the vice president of the Afghanistan Justice Organisation and as a senior professor at Kabul University. In his view, “Illiteracy, ethnic divisiveness, lack of good governance, and injustice are issues that contribute to my insecurity and that of the entire country. These issues originate from long standing economic, political and structural issues which
in the past, and even now, do not provide locals with the space needed to shape their own socio-
19