Afghan university sees first graduates in women´s studies

KABUL: Afghanistan´s first graduates in women´s studies donned caps and gowns on Sunday to collect their unusual qualifications in the patriarchal country. 

Kabul University is the country´s first higher education institute to offer a degree focused on gender and women´s issues, according to the United Nations Development Programme and university officials. 

Feminist theories, media, civil society and conflict resolution were among the largely women-focused topics covered in the two-year Master´s course, funded by South Korea and run by the UNDP.

Offering such a degree would have been unthinkable during the Taliban´s repressive 1996-2001 Islamist regime, when female issues were taboo and women were largely confined to their homes and banned from education.

While protection of women´s rights has improved since a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban, they remain second-class citizens in the male-dominated country.

Among the 22 graduates were seven men, including Mujtaba Arefi. 

"This is the beginning of a change," Arefi told AFP as he waited to receive his certificate.

"With these programmes we can understand the women´s place and status in our society. There is the possibility that we will reach a level of gender equality like the West."

Another graduate, Sajia Sediqqi, said she hoped her classmates would use their degrees to improve the situation of women in Afghanistan. 

"In a short period of time we cannot bring about any dramatic change, but with our higher education we can help change our society and serve our people, particularly our women."