    [House Hearing, 113 Congress]
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       REPORT FROM SIGAR: CHALLENGES TO SECURING AFGHAN WOMEN'S GAINS IN
                            A POST-2014 ENVIRONMENT

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                        ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

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                                  HEARING HELD

                                OCTOBER 29, 2013

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                  SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS

                         MARTHA ROBY, Alabama, Chairman

    K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas            NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts
    MO BROOKS, Alabama                   ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey
    WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina      JACKIE SPEIER, California
    AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia                TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
    JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma
                 Christopher Bright, Professional Staff Member
                              Paul Lewis, Counsel
                              Arthur Milikh, Clerk

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                         CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS
                                      2013

                                                                       Page

    Hearing:

    Tuesday, October 29, 2013, Report from SIGAR: Challenges to
      Securing Afghan Women's Gains in a Post-2014 Environment.......     1

    Appendix:

    Tuesday, October 29, 2013........................................    27
                                  ----------

                           TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013
      REPORT FROM SIGAR: CHALLENGES TO SECURING AFGHAN WOMEN'S GAINS IN A
                             POST-2014 ENVIRONMENT
                  STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

    Roby, Hon. Martha, a Representative from Alabama, Chairman,
      Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations...................     1
    Tsongas, Hon. Niki, a Representative from Massachusetts, Ranking
      Member, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations...........     2

                                   WITNESSES

    Barsa, Michelle, Senior Manager for Policy, Inclusive Security
      Action.........................................................     5
    Katzman, Dr. Kenneth, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs,
      Congressional Research Service.................................     7
    Sopko, John F., Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
      Reconstruction, Office of the Special Inspector General for
      Afghanistan Reconstruction.....................................     3

                                    APPENDIX

    Prepared Statements:

        Barsa, Michelle..............................................    50
        Katzman, Dr. Kenneth.........................................    60
        Roby, Hon. Martha............................................    31
        Sopko, John F................................................    35
        Tsongas, Hon. Niki...........................................    33

    Documents Submitted for the Record:

        SIGAR ``Afghanistan Oversight Access'' maps..................    71

    Witness Responses to Questions Asked During the Hearing:

        [There were no Questions submitted during the hearing.]

    Questions Submitted by Members Post Hearing:

        Ms. Tsongas..................................................    77

      REPORT FROM SIGAR: CHALLENGES TO SECURING AFGHAN WOMEN'S GAINS IN A
                             POST-2014 ENVIRONMENT

                                  ----------

                      House of Representatives,
                           Committee on Armed Services,
                  Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations,
                             Washington, DC, Tuesday, October 29, 2013.
        The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:00 p.m., in
    room 2212, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Martha Roby
    (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

     OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARTHA ROBY, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
    ALABAMA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS

        Mrs. Roby. Welcome to this afternoon's oversight hearing.
    Before we begin, I would like to take a moment to note the
    passing of our former Chairman, Representative Ike Skelton.
    Although I have never served with Mr. Skelton, I know he
    represented the best of this committee and never forgot the
    importance of putting the needs of our men and women in uniform
    first. Our thoughts are with his family and his friends and his
    colleagues.
        Today we will convene a hearing with the Special Inspector
    General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and two outside experts.
    We will receive testimony on the challenges of ensuring the
    important security, educational, and economic gains that Afghan
    women have made in the recent years are not lost as the United
    States transitions its force posture in 2014.
        This subcommittee convened a related hearing in April. At
    that time we received testimony emphasizing that it is
    essential that Afghanistan develop a lasting and functioning
    government with capable police and military forces. A safe and
    secure Afghanistan is a necessary predicate to ensuring that
    all are protected, men and women.
        Members of this subcommittee are deeply committed to this
    topic. In May, I traveled to Afghanistan for the third time. It
    was my second CODEL [congressional delegation] that I led, and
    I was joined by Ms. Tsongas, Ms. Duckworth, and several others.
    And our agenda focused on not only visiting with our men and
    women in uniform to thank them for their service in theater,
    but also to focus on women's issues.
        We saw firsthand women and girls who were attending schools
    and universities, holding elected office, joining the military
    and police forces, and pursuing new opportunities previously
    denied to them. These are important gains that must not
    disappear once the U.S. reduces forces in Afghanistan, and we
    must closely monitor conditions during this critical
    transition.
        The safety and security of Afghan women remains an
    important barometer. You have heard me say it many times. It is
    a litmus test for the success of our efforts. Before
    proceeding, let me note that members of other subcommittees may
    intend to join us, and therefore I ask unanimous consent that
    non-subcommittee members be allowed to participate in today's
    hearing after all Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee
    members have had an opportunity to ask questions. Is there
    objection? Without objection, non-subcommittee members will be
    recognized at the appropriate time for 5 minutes.
        Now I turn to my distinguished Ranking Member for her
    introductory remarks.
        [The prepared statement of Mrs. Roby can be found in the
    Appendix on page 31.]

         STATEMENT OF HON. NIKI TSONGAS, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
     MASSACHUSETTS, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND
                             INVESTIGATIONS

        Ms. Tsongas. Thank you, Chairwoman Roby. I, too, also would
    like to acknowledge the passing of Chairman Skelton. I did have
    the good fortune to serve under him for a number of years, and
    I found him to be a remarkably decent and honorable man, always
    of great integrity. He served our country, his district, and
    this committee, I think, with great distinction and we are
    grateful for his service to our country, but we miss--we are
    sorry he passed away. I would also like to thank you,
    Chairwoman Roby, for working to arrange this hearing today. I
    believe, as do you, that this is a vital opportunity to build
    on the important and bipartisan discussions on those issues
    which our subcommittee--those issues which our subcommittee had
    a chance to visit in an April hearing on Afghan women in the
    ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces], and in our July closed
    briefing with Mr. Sopko.
        As you noted, our Mother's Day CODELs to Afghanistan--as a
    result of them, we have witnessed firsthand the significant
    gains that Afghan women have made over the past decade in areas
    such as health, governance, and education. Both of us saw what
    was at stake as our forces continue to draw down, and so I
    would also like to thank all of our witnesses for being here
    today, each with your own valuable perspective. I would also
    particularly like to thank you, Mr. Sopko, for the long-term
    commitment you have made to prioritize oversight over Afghan's
    women's issues. Your office faces an enormous array of
    challenges in Afghanistan, and is responsible, as we know, for
    monitoring every aspect of our reconstruction efforts under
    logistically frustrating circumstances.
        I was very encouraged by your recently announced
    comprehensive audit of our programs for Afghan women and girls
    due out early next year. And from the written testimonies of
    all our guests today, it is apparent that each of you is
    fundamentally in agreement that while there have been precious
    gains made for Afghan women and girls over the past decade,
    these gains are already threatened and will face significant
    challenges after the bulk of our armed forces have withdrawn at
    the end of 2014.
        Your testimony, Mr. Sopko, also notes the significant
    obstacles SIGAR [Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
    Reconstruction] and other Federal agencies will face in
    performing oversight on the ground, due to security challenges.
    As much as 80 percent of the country may simply be
    inaccessible. After 2014, not only may the gains which have
    been made for women be eroded in these areas, it is also likely
    that we may not even know the full extent of the setbacks.
        I also look forward to hearing from each of your thoughts
    on how we can improve recruiting and retention of Afghan women
    in the ANSF and Afghan national police. The issue is
    increasingly timely due to a number of second-order effects of
    low recruitment, such as the approaching presidential elections
    in April, and the inability of Afghan women wishing to cast
    ballots to do so, unless there are adequate women in uniform
    available to search them. The ANSF is not meeting its
    recruiting objectives, and the obstacles are varied and
    significant.
        So thank you all again for being here this afternoon, and I
    look forward to your testimony.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Tsongas can be found in the
    Appendix on page 33.]
        Mrs. Roby. Thank you, Ms. Tsongas. Our panel today includes
    Mr. John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
    Reconstruction; Ms. Michelle Barsa, senior manager for policy
    at Inclusive Security Action; and Dr. Kenneth Katzman, a
    specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional
    Research Service. Mr. Sopko, please begin.

       STATEMENT OF JOHN F. SOPKO, SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR
      AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION, OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INSPECTOR
                 GENERAL FOR AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION

        Mr. Sopko. Thank you, very much. Chairman Roby, Ranking
    Member Tsongas, members of the committee, it is a pleasure to
    be here today to discuss SIGAR's oversight work and the
    challenges facing Afghan women and girls. Since 2002, Congress
    has appropriated nearly $100 billion to rebuild Afghanistan,
    making it the most expensive effort to rebuild a single nation
    in U.S. history.
        Improving the lives of Afghan women and girls has been an
    integral component of that effort. From 2003 through 2010,
    Congress dedicated $630 million to address the needs of Afghan
    women and girls, and it appears this investment may have paid
    off. Over the last decade, Afghanistan has made significant
    progress in advancing the rights of Afghan women and girls,
    providing them with critical services and protecting them from
    violence.
        However, despite these initial gains, Afghan women still
    remain largely marginalized. The United Nations Gender
    Inequality Index puts Afghanistan near the bottom, ranking 175
    of 186. The United Nations also reports that 50 percent of all
    marriages that take place in Afghanistan are still child
    marriages.
        And while the goal is for the women to make up 10 percent
    of the Afghan National Army and Air Force, as you know, they
    currently make up .3 percent of those forces. And,
    unfortunately, the results for recruiting women into the Afghan
    National Police are equally abysmal, less than 1 percent.
        Due to interest from Congress, including members of this
    committee, SIGAR initiated the new audit referenced by Ranking
    Member Tsongas. We will try to identify the challenges and
    evaluate the U.S. efforts to confront them. SIGAR is also
    concerned about the impact of the coalition troop drawdown on
    our government's ability to oversee Afghan National Security
    Forces which, for the most part, will be solely responsible for
    preserving these hard-fought gains for Afghan women and girls
    after 2014.
        Now although it is difficult to predict the future U.S.
    presence in Afghanistan, it is likely that less than a quarter
    of the country, mostly the areas around the major cities, will
    be accessible to U.S. civilian personnel by the end of the
    transition, and a significant decrease from 2009.
        The maps which we are showing up on the TV illustrate that
    fact. They also clearly show the trend of a limited future
    oversight access after 2014. In the coming year, SIGAR will
    continue to focus attention on how the military drawdown, the
    decline in donor resources, and the transition to Afghan
    governance and responsibility for the ANSF will affect
    reconstruction and the rights of women and girls.
        [The maps referred to can be found in the Appendix
    beginning on page 71.]
        Mr. Sopko. Now in addition to our work on Afghan women and
    girls, SIGAR has a large body of work focused on the Afghan
    National Security Forces which is relevant to today's hearing.
    This quarter, SIGAR issued a number of new audits and
    inspections related to the ANSF. These reports underscore some
    key problems that SIGAR has identified before, including
    providing direct assistance to the Afghan government without
    fully assessing and or monitoring and or fixing financial
    management weaknesses; the lack of an ANSF basing plan that
    takes into account future ANSF numbers; ignoring the Afghan's
    inability to sustain programs and infrastructure; the absence
    of strong accountability measures over supplies provided to the
    ANSF; and the failure to consistently exercise strong contract
    oversight and management.
        In conclusion, the reconstruction effort is undergoing a
    massive transition. This includes a growing reliance on direct
    or on-budget assistance to the Afghan ministries. Now I just
    returned from Brussels where I met with officials of the
    European Union [EU] and NATO [North Atlantic Treaty
    Organization]. These meetings confirmed our concerns. As you
    may know, as it was recently reported, that NATO was planning
    to focus less on training of Afghan troops and more on
    overseeing how the funding will be spent, due to fears of
    corruption and misuse of NATO funds. I also learned that the
    European Union does not give direct bilateral assistance to
    specific Afghan ministries because of the risk of threat and
    abuse.
        This comports with concerns expressed to me by DFID
    [Department for International Development], the EU--I mean,
    excuse me, the U.K. aid agency early in the year.
        In addition, we were told in Brussels that the EU has
    serious misgivings that the Law and Order Trust Fund [for
    Afghanistan] or LOTFA, has inadequate controls to ensure
    payments are not made to ghost Afghan employees.
        Therefore, I conclude by saying the United States and other
    donors must establish mechanisms to protect direct assistance
    from corruption. And the U.S. and its allies must have the
    courage to condition assistance on the Afghans meeting their
    commitments, whether on oversight or protecting the rights of
    women and girls.
        Thank you very much. And I look forward to your
    questioning.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Sopko can be found in the
    Appendix on page 35.]
        Mrs. Roby. Thank you.
        Ms. Barsa.

        STATEMENT OF MICHELLE BARSA, SENIOR MANAGER FOR POLICY,
                       INCLUSIVE SECURITY ACTION

        Ms. Barsa. Chairman Roby, Ranking Member Tsongas, members
    of the subcommittee, allow me to thank you for your consistent
    support for Afghan women and for inviting me here to testify
    today on the issue of recruitment and retention of women in the
    Afghan National Security Forces.
        I work with an organization called Inclusive Security, that
    is dedicated to increasing the inclusion of women in peace and
    security processes.
        We have been in Afghanistan for over a decade, and I travel
    to the country frequently. Informing this testimony are
    consultations I have led with men and women in the Afghan
    National Security Forces, officials of the Afghan Ministries of
    Interior and Defense, and representatives of ISAF
    [International Security Assistance Force], among others.
        Let me start by acknowledging that the gains Afghan women
    have made since 2001 are many. But, as U.S. and coalition
    forces draw down, progress is beginning to erode.
        As we consider how to maintain progress for women, we must
    evaluate women's direct participation in the Afghan
    institutions mandated to protect those gains.
        In total, the U.S. has appropriated about $52.8 billion for
    the Afghan security forces funds for supporting the Afghan
    national forces. Prior to 2013, there had never been
    authorizing or appropriating language in law that specifically
    addressed recruitment and retention of women in those forces.
        The presence or absence of women in the ANSF has
    implications in the areas the U.S. has deemed top priorities,
    including, but not limited to, democracy promotion, countering
    terrorism, and providing security to the Afghan people.
        And I will elaborate briefly on those three points.
        On the issue of democracy promotion, female security
    officers are required to staff the women-only voter
    registration and polling stations. In the absence of sufficient
    numbers of female security personnel, these voter registration
    and polling stations will remain closed.
        In other words, Afghan women will not be allowed to vote.
        On countering terrorism, last year in Afghanistan, you can
    trace at least 13 recorded accounts of male insurgents dressed
    as women infiltrating restricted areas from which they launched
    attacks. There were no female body searchers to stop them.
        Due to cultural norms, male security officers cannot
    conduct body searches of women, security checks of homes that
    have a female present, nor effectively gather information from
    or conduct interrogations of women.
        On the issue of providing security to the Afghan people, of
    course, understanding people to refer equally to men, women,
    boys and girls, sexual and gender-based violence is endemic in
    Afghanistan, with as many as 87 percent of women experiencing
    some form of domestic abuse or forced marriage in their
    lifetime.
        In cases where women report these crimes to male police,
    they are often blamed for the abuse or, worse, abused by the
    officer.
        With female police officers, these crimes are more likely
    to be properly registered, investigated and prosecuted.
        Of the myriad institutional and social impediments to
    recruitment and retention in the Afghan security forces, I will
    highlight six of priority concern to women.
        First, the recruitment process. Women have reported
    recruitment officers turning them away, heckling them as bad
    women and asking for sexual favors in exchange for enrollment.
        Second, assignment and rank promotion. Women have often
    reported being assigned to positions below their ranks,
    including soldiers relegated to carrying out menial tasks, such
    as cleaning the office or serving tea.
        Equipment and transportation is an issue. Women have
    reported not being assigned weapons, never receiving uniforms
    or being issued uniforms made for men, and having rare access
    to vehicles, which limits their ability to investigate crimes,
    respond to ongoing incidents, and conduct outreach to
    communities.
        Three is the issue of sexual harassment. Complaints of
    sexual harassment, abuse and coercion are widespread throughout
    the forces. The existing complaints response mechanism has
    proven ineffective in addressing abuse and holding perpetrators
    accountable.
        Then, there is the public perceptions issue. While surveys
    do actually show that communities are increasingly supportive
    of police women, families are still reluctant to encourage or
    allow female members to serve. This is partially attributable
    to conservative cultural norms, but also to the rampant sexual
    harassment and assault within the forces and lack of female-
    only facilities, which lead to rumors of prostitution and un-
    Islamic behavior.
        Highlighting the point of inadequate facilities, as one
    example, 29 of the 30 police training centers do not have
    dormitories for women. Without appropriate facilities, women
    trainees need to travel home each night, which effectively
    limits enrollment to women in the immediate vicinity of the
    training center.
        The Afghan government has set ambitious targets for
    recruiting and retaining women in the forces, but we are not on
    track to meet them.
        This is, in part, attributable to the environment, but also
    to an under-resourced effort. We are grateful Congress has
    taken steps to address this. The 2013 NDAA [National Defense
    Authorization Act] emphasizes the importance of recruitment and
    retention of women in the forces. The House version of the 2014
    NDAA as well as the 2014 defense approps [appropriations] bill
    specifically authorize and appropriate, respectively, $47.3
    million for this purpose.
        Efforts to support women in the Afghan forces will be
    sidelined if money is not explicitly reserved, which, to
    clarify, doesn't imply adding another line of effort to the
    train and assist mission.
        To effectively integrate women into the forces,
    interventions designed to recruit and retain women must be
    integrated into current U.S. efforts under the existing funding
    categories.
        I want to stress the point that right now the focus needs
    to be on cultivating a safe environment for women within the
    forces, which can only be done by taking on the challenges
    outlined earlier.
        Additionally, financial resources must be complemented by
    human resources. Right now, we have gender advisers in place at
    ISAF HQ [International Security Assistance Force Headquarters],
    ISAF Joint Command and the NATO training mission. A number of
    these positions will be cut by the start of 2014, which will
    curtail our ability to meaningfully make progress toward the
    goals set.
        Without question, Afghan women have experienced
    improvements in access to health care, education, economic
    opportunity and political power since the fall of the Taliban
    in 2001.
        But it is important to remember, they weren't handed
    progress; they fought for it. They established social services
    organizations, ran for political office, advocated to official
    actors, and did the impossible work of holding communities
    together in the midst of war.
        As we question how to maintain gains post-2014, our answers
    must include enabling women themselves to protect what they
    have fought so hard to achieve. We must acknowledge Afghan
    women's interest in serving their communities and their
    country.
        And, for those who want to serve in the armed forces, it is
    our obligation to ensure they can.
        Thank you, and I welcome your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Barsa can be found in the
    Appendix on page 50.]
        Mrs. Roby. Thank you very much.
        Mr. Katzman.

    STATEMENT OF DR. KENNETH KATZMAN, SPECIALIST IN MIDDLE EASTERN
                AFFAIRS, CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

        Dr. Katzman. Thank you very much, Chairman Roby and Ranking
    Member Tsongas for----
        Mrs. Roby. Dr. Katzman, sorry.
        Dr. Katzman. Thank you very much for asking the
    Congressional Research Service for my testimony. I will
    summarize it and ask the full text be included in the record.
        My work on Afghanistan for the Congressional Research
    Service focuses extensively on Afghan politics, culture and the
    human rights situation, having studied Afghanistan since the
    Soviet era.
        My testimony lays out some of the gains and some of the
    setbacks, actually, that women have made in Afghanistan since
    2001.
        There have been dramatic gains, as outlined, but also,
    since the Taliban insurgency gained or regained some strength,
    toward 2006, 2007, before President Obama's surge in
    Afghanistan, there have been setbacks.
        As the Taliban make gains, they tend to enforce their way
    of thinking in the areas under their control.
        What I want to do in my summary is just lay out four
    scenarios for post-2014 and how that would affect women's
    rights in Afghanistan.
        The first scenario is relative stability. In other words,
    postulating that it appears that, roughly, the United States
    might keep about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014, with
    about another 5,000 partner country forces.
        Most of my peers in this business, we agree that that
    probably is reasonably enough to preserve a status quo. The
    government in Kabul will not collapse under that scenario and
    will continue to even accomplish some economic development.
        Most of these forces will be training and mentoring the
    350,000 member ANSF.
        So if the security situation--if, indeed, the security
    gains hold, roughly, then women's rights will relatively remain
    as they are--steps forward, steps backward; gains, some
    setbacks, but not a dramatic decline.
        The second scenario is what I call a worst-case scenario,
    which would be a collapse of the government in Kabul. If, for
    example, there is no agreement to keep U.S. troops or if the
    international troops prove insufficient, and the Afghan
    security forces collapse under Taliban pressure, and the
    Taliban were, perhaps, to recapture control of Afghanistan or
    much of Afghanistan, that clearly I think would represent a
    worst-case scenario.
        We could expect that even though some Taliban leaders,
    including Mullah Omar, have suggested that they may be more
    open to a different type of regime, should they come back to
    power, not necessarily expelling girls from school, not
    necessarily preventing women working outside the home. I think
    we have to assume that if the Taliban were to come back to
    power, they would enforce some of those restrictions, many of
    those restrictions that they practiced when they were in power
    from 1996 to 2001, which included using the soccer stadium as
    an arena to stone women to death and conduct public executions.
    And women in the streets who were not completely covered were
    routinely hit. And it was--well, we don't need to go--it was
    awful. You know, there is no other way to describe it.
        The most likely scenario I see is this third scenario,
    where I say the influence of what I call faction leaders is
    going to increase after 2014. The U.S. and partners will have
    not that many forces in Afghanistan. These faction leaders
    probably will reassert themselves. They already are starting to
    call some of their former militia men back into service.
        Most of them are Islamic--very, very conservative
    Islamists. Ismail Khan, for example, who used to run western
    Afghanistan; there was a faction leader in Helmand, Sher
    Mohammad Akhunzadeh, very, very repressive, conservative on
    women.
        Some of them, such as Mr. Dostum [Abdul Rashid Dostum] in
    the north, the Uzbek area, he is actually somewhat more
    progressive. He is a former communist.
        But the bottom line is, the faction leaders would have
    increased influence in post-2014, and they tend to enforce
    arbitrary rule. Rule of law will basically dissolve. They rule
    by the barrel of the gun, the, what I call in the testimony,
    the mujahideen culture, the culture of we fought the Soviets,
    we fought the Taliban, therefore, we are in charge, and you do
    what we say.
        Again, not a good scenario for women; but, you know, not as
    bad as the Taliban coming back.
        A middle-ground scenario would be, as I say in the last
    one, a settlement with the Taliban, if there is a political
    settlement. Karzai or his successor has a settlement with the
    Taliban. The Taliban come back into the government peacefully,
    perhaps as ministers, perhaps controlling provinces or having
    seats in Parliament. Again, these Talibs who come back would be
    looking to impose Islamic restrictions, and that would not be a
    good scenario for women. However, they would not be controlling
    the government, they would be in partnership with existing
    progressive forces, and so it is sort of a middle-ground
    scenario.
        So in conclusion, under almost any post-2014 Afghanistan
    scenario, it is likely that some of the gains we have seen
    since 2001 will likely be eroded. Some of these gains threaten
    more than other scenarios, but likely it will not be a positive
    after 2014.
        Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Katzman can be found in the
    Appendix on page 60.]
        Mrs. Roby. Thank you very much, and again thank you all for
    your input and insight into these issues that are so very
    important to this committee. I am going to start with you, Mr.
    Sopko. This weekend, there was a Washington Post article that I
    am sure most everybody here has read, where your organization
    discussed the difficulty that your auditors are going to have
    monitoring the U.S.-funded construction projects as the U.S.
    troop levels reduce over the next 12 months and after 2014.
        As you conduct your ongoing work, looking at women's
    programs specifically over the next year, what sort of approach
    are you going to take to gather information and provide us
    better visibility as it relates to women's issues there?
        Mr. Sopko. Chairman Roby, that is a good question, and I
    will be honest with you, we don't have as good an answer I
    would like to give you. One of the reasons we sent that letter
    to the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and AID
    [Agency for International Development] administrator was to try
    to glean best practices. We in particular are trying to
    understand how you can monitor these far-reaching programs and
    if you look at the bubble map, we have actually put some
    specific construction projects on, but that doesn't include,
    and if we did include all of the places where the ANP [Afghan
    National Police] is working, or the Afghan military are
    working, that whole map would be red, and remember, we are
    paying money for their salaries, we are trying to ensure there
    is recruitment of women in all of those areas. And the
    difficulty is how do we monitor when U.S. citizens, U.S.
    citizens working for the government cannot get there?
        Mrs. Roby. Well, right. And so I wanted to bring up at this
    point and ask you, when we were, our last trip, on Mother's
    Day, we had opportunity, and these ladies here as well were all
    with us when we sat down with the Minister of Defense and had a
    frank conversation with him about the monies that are supposed
    to be used for that very purpose. And we had a--I mean, it was
    a very frank discussion about whether or not he was committed
    to ensuring that those monies would go to the right place.
        He stated verbally, that he was. So, you know, we do have
    this language that Mrs. Davis proposed that is in the current--
    the 2014 NDAA that makes sure that that money is used, but I am
    curious, in your role, have you had an opportunity to interact
    with the Minister of Defense and had these conversations to
    make sure that that money is going where it is supposed to go?
        Mr. Sopko. Madam Chairman, I have not had any conversation
    with the Minister of Defense, and in particular, I have avoided
    conversations at that level because of the political overtones,
    especially since many of the ministers are now running for
    president, so I don't want to be shown showing favorites, or
    not showing favorites.
        But we have reached out to officials in the ministries at a
    lower level to try to make a determination. And again, I think
    the thing you have to keep in mind is, and I use President
    Reagan's oft-used statement, ``trust but verify,'' and I know
    my colleague, Dr. Katzman, who has looked at this since the
    Soviet Union, will remember that in the Soviet Union, they had
    a better Constitution than we did, so on paper it looked great
    in the Soviet Union, and these promises are one thing. I think
    what we need to do is we have to go out and verify, and that is
    why----
        Mrs. Roby. Sure.
        Mr. Sopko [continuing]. We are concerned about our ability
    to go out and see those sites and actually kick the tires.
        Mrs. Roby. Well that is the--these maps are very, very
    telling, so I can appreciate that. And so when you talk about
    reaching these rural areas and, can you just expand on, you
    know, I mean, I know what I have read in the news articles, but
    expand on what your plan is to reach these rural areas as we
    move to 2014 and beyond.
        Mr. Sopko. Like everything in Afghanistan, there is no
    silver bullet, and what we are going to have to do is use
    multiple approaches to this. You can use geospatial, which are
    satellite photos that you are well aware of, but they have
    limitations. You can use third-party monitors, and we have
    actually had experience auditing third-party monitors. And some
    have been very good. Others have been very bad, and actually we
    did an audit of a USAID [United States Agency for International
    Development] program and the third-party monitors couldn't get
    out and do the monitoring.
        Mrs. Roby. Because they would be--the attention would be
    drawn to them.
        Mr. Sopko. Absolutely.
        Mrs. Roby. I mean, I think the Washington Post article
    alluded to this, saying if there is some, you know, Afghan
    individual out with a notepad and a camera, then clearly they
    are tied to Western money and they would be threatened
    themselves.
        Mr. Sopko. Absolutely. How long is he or she going to last
    out in the countryside? And again, 70 percent of the population
    is in rural areas.
        Mrs. Roby. Right.
        Mr. Sopko. Which means it is probably going to be outside
    those bubbles.
        Mrs. Roby. Right, and we--real quick, and then I will yield
    to Ms. Tsongas, but when we experienced that in our last trip,
    compared to 2, 3--our first trip 2 years ago, 2\1/2\ years ago,
    where we couldn't move around the country either, and you and I
    have talked about that. So it is very, very evident that these
    challenges exist. My time has expired. Ms. Tsongas.
        Ms. Tsongas. Thank you, and thank you all. I think as you
    can see, our focus and our concern is real, both as a result of
    all of your testimonies, and understanding how important it is
    to the long-term stability of the country, that these gains are
    not bargained away, and that women continue to have ways to
    meaningfully participate in their country.
        And hearing, in an earlier hearing, our April hearing,
    there was testimony that the ANSF is primarily responsible for
    recruiting women. And Mr. Sopko, you said in your written
    testimony that 12,000 women police officers who can conduct
    body searches on women will be necessary at polling stations so
    that women are, you know, are allowed to vote in the upcoming
    elections. But unfortunately, there are currently only about
    1,600 women police officers.
        And from your testimony, and Ms. Barsa said, this
    participation is a near-term problem and a long-term problem.
    In the near term is bulking up the police force so that women
    can fully participate. The long-term problem is that by
    participating, they have a stake in governance and the security
    situation in the country reflects their input.
        So the question I have is, what are the levers we can use,
    if the ANSF is primarily responsible, we are quickly drawing
    down, how do we incentivize the ANSF to take seriously the need
    to have women participating to a necessary extent one, so women
    can participate in the elections in the short-term, and two,
    for the long-term security of the country, so I will start with
    you, Ms. Barsa, and then Mr. Sopko, if you would answer.
        Ms. Barsa. Sure. It is not the easiest task, but there are
    a couple things I think you can do. I think one, and Congress
    has already taken this step, is to dedicate financial resources
    explicitly to recruitment and retention. And looking beyond
    just female-targeted recruitment campaigns, but really to the
    infrastructure and facility refurbishment that the reformist
    system policies and processes that needs to happen to create a
    safe environment for women in the forces.
        That money needs strong safeguards, so that it is not used
    for any other purpose, particularly if it is transferred to the
    Afghan ministries. And we also need to be creative in thinking
    about how we use this funding as potentially positive
    incentives, so that the Afghan ministries in theory could get a
    plus-up in their budget when they meet certain benchmarks
    related to recruitment and retention, or when we look to money
    that is dedicated for higher education, secondary or tertiary
    education for girls, and looking at working out a system like
    our U.S. program of ROTC [Reserve Officers' Training Corps]
    such that women exchange scholarships to attend these higher
    institutions in exchange for a service, either the police or
    army, right?
        I think another piece of it is human resources. I mentioned
    the issue of the advisors. We need these advisors embedded
    within the ministry. They really force and drive action as well
    as sitting close to the commanders of ISF HQ, IGC [Inter
    Governmental Council] and NATO training command, as well as
    trainers.
        So the training capacity doesn't exist internal of the ANA
    [Afghan National Army] and it is quite weak within the ANP, or
    the Afghan National Police, and so they are looking externally
    to international trainers, so they do trainings of trainers for
    the Afghans to build up that capacity. Diplomatic pressure is
    really important to bring it up in every key leader engagement,
    just as you all did in your Mother's Day CODEL. Those gestures
    carry a lot of weight within the Afghan ministry.
        I think as we look to professionalizing the force of reform
    and revision of the performance evaluation process, such that
    Afghan officers, particularly those in leadership positions,
    are evaluated not just on their tactical and operational
    performance, but on their demonstrated ability to uphold the
    values of the force. And for leaders, their unit's adherence to
    a code of conduct that includes zero tolerance for sexual abuse
    and harassment.
        And then finally, I think there is the support for ongoing
    efforts led by Afghan and international NGOs [non-governmental
    organizations]. There is a lot of really incredible work
    happening right now. Consortiums of Afghan women's NGOs that
    have set up a police mentoring project in the provinces, women
    are working one on one with police to build their capacity and
    help them advance complaints when they have them. There are
    policewomen's associations being formed, and the Afghan Women's
    Network, a local NGO, is training them in advocacy, bringing
    them for direct exchanges with chiefs of police. There is work
    with male commanders, there is community-based democratic
    policing projects, legal advisors embedded within the
    ministries who go through accelerated training led by NGOs.
        And that money is all currently coming through LOFTA,
    through the Law and Order Trust Fund, and it is unclear whether
    those funding levels will be sustained post-2014, so that is
    another clear avenue.
        Ms. Tsongas. Mr. Sopko, if you have, we have a little time.
        Mr. Sopko. I am usually not into policy. I do process, as I
    have explained to you before. But I think all of the points
    raised by my colleague here at the table are accurate. I think
    we have to look at our own experience, and our own experience
    with how we integrated our military, how we have promoted women
    in the ranks, how we did it in the police forces. And there is
    no silver bullet. I think what my colleague has said has given
    you a list of about 10 or 15 issues, and I think those are
    things you have to look at almost every one of them. But the
    one thing you do have, you have the purse strings.
        You have the money that is going to Afghanistan, and it is
    a lot of money. And I think you have to design a program that
    incentivizes doing what we, and that means you, and the
    taxpayer behind you, wants to see done. So there is no silver
    bullet. But I will say the one thing which will destroy any of
    your plans will be if security goes south on the Afghan
    country, and we don't have effective oversight.
        Mrs. Roby. Mr. Jones.
        Mr. Jones. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Mr. Sopko, I have
    heard you numerous times, and here I am again. I am like any
    human being. I want to see women and children treated fairly,
    whether it be America or Afghanistan. My biggest concern is,
    and I am sure everybody in town will read your report, but you,
    and maybe those at the table, you have set up metrics of what
    you think should show that Afghanistan is moving forward.
    Obviously, they are not making great advances, and there are
    cultural reasons for that going back 2000 years. It doesn't
    mean that we still shouldn't try, but in the debt ceiling
    increase a week ago, $240 billion for 2\1/2\ months, $30
    billion of that goes to Afghanistan.
        When do we get to a point as a Congress, and I am talking
    about both parties, that we set the metrics, but we fall short
    of the metrics. The American people are sick and tired of the
    money that we continue to spend and you and other inspector
    generals testify that you can't account for a large percentage
    of the American money going to Afghanistan. I don't know, I
    hope every one of my colleagues knows that we had seven
    Americans killed during the shutdown. I don't know? That is
    something I am concerned about. But when do you get to a point,
    I have been listening for 12 years. I am on the Armed Services
    Committee as everybody else up here. I have heard, not from you
    today, I have heard the word, ``fragile.'' We are making
    progress, but things are fragile. Situations are fragile. I
    hope that you will continue, those of you at the table, and
    many people like yourself, to continue to try to put pressure
    on Congress to look at what we expect, what is reasonable to
    expect, and what is not reasonable.
        Because I cannot explain back to people in my district how
    we continue to spend $30 billion in Afghanistan as we raise the
    debt ceiling, and we are cutting programs left and right across
    the Third District of North Carolina, even some of the military
    down in my district. I hope that at some point in time, whether
    it be you or someone else, would be honest with the Congress
    and say that just putting money in a black hole and there is no
    end to the black hole. I assume that the metrics are in here
    regarding this issue of the women in Afghanistan. I assume you
    have got recommendations in here, is that correct? I haven't
    had a chance to look at it.
        Mr. Sopko. Congressman, that is our quarterly report that
    you held up. You got an advance copy, the committee did. We do
    discuss some of the metrics. We do not come up with the
    metrics, we use the metrics as provided by the U.S. government
    and try to apply them. Again, you are putting me into that
    scary zone for inspector generals and that is enunciating
    policy. I again will refer to another President: I feel your
    pain. I am a taxpayer, too, but policy issues have to be
    decided by somebody else. We do process. As I told you before,
    I think at one of our other meetings, I am the eternal
    optimist. I think we can accomplish something in Afghanistan,
    but that is my personal opinion. As an auditor, I know my
    auditors behind me are saying, ``Oh, well you have got to
    follow GAGAS [generally accepted government auditing standards]
    on your personal opinion.'' But my personal opinion, I think we
    can do.
        But I do also want to keep in--let us keep in mind that we
    have lost a good many troops, and a lot of our treasury there,
    and we don't want to lose it all, and have wasted all of it now
    that we are coming into the transition. This is probably the
    most important period, now, with the drawdown in the troops, we
    have got to get it right. And that is what we are trying to
    emphasize with the maps, we are trying to emphasize with all
    the reports, and I personally think that hearings like this are
    very important, because you are getting the message out to your
    colleagues, we are making a record of the concerns you have,
    the concerns we have, and the points and concerns that every
    witness has. So I am again, I believe in the process and I
    think the process is working having this type of conversation.
        Mr. Jones. Well in closing, I just would like to say to
    whomever is watching this to hold Congress responsible, to have
    benchmarks, whether it be talking about helping the women of
    Afghanistan or whatever the project might be, and if we are not
    making those benchmarks, then stop spending the money and stop
    sending young men and women to die in Afghanistan. So anyway,
    Madam Chairman, thank you for the time.
        Mrs. Roby. Mr. Andrews.
        Mr. Andrews. Thank you. Madam Chair, I would like to thank
    you and the other members of the committee for being so
    diligent about this issue, traveling to that country on
    multiple occasions, and I think you are doing some of the most
    meaningful work in this Congress by your diligence here, and I
    am proud to be associated with it in a very minor way after the
    work you have done.
        This, what we hear is overwhelming, just overwhelming that
    in a country of 31 million people, apparently there are only
    120,000 women have a high school diploma. Eighty-seven percent
    of Afghan women report being victimized by some sort of
    physical violence or coerced sexual activity. It is appalling.
    But, you know, when all seems lost, there are some metrics, as
    my friend from North Carolina just said, that make you feel a
    little more optimistic. If I read this correctly, that around
    the time of the U.S. invasion or shortly before, the life
    expectancy for Afghan women was 44 years. It is now 62 years.
    That is an unbelievable achievement for which the Afghan women
    themselves deserve the most credit, but this country and its
    taxpayers, its troops, its civilians, public servants deserve
    credit, including each of you.
        I was sobered, however, Dr. Katzman, when I heard your four
    scenarios. It is really sobering when you think about all of
    the investment of life and blood and money for a dozen years,
    that the best scenario of the four is the status quo, which is
    grim. The other three compete in terms of their grimness. I am
    not sure that I would disagree with your assessment, so let me
    ask anyone on the panel, or each of you, this question. Given
    the probability that there will be very rough times for Afghan
    women and girls when troops are withdrawn, given the high
    probability that is the case, in which institution in
    Afghanistan is there the strongest measure of progress for
    women and girls? In which institution have we had the greatest
    positive impact? And I ask that question so that we can have
    some guidance on where to focus our future resources. I am kind
    of looking for an oasis here, a place that is most likely to be
    a success story in the years ahead. Dr. Katzman, would you want
    to answer first?
        Dr. Katzman. Thank you very much, Congressman. You know, in
    my testimony, what I tried to do is put in some specific names
    of some very inspiring and very powerful and successful women
    in Afghanistan, because they don't get a lot of press. We talk
    about statistics, and infant mortality is way down, which adds
    to, what you pointed out, but in government, you know, just in
    governance, we have a very successful woman governor, Habiba
    Sarobi, she is now a vice presidential candidate. We have had,
    in my testimony, one woman who is an Afghan, Malala. We hear
    about Malala Yousafzai, Malalai Joya in Afghanistan. She stood
    up at a big loya jirga, which is a traditional Afghan assembly,
    and was shouting down these commanders who I was mentioning,
    for past abuses during the various civil wars.
        And then, you know, obviously they retaliated and basically
    drove her out of Afghanistan, but there are a lot of powerful
    women, so I would say in the governance structure, in the
    Parliament, at the district, you know, at the mainly in the
    central government, in the ministries, the Ministry of
    Education, there is a Ministry of Women's Affairs. The core of
    the Kabul government is where you are seeing, and in the
    Parliament is where you see a lot of success. And in the ANSF
    too, although I am a little skeptical that that is going to
    continue.
        Mr. Andrews. But how about outside the government, because
    if one of your scenarios comes true and the government
    implodes, or has no functioning control, are there any non-
    governmental institutions out provincially that are stronger or
    working?
        Dr. Katzman. There are. I mean, many civil societies, you
    know, we have the Afghan Women's Networks, a lot of civil
    society groups that advocate for women have come up. However,
    if these scenarios come to pass, the dire scenarios, those
    groups are likely going to be somewhat suppressed,
    unfortunately.
        Mr. Andrews. Anybody else have a suggestion?
        Mr. Sopko. I think that what the doctor said, the last
    point is the one I would focus on. If security goes south, all
    the scenarios are extremely negative, and there is no
    organization that will protect the women, so we have to focus
    on making certain that the ANSF and the rule of law, as fragile
    as it is, exists. And I can just add, Congressman, I don't
    know, and we haven't done that audit yet, but hopefully when
    that audit gets done that we reference, we will find out what
    has succeeded the best and what hasn't. As you probably know, I
    sent that letter to all the major agencies asking for your top
    10 successes, and DOD [Department of Defense], State, and AID
    refused to answer it, saying they couldn't rack and stack. Now
    personally I find that troubling and I think you and Congress
    should, because that is a requirement of OMB [Office of
    Management and Budget] that you are able to rack and stack your
    programs on what succeeds.
        Mr. Andrews. I am sure that that sounds like a good project
    for us.
        Mr. Sopko. Yes.
        Mr. Andrews. I yield back. Thank you.
        Mrs. Roby. Dr. Katzman, I want to talk to you about the
    scenarios that you presented and really get you to elaborate
    because obviously, your worst-case scenario is, as Mr. Jones
    pointed out, that is where the fragile part comes in, that it
    is very fragile. And when you talk to women in Afghanistan,
    there is a real recognition that getting back to that place
    would completely gut every--you know, and these are women who
    have put their lives on the line, and do it every single day.
        But I really want you to, if you could, elaborate and about
    the importance of the participation, and you, as well, the
    importance of the participation of women in this election, and
    how important--and we can't emphasize this enough--a peaceful
    transfer of power is going to dictate what the likely outcome
    will be, based on your analysis.
        Dr. Katzman. Thank you. I would say, let's look at the
    reports, and I believe them to be true, that Mr. Karzai favors
    his former foreign minister, Zalmai Rassoul, who I have met on
    a number of occasions. He is very progressive. Was educated in
    the West, in Europe. He is a modernizer.
        One of his key opponents in the election is Abdul Rab Rasul
    Sayyaf. He is a Saudi-backed mujahideen commander, who was very
    successful against the Soviet Union, and then went into
    parliament, where he has fought to basically block the law on
    eliminating violence against women from becoming law.
        It basically is a Karzai decree. Karzai issued the EVAW
    [Elimination of Violence Against Women] by decree. The
    parliament has been talking about passing it into law. Sayyaf
    has blocked it--along with his allies. He is not the only one.
        So, depending on who wins, you can get very different
    results.
        Karzai's brother is running, Quayum. He used to have a
    restaurant in Baltimore. He used to come all the time, when the
    Taliban were in power. And no one ever met with him, but, it
    was a sad time.
        But he is also, like his brother, somewhat progressive.
        So, Dr. Abdullah is running. He ran last time. He is from
    the northern area. Again, very progressive. Very pro-West.
        So, depending on who wins, you can have different outcomes.
        Mrs. Roby. And under the scenario that you talked about,
    with the factions, I guess----
        Dr. Katzman. Faction leaders.
        Mrs. Roby. Yes. Do you think that they--I mean, I know that
    this is all kind of trying to predict the future stuff, but do
    you honestly believe under that scenario that those individuals
    would be able to keep the Taliban at bay? I mean, wouldn't it
    be worst-case scenario plus something worse?
        Does that make sense?
        Dr. Katzman. Yes. Some postulate civil war. Basically,
    these faction leaders are mostly from the north and west. They
    are mostly non-Pashtuns. The Taliban are Pashtun. So the
    hypothesis is these faction leaders are gonna re-arm and fight
    against the Pashtun Taliban. And there will be a civil war.
        I am not sure I am where that is as far as that being that
    dire of a civil war. I do think the Taliban will be kept
    roughly at bay. But the faction leaders will simply re-assert
    themselves, because rule of law is going to deteriorate,
    because the international community is not there watching the
    Afghans as closely anymore.
        A lot of the gains we have seen is because we have been
    riding them. You know, we are on them. We are threatening to
    withhold money, or we are, you know, enacting provisions like
    we have talked about today.
        And they do respond. Once we are not there, as much, it
    going to become--revert back to the way it was before we were
    there.
        Mrs. Roby. Sure.
        Ms. Barsa, do you know, we spent some time at Herat
    University on our last trip. Forty percent of their student
    population are women. Very encouraged by that.
        One of the things, as we even look at the map that Mr.
    Sopko put on the board, you know, there are kind of the four
    corners that are--where there will be a presence. Then you have
    all these rural areas that we are really worried about.
        In your opinion, do you think that women have gained enough
    that they can't be stopped at this point? Like they have had a
    taste and they will continue to seek out. Or do you think that
    they--I mean, we talk about being fragile. How fragile is it? I
    mean, how easily would they be forced back into the corner and
    darkness?
        Ms. Barsa. Well, there is not a single answer to that,
    because it varies quite dramatically from region to region. In
    the west, I think--in the west and north, in particular, I
    think that you will see women maintain a lot of the gains.
        The experience and quality of life for women in those two
    regions is quite different from what you will see in the east
    and the south. Right?
        And so, I think--you also have to take into consideration
    the political negotiations that are ongoing in those regions
    already, right, but also acknowledge the role that women are
    playing in those political negotiations, which is something
    that I think we miss.
        As we look at the dysfunction of the national level peace
    process, I think we are missing some of what is happening at a
    provincial level in terms of reintegration efforts and local
    reconciliation efforts that are being integrated into that.
        So you have provincial peace committees overseeing those
    efforts. There are three women on each of the committees, a
    minimum of three women. And they are negotiating directly with
    commanders. They are mediating intertribal disputes that are
    leading to destabilization at a district level. And, really,
    demonstrating their value and leadership in a tangible and
    concrete way to the extent that it is being recognized by men
    in official authority positions.
        Mrs. Roby. Right.
        Ms. Barsa. In Kandahar, for example, one of the women on
    the provincial peace committee was nominated to be deputy head
    of the council, based on her work in mediating intertribal
    disputes.
        Mrs. Roby. And that is real.
        Ms. Barsa. That is real. Yes.
        Mrs. Roby. Okay. Thanks.
        My time has expired. I want to hear more.
        But, Ms. Duckworth.
        Ms. Duckworth. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        And, Mr. Sopko, it is good to see you again.
        I want to return back to something that you had actually
    said in Oversight and Government Reform looking at the
    diversity of projects that are ongoing and applying it to
    Afghanistan.
        You know, as you said, DOD, USAID, State Department can't
    rack and stack for you. And then, in looking at what we do
    post-pullout of the U.S. troops, is there any way forward in
    terms of coordinating what is happening?
        Or do you have any recommendations on how we would be able
    to have oversight of all of the different departments, you
    know, that are trying to do these projects in Afghanistan, at
    least from our end, with the U.S. money that is going over
    there, so that we know that, for example, USAID is here, trying
    to do this project for women and girls, but then, again, so is
    the State Department Office of Ambassador for Women and Girls,
    and the like?
        Mr. Sopko. Well, you actually highlighted one of the
    problems that one of our prior audits had dealing with women's
    issues. And we issued the one, I believe it was in 2010 or
    2011, looking at coordination, and we noticed there was a lack
    of coordination.
        I supposed if there is somebody who can try to coordinate
    it, to some extent, our looking at all of these programs tries
    to, using the bully pulpit to get people to coordinate.
        But that is one of the most serious problems we have.
    People just don't talk to each other.
        And, if you recall when I spoke at the Oversight and
    Government Reform Committee hearing, I talked about those seven
    questions. And one of them was coordinate with the Afghans, but
    it was also coordinate internally.
        And we are not coordinating with our allies. I just came
    back from NATO and was a bit surprised to find out that the
    NATO allies didn't know about some of the things that DOD and
    the EU was even doing, so--and AID.
        So that is a major problem we have, on coordination.
        Ms. Duckworth. Ms. Barsa, do you have any information on
    the type of work that is being done by some of the U.S. allies
    for women and girls in Afghanistan right now?
        Ms. Barsa. I have information that is focused on the peace
    and security intervention. Not more broadly.
        So there is quite a bit of work that is being done. Most of
    the work that is being done to fund police mentorship work and
    the formation of policewomen's associations and the lobbying
    that those associations are doing to police commanders is being
    facilitated by Afghan women's NGOs but with funding from
    European nations, from the Dutch in particular. They are really
    coming out ahead on that.
        In the peace and security realm, you know, that varies. The
    Norwegians are really doing quite a bit of work to train women
    in skills related to community mobilization and the value of
    women's inclusion in the peace process and are funding quite a
    bit of work to forge bridges and links between women in
    official authority positions and women in civil society, so
    women on the provincial peace committees and provincial
    counsels together with women's, what you might call NGOs or
    voluntary associations, women who are doing really productive
    work in service to their communities at a provincial level,
    which I think is doing quite a bit in service of expanding
    women's political power and a space for them in the political
    discussion and debate.
        Ms. Duckworth. Can you--just off the top of my head, I am
    thinking of other nations, I mean, yes, the U.S. is going to
    take a leading role, and we certainly hold a big chunk of the
    purse strings.
        But looking at some of the other nations around the world
    that also have a history or a tradition of strong democracy, of
    women participating in the democratic process, especially those
    like--places like Malaysia, Indonesia, that are Muslim nations,
    is there any potential there for us to reach out to those
    nations for help in Afghanistan?
        Ms. Barsa. Huge potential. And particularly as it relates
    to security force development. So this is something we have
    looked at a lot. It is funding professional development
    opportunities and exchanges between not just Afghan women in
    the forces, but also their male commanders, with Islamic
    nations that have a strong presence of women in their forces,
    and to look at how that has functioned, the value that has been
    added, and the systems that have been put in place to support
    that. So 100 percent.
        Ms. Duckworth. Great to hear.
        Dr. Katzman, can you add to something like that?
        Dr. Katzman. Well, I just wanted to mention Turkey.
    Because, you know, Turkey does basically command Kabul city in
    partnership with the Afghans. And, I am not a Turkey expert,
    but, you know, it has a somewhat Islamic government right now,
    but still a tradition of progressivity and secularism,
    particularly in its military.
        And it is a big force contributor in Afghanistan.
        I think Malaysia has a few, not many. I don't think
    Indonesia even has any forces in Afghanistan.
        But I think the Turks, as a Muslim nation and a lot of the
    Afghans, particularly in the north, speak a Turkic dialect,
    Uzbek is a Turkic dialect. That might be something to look at.
        Ms. Duckworth. Thank you, Dr. Katzman.
        I yield back, Madam Chair.
        Mrs. Roby. We are gonna run, go vote, really quickly.
        So if you will be patient, there are only two votes, and we
    are 15 minutes into the first one, so we got to go, but we will
    come right back, if you guys don't mind waiting.
        And for the members that are here, if you can come back, I
    would appreciate it as well. Thanks.
        [Recess.]
        Mrs. Roby. Okay, thank you for your patience and letting us
    exercise our constitutional duty. I want to pick up on behalf
    of my colleague, Mrs. Davis. She, I don't think, can return,
    but I think something that in repeated conversations about our
    concerns about Afghan women one of the things that she has
    concentrated a lot of her efforts on is the election, the
    upcoming election.
        And how can we make sure that they--the Afghan government--
    does not use the lack of women in the ANP as an excuse for
    women to not have the opportunity to exercise their right to
    vote.
        One of the things that has come up a lot of times in our
    conversations, you know, both traveling back and forth to
    Afghanistan, but also just even down on the floor is between
    Mrs. Davis and Ms. Tsongas and myself and others, is what
    creative ideas can we come up with and help facilitate to get
    women to the polls but ensure that their vote counts.
        And so I am sure each of you have some ideas, maybe outside
    of your wheelhouse, but I am sure you each have an opinion of
    sorts. And so, again, on behalf of Mrs. Davis--and I know this
    is important to all of us, but this is of particular importance
    to her, and if she were here I am quite confident this is what
    she would probably ask you about.
        Mr. Sopko. If I can start, chairman. Actually we did an
    audit on the barriers to greater participation in women in the
    last Afghan election, and we found serious problems, similar to
    the problems I think you are seeing right now, and similar
    concerns, and we issued a number of recommendations, and that
    was an audit we did back in October of 2009.
        And we recommended then to the ambassador, in conjunction
    with the United Nations, to urge the Independent Election
    Commission [IEC] to address those challenges of female
    candidates and voters, by taking a number of corrective
    actions, including proactively recruiting and training female
    IEC staff, and integrating women in the IEC planning process,
    communicating to all IEC staff the importance of following
    electoral law, increasing supervision over staff and publicly
    reporting violators, ensuring registration centers and polling
    places are secure, accessible locations, and raising awareness
    of the right of women to participate fully in electoral
    process.
        And I think those recommendations are still valid today.
    The embassy agreed fully with those. So we hope they are being
    implemented or trying to implement them now.
        Mrs. Roby. And I am interested in hearing the other two,
    remarks, but one of the other things that we had talked about,
    you know, similar to what we do here in the United States as it
    relates to get-out-the-vote efforts.
        I know that sounds very simplistic, but it is what makes
    the differences in elections is you have to get people to the
    polls.
        And--oh, I am asking your question. I didn't think you were
    coming back.
        [Laughter.]
        Mrs. Roby. But anyway, Susan and others, we have talked
    about, you know, using the women or helping to motivate the
    women that are--have had the privilege of education and are in
    a position to be leaders within their communities, particularly
    in the rural areas, to help guide women through this process.
        So, if the other two want to make comments.
        Ms. Barsa. Sure. I think, you know, there are a couple of
    pieces to look at. One is security. Another is monitoring and
    engagement. And the third is civic education.
        So on the security piece, the plan in place right now is to
    contract temporary female security personnel for the election
    on the order of about 13,000. And the hope is that they can
    look to existing female teachers, train them up in 2 to 3 days,
    and secure contracts just to staff maybe a last-ditch voter
    registration effort and then certainly the polling stations on
    the day of the election.
        All of that is a bit behind schedule because of resourcing
    issues. And so we will see how effective that is, but that is a
    key component.
        Then there is the monitoring piece. So some of what we have
    been doing is training women in how to monitor political
    transition processes and helping them develop their own tools
    for what they want to prioritize as key indicators for a
    transparent, legitimate process, and one that has adequate
    attention to women and gender, right?
        And so they are collecting that information and feeding it
    back up. And then we do additional training on how you
    communicate findings to decisionmakers and people with official
    authority over those issues.
        The last piece, like you mentioned, the get out the vote or
    civic education piece. One of the flaws with the ways we have
    approached civic education in Afghanistan thus far is that we
    treat it much more like a training on how to vote. So the
    actual physical logistics of what you do when you arrive at the
    voting station and helping women be aware that nobody is
    watching them. No one will know who they voted for and there
    will be no repercussions for who they vote for because they
    receive quite a number of intimidating threats in advance of
    the election.
        But we don't do civic education that is oriented towards
    understanding how you choose a candidate of your preference,
    right; how you understand each individual's political platform
    and whether or not it services your needs, and how you can
    engage candidates in discussions about what needs need to be
    met and their approach to addressing those.
        So I think that will be a big piece in looking towards the
    success not only of the presidential election, but certainly
    the parliamentary elections to follow, and whether or not we
    can oversee, fund and support a robust civic education effort.
        Mrs. Roby. I want to ask Dr. Katzman, you stated in your
    response to one of my other questions, is that, you know, the
    outcome of the election, of course, you have candidates that
    represent very differing interests when it comes to the rights
    of women, is what I understood you to say. And that being the
    case, that civic component as it relates to helping these women
    understand how to choose the candidate and what that person
    represents to them is going to be so crucial.
        My time is expired, and Mrs. Davis, it is your turn. And I
    will just tell you that I apologize. I didn't know you were
    coming back, but I am sure you can expound on those in your 5
    minutes.
        Mrs. Davis. That is fine, Madam Chair. I wasn't sure--I
    didn't think I could, but I wanted to come back because I was a
    little concerned.
        I think, Ms. Barsa, I guess everybody really mentioned that
    the needs to have women at the polls to assist with other women
    as their confidence level and comfort level that they are
    actually going to be able to vote is really critical.
        And we certainly heard that on our last trip to
    Afghanistan. And it concerned me that maybe we had kind of
    written that off in some way, that we, you know, realized that
    we cannot do it really the way we wanted to, and therefore, you
    know, maybe it wasn't going to come out so well.
        So I just wondered whether that was a--was I hearing that
    correctly? And you mentioned just now that you will have some
    contract, temporary assistance, whether teachers or whatever. I
    didn't know whether there was an opportunity to also bring
    women in from other Muslim countries as an example or even the
    U.S., I mean, making certain that the women who were still in-
    country were available and if that was going to be helpful.
        Obviously, we are dealing with both the city and the rural
    areas, that we know it is important, and yet it sounded like
    maybe we weren't going to move forward. I also had asked
    recently at a hearing, and basically was told the kind of
    ``Look, we have got it--we have it under control.'' And it
    doesn't sound like we do.
        Dr. Katzman. One thing I wanted to point out. You know, one
    woman did file to run for president, Fatima Ghaznowi. Okay? And
    October 6th was the registration deadline. She filed. October
    23rd, the IEC had its first cut. She was nixed. So now there is
    no female running for president.
        In the past presidential elections in 2004 and 2009, there
    was at least one woman candidate. Now, they didn't do
    particularly well, but they ran. Massouda Jalal, very well
    known, first minister of women's affairs. Also, the election
    law for this election cut--there is a quota in the elections
    that 25 percent of each provincial council, each of the 34
    provinces has a council, like a little state legislature-type
    thing; 25 percent must be women. Okay, the election law has cut
    that now to 20 percent.
        Also, the registration. I mean, we have sort of, we are in
    a way behind the curve because registration has already
    started. What we saw in the last election in 2009 is many women
    did not register. Or basically what happened, men registered
    for them. Men would just take their--a lot of it is cultural. I
    mean, it is not all--it is not a policy problem. This is the
    thinking. So----
        Mrs. Davis. We even run into that occasionally here.
        [Laughter.]
        Mrs. Davis. So, yes, I understand. I think part of it is
    trying to understand best where this is in terms of our
    priorities and moving forward. And if, in fact, it is important
    to the future in a way that may be out of proportion to our
    ability to plan better at this time, do we have time to put in
    additional effort with NGOs and others. And I am just trying to
    get a feel for is this a place for us--you know, if there is
    one place to focus right now before our troops pull out, with
    the exception hopefully of a 10,000 force, is this it? Or maybe
    it is not.
        Mr. Sopko. Can I just add? I mean, I think we are faced
    with three major transitions. We have referred to the security
    transition, which is obviously important. The political
    transition is a key. And if the election is bad, we could lose
    it on that.
        And then, of course, the third transition is we are moving
    toward this direct assistance. So I think you are absolutely
    correct. Now is the time to make the difference. Now is the
    time to focus on this and to get the Afghan government to
    either hire the police, hire the poll watchers, whether they
    are temporary or otherwise, but you have got to do it now. It
    may be too late if we wait.
        Mrs. Davis. Okay. Thank you. And I really appreciate, Madam
    Chair, your having this hearing. And I think that you have all
    mentioned in one way or another, I think one of the reasons
    that we kept going back was we saw the strength of these
    incredible women in the face of unbelievable adversity. And you
    knew that given just a little bit of support, they would be
    able to make changes in their communities that nobody else
    could do. I mean, it really--they are the ones who can do it.
        Thank you so much.
        Mrs. Roby. Thank you, Mrs. Davis.
        Ms. Tsongas.
        Ms. Tsongas. I want to thank you all for what has been a
    really very interesting and so important discussion.
        One of the things that I keep coming back to in my mind is,
    as I, like everyone of us here have made these many trips to
    Afghanistan. In our last visit, one woman said to us, we were
    in Kabul at a meeting, and she said: ``We don't expect more. We
    just want the space to fight for what we have.''
        And so we understand that there is a limit to what we can
    do, and yet we want to be sure that, you know, that we are
    doing as much as we can to allow Afghan women to continue the
    fight. We know it is a long-term effort. It has certainly been
    one--the United States' effort has been long term. But you have
    got to have the space to do it.
        So whether it is a security space, whether it is a
    political space, or whether it is the economic space, there are
    a lot of ways in which we have to think about it.
        And as we have been listening today, just a couple of
    things, Mr. Sopko, as you do your audit, it is an after-the-
    fact thing, as opposed to prospective, but I think it is so
    important that you look at what has succeeded and why. You
    know, what about it made it successful?
        If you look at the amount of money that has actually been,
    you know, clearly spent on women issues, related to women and
    children, it is so small in relationship to the total amount of
    dollars that have gone into Afghanistan. So, and yet we see the
    successes. They may not cover huge numbers, but where they do
    have an impact, it is very apparent how real it is. So we have
    gotten a lot of money, gotten a lot of bang for our buck, at
    least in those specific dollars.
        Now, a lot of other dollars have gone in in a more generic
    way and I am sure they have also helped promote women and
    girls. But I think to be very thoughtful about it, we have
    heard that there are differences in what has happened at the
    national level as opposed to the provincial level. I hope you
    will look at that.
        It would be interesting to know in those parts of the
    country that are more progressive, in which women's rights
    continue to be recognized and promoted and there are efforts to
    secure them. You know, are those the areas where the ANSF has
    had better ability to recruit women? I mean, is there a linkage
    there? I think it would be interesting to look at those
    prospectively.
        I also think it would be interesting to look at, a lot of
    money has come through the provincial reconstruction teams. Has
    that been an effective mechanism? Has that really worked? Or is
    the money that comes through the NGO community a better way to
    spend our dollars?
        So lots of things to look at prospectively, I mean, after
    the fact. Because as we go forward, it will help guide how we
    continue to make investments so that we can be a partner and
    continue to allow women, promote the rights of women to
    continue to fight for what they think is so important for them
    as individuals and for their country.
        Mr. Sopko. Congressman, if I can just respond briefly. As I
    mentioned to you I think yesterday, we did not get a
    satisfactory response from DOD, AID and State on what worked
    and what didn't work and why. So, I met with a number of
    smaller NGOs who are working in the provinces, working in the
    community. And actually they complained. They said, ``You are
    doing a great job, but you are tarring us with the same brush
    that these large corporations who maybe screwing up out there
    have.''
        And I heard them. I said, ``Okay, what do you think works,
    the smaller charities that are working out there, the smaller
    NGOs? You tell me.'' So they said, ``That sounds great.'' So we
    are going to be sending a letter to the smaller NGOs operating
    just to answer that type of question that you have proposed.
        Likewise, we are going to be doing a capping report on the
    PRTs [provincial reconstruction teams], what worked, what
    didn't work, and why. So, those are two projects that we are
    going to be doing in addition to our looking at how we are
    handling the funds for women and girls in Afghanistan.
        Ms. Tsongas. And Ms. Barsa, if you want to comment at all?
        Ms. Barsa. Sure. I mean, I couldn't agree with you more on
    the bang-for-your-buck question particularly. And when we are
    thinking about how to make our aid more effective, I hope that
    we think about women's integration as a key to that,
    particularly when we are looking at things like building
    legitimacy and professionalism of a police force, right, when 6
    out of 10 Afghans believe that female police are likely to
    resolve a crime more fairly than a man would, right?
        So, I think, you know----
        Ms. Tsongas. It sounds like the United States use of women
    in Congress.
        [Laughter.]
        Ms. Barsa. There are now about 400 Afghan women's NGOs
    registered in-country. And the work that they are doing is
    beyond. And the conversations that they are having with police
    commanders and ANA commanders at a provincial level are really
    what is driving change.
        They are having conversations about, you know, what the
    true nature of security threats are at a provincial level, and
    whether or not an all-male force can address those threats.
    Inevitably, the answer is no, from the male commanders
    themselves.
        And really, that is the way that you can force this change,
    both from the top down and the bottom up. So I think, you know,
    I won't comment on the PRT issue. I have maybe some of my own
    personal perspectives on that, but I certainly think that the
    assisting NGO community is a solid pathway forward on this.
        Ms. Tsongas. Mr. Katzman, quickly.
        Dr. Katzman. Well, I mean, I think we have been talking a
    lot about incentives. What does Karzai care about and what is
    his successor going to care about? Three things: arms, money
    and Pakistan. To force change on the Afghans, you need to go
    with those core interests if you want to get them to make
    reforms and keep the reforms that have been made on women
    going, on corruption. It could be anything--education,
    corruption, women. You need to work those core interests that
    they have.
        They want protection against Pakistan. They want F-16
    combat aircraft, which they are probably not going to get
    because they can't fly them. And they want a guarantee of U.S.
    money for the Afghan National Security Forces and the economy.
    So those are your levers that you are basically working with.
        The work that the NGOs are doing are great, and the problem
    is prospectively, when we are not there to basically ride them
    and oversee what the Afghans are doing. A lot of that is going
    to deteriorate. So you have to find ways to make it in their
    interest to continue that work after there are not 85,000 U.S.
    troops in Afghanistan, when there are only 8,000 U.S. troops in
    Afghanistan. That is the key to consider, I think.
        Ms. Tsongas. Thank you.
        Mrs. Roby. Okay. Just a few comments, you know, as we close
    here. You know, I just want to say first of all the women that
    were here today, all of us, have spent time, and 36 hours in
    theater is never enough time, in the--you know, only visiting
    that country once a year. But I can tell you all of us as wives
    and mothers who have little experience, if any, overcoming
    adversity on this level, as we watch these women who struggle,
    this has, you know, become a deeply personal issue for all of
    us here, particularly when you are meeting their children and
    getting to spend time with them in their country.
        And I just want to make one other comment about, you know,
    we say women and little girls, but this is just as much about
    the little boys, too. And, you know, in a country where we have
    seen life expectancy increase in a country that has been at war
    for 30-plus years, you have a generation or more that have
    never known anything but what they see every day. And, you
    know, I think it is very important to educate--not just to
    worry about the education of the little girls, but to educate
    the little boys, too, and about respecting the little girls in
    a different way.
        And so, again, I just wanted to express, you know, my--Niki
    and I were talking on the way back. I mean, you just to be
    there and to look these women in the eye and, you know, hear
    their personal stories of their struggle, it makes it very,
    very real to all of us who have participated in this hearing
    today.
        And I guess the last question I would just ask each of you
    to briefly comment on, because it is something that we struggle
    with as women in Congress, what role do you see for us as women
    in the United States Congress to play as it relates to the
    furtherance of women's rights in Afghanistan? And I will let
    you each comment on that.
        Mr. Sopko. I think what you are doing today is the most
    significant thing you can do. And it is holding people
    accountable, asking the questions, and doing the oversight.
        Ms. Barsa. I think continuing to have the conversations
    that identify this issue as core to our civilian and military
    mission in theater is really key; that it is an effort that is
    in service of mission objectives really for democracy promotion
    and countering terrorism and the provision of security for all
    Afghan men and women. And that women's participation is the key
    to ensuring women's protection in the long run.
        Dr. Katzman. Of course, CRS [Congressional Research
    Services] isn't in a position to suggest any legislation,
    obviously, but if you look at what was done during the Taliban
    regime, actually the legislation that was passed criticizing
    the Taliban was actually--on their treatment of women--way
    before anybody mentioned bin Laden or terrorism. The criticism
    of the Taliban, 1996 when they took power, was on the basis of
    their treatment of women.
        There was a Senate resolution by Senator Boxer that was
    passed. There was other legislation, a lot of legislation on
    that. And that was way before September 11 or the Africa
    embassy bombings or anything. And it basically said the Clinton
    administration should not recognize the Taliban as the
    government of Afghanistan unless and until it improves its
    treatment of women.
        So, there have been legislative models that have been
    passed that you could look at.
        Mrs. Roby. I appreciate that. And, you know, one of the
    most meaningful conversations that we have had with Afghan
    women in Afghanistan is from their position. You know, we
    cannot allow for the gains that they have made to be bartered
    away for other things. And so, you know, again, that is why we
    wanted to have this hearing.
        That is why we are going to continue to keep a close eye on
    what we are seeing happen politically because we very much
    think that this is, you know, we have our leverage, but, you
    know, there are other political interests at stake as well. And
    we have got to make sure that that is not what they use.
        So, on behalf of Ranking Member Tsongas and myself, thank
    you all for being here. This has been a very, very meaningful
    hearing today. And so thank you for your time, and we look
    forward to continuing discussions with you in the future.
        [Whereupon, at 2:44 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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                                A P P E N D I X

                                October 29, 2013

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                                October 29, 2013

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                       DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

                                October 29, 2013

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                  QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING

                                October 29, 2013

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                       QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. TSONGAS

        Ms. Tsongas. How do you intend to evaluate whether past, current,
    and future funds that were intended to support recruitment and
    retention of women in the Afghan National Security Forces were actually
    used for that purpose? Can you evaluate the impact of women-specific
    funding in cases where the funding was used for its intended purpose?
        Mr. Sopko. In August 2013, we initiated an audit of U.S. efforts to
    support Afghan women, with a focus on programs, projects, and
    initiatives the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of State, and
    USAID implemented in fiscal years 2011 through 2013. The objectives of
    the audit are to (1) identify U.S. government programs or initiatives
    to improve the rights and treatment of women in Afghanistan since
    fiscal year 2011; (2) assess the extent to which these programs and
    initiatives have been coordinated across different U.S. government
    agencies; and (3) identify challenges in addressing women's issues in
    Afghanistan and evaluate U.S. efforts to address these challenges. As
    part of this audit, we are examining U.S. efforts supporting
    recruitment and retention of women in the Afghan National Security
    Forces (ANSF). Since 2009, we have tracked the amount of funding the
    United States has appropriated and disbursed to support the ANSF
    through the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund (ASFF)--$52.78 billion
    appropriated and $43.54 billion disbursed as of August 31, 2013--and
    have been able to identify approximate funding levels for such areas as
    construction, operation and maintenance, fuel, and vehicle spare parts.
    However, we have found it difficult to determine what portion of the
    ASFF has been spent directly on recruitment and retention of women into
    the ANSF and whether funding is used for its intended purpose. As we
    note in our January 2014 Quarterly Report, while DOD has reported
    progress in recruiting women into the ANSF, women make up only 1
    percent of the Afghan National Police and less than 1 percent of the
    Afghan National Army (SIGAR, Quarterly Report to Congress, January 30,
    2014, pp. 97, 101.). Furthermore, it is methodologically difficult to
    link that increase directly to U.S. efforts and funding. Although past
    legislation has emphasized the recruitment and retention of women in
    the ANSF, and required the Secretaries of Defense and State to report
    on these efforts, Congress did not authorize or appropriate funding
    specifically for the recruitment and retention of women in the ANSF
    until fiscal year 2014. Specifically, the National Defense
    Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 authorized no less than $25
    million in funding from the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund for the
    ``recruitment, integration, retention, training and treatment'' of
    women in the ANSF. In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for
    Fiscal Year 2014 stated that not less than $25 million in appropriated
    funding for the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund shall be used for the
    ``recruitment and retention'' of women in the ANSF. To the extent
    possible, we will examine the Department of Defense's plans for using
    these funds during the course of our ongoing audit. In its regular
    Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, DOD
    provides details on its efforts to support women in the ANSF, including
    recruitment numbers, but the department does not include specific data
    on funding for these efforts. However, in response to a request for
    information submitted during our audit, DOD provided the following
    examples of funding specifically for women in the ANSF:
          The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan
    (CSTC-A) provided $100,000 to the Ministry of Defense (MOD) to be used
    for Women's Recruiting and Advertising.
          As part of the overall National Military Academy of
    Afghanistan (NMAA) facilities management budget, CSTC-A provided
    $13,000 to complete the female cadet training field. As of October 1,
    2013, the project had not been completed.
          CSTC-A provided $4,400 of gym equipment for the NMAA
    female cadets, which was delivered on September 29, 2013. We are
    currently working with DOD to verify this information. We will continue
    to identify other efforts to support the recruitment and retention of
    women in the ANSF and associated funding, if possible, as part of our
    ongoing audit. We anticipate issuing a final report in summer 2014.
        Ms. Tsongas. In December 2011, President Obama issued the first-
    ever U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, (U.S.
    NAP) making a firm commitment to empowering women as equal partners in
    preventing conflict and building sustainable peace around the world in
    countries threatened and affected by war, violence and insecurity. The
    resulting executive order directed the U.S. Department of State,
    Department of Defense, USAID, and other agencies to develop and
    implement strategies to ensure women's participation in preventing
    conflict and keeping peace. In her October 18th speech to the UN
    Security Council, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha
    Powers affirmed the principle that ``women's participation in conflict
    prevention, mitigation, and recovery is vital to the maintenance of
    international security and peace. Not a sideshow, but vital;'' and
    further stated that we must take ``concrete steps so that women share
    fully in efforts to avoid and contain conflict, just as they inevitably
    share in the suffering when such efforts are poorly designed or when
    they fail.''
        Can you please describe to the Committee to what extent SIGAR
    applies a gender perspective, such as the collection of sex-
    disaggregated data or analysis of the unique impact of U.S. foreign
    policies and practices on Afghan women, in its oversight activities? Is
    there a way for you to measure whether Afghan women are fully and
    effectively participating in the peace building and political
    transition processes in Afghanistan?
        Mr. Sopko. As part of our ongoing audit of U.S. efforts in support
    of Afghan women, we are reviewing the Department of Defense's (DOD),
    Department of State's, and USAID's implementation plans developed in
    accordance with the United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace,
    and Security (NAP), actions taken to implement those plans in
    Afghanistan, and the extent to which these agencies assess their
    progress in implementing the NAP. (The goal of the NAP is to empower
    half the world's population as equal partners in preventing conflict
    and building peace in countries threatened and affected by war,
    violence, and insecurity. The plan describes the course the United
    States Government will take to accelerate, institutionalize, and better
    coordinate our efforts to advance women's inclusion in peace
    negotiations, peace-building activities, and conflict prevention; to
    protect women from sexual and gender-based violence; and to ensure
    equal access to relief and recovery assistance, in areas of conflict
    and insecurity.). We are also assessing the extent to which DOD, State,
    and USAID sex-disaggregate their data and/or analyses of the impacts
    the identified programs, projects, and initiatives have had on Afghan
    women. Our assessment will include a high-level review of each agency's
    monitoring and evaluation efforts. Because this is a sector-wide audit,
    we do not intend to delve too deeply into each program, project, or
    initiative, though we might highlight specific efforts through case
    studies.
        In addition to our audit of U.S. efforts in support of Afghan
    women, we are also auditing the U.S. government's efforts to assist and
    improve the Afghan education sector. This may identify programs focused
    on education of women and girls. As part of our quarterly reports, we
    collect data and reports from DOD, State, and USAID on programs and
    issues related to Afghan women, such as the Afghan government's
    progress in recruiting women into the Afghan National Army and Afghan
    National Police and implementing of the Elimination of Violence Against
    Women law, as well as women's participation in the upcoming elections.

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