HBS is committed to promoting equal rights of all citizens to participate in societal and political processes. While half of the population is female women are underrepresented in politics, economy and nearly all other spheres of public life. This is a big loss of capacity, and more than often the exclusion of women leads to a situation in which their interests are represented insufficiently or ignored. HBS is therefore working on women empowerment and at the same time trying to create more space for women to participate.
In all our projects, we are following a gender sensitive approach.  We have a wide range of partner organizations doing research and advocacy to improve the situation for the women in the country.  With “Afghanistan’s Parliament in the Making” HBS in 2009 published a study carried out in cooperation with UNIFEM that shed more light on women’s interests and engagement as representatives of a constituency.   
Eight years after the fall of the Taliban regime, the increasing violence and concessions toward conservative trends in society threaten the achievements that have been made with regard to women’s rights. There are many strong and engaged women in Afghanistan, however.  We try to make their voices heard in and outside the country.