EQUALITY for Peace and Development on 9^th November 2016, conducted a public outreach session with participation of 65 members including representatives of civil society actors, high office of oversight and anti-corruption, Kabul provincial members, representatives of governmental institutions, Kabul’s Provincial Women Network (PWN), media, university students and men, women and youth of the community in general.

The program was inaugurated by a speech delivered by Mr. Edrees Omarzad (Executive Director at EPD) on main objective of the program. He emphasized on importance of women political participation and explained about EPDs effort for enhancing interaction between the government and public.

It is worth mentioning that EPD has carried out a comprehensive research on gendered aspects of political corruption. During this research 105 parliamentarian members were surveyed and covered such topics as women in Afghan parliament, women political participation outside parliament, corruption and its type and strategies for anticorruption and administrative reforms. During this program, the main findings of this research report were presented by Mr. Shirshah Sadeq Azad, EPDs master trainer. Prior to this EPD has shared these findings with the provincial council members and possible candidates for next parliamentarian election within two rounds of trainings in Kabul, Nangarhar, Herat, Kunduz, Bamyan, Faryab and Kandahar.

Ms. Sharifa Shirzad Allahdad (acting head of Kabul Provincial Council) conducted speech on importance of women’s role on politics. She emphasized that as women are less inclined to bribery and corruption, their presence in politics can significantly decrease rate of corruption.

EPD believes that better communication between government and the public can represent citizens’ interest and promotes transparency. Furthermore, such interactions help representatives successfully fulfill their roles, as well as provide information that can help them better execute their oversight and law-making roles. EPD through this outreach session provided this opportunity for the public to directly talk with their political representatives in particular Kabul provincial members and share their opinions and raise their concerns. In conclusion, the questions posed by the attendees were answered by the provincial council member and other prominent guests.