Afghanistan: Constitutional Commission includes seven women

A preliminary draft of the constitution was completed last November by an eight-member committee headed by Vice President Nayiamatullah Shahrani, according to the Associated Press. The new commission will spend a month refining the draft, and then they will solicit the views of selected Afghans across the country and incorporate their suggestions in the final draft to be presented to the loya jirga in October, AP reports.

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and Ministry of Women's Affairs have made several recommendations to the commission working on the constitution to improve the status of women, including provisions to guarantee women's rights, give women full citizenship, increase the age for marriage, and implement compulsory education for girls and boys. In addition, the institutions are urging that the constitution serve as the law of the land, above custom or local rule.