I was shocked hearing the awful in cidence of an innocent 16-year-old adolescent girl lashed in public on flawed accusation of having illicit relationship with a man, freed having paid 80,000 Afs as punishment, by a mullah's biased verdict.
The story depicts the worst state of social justice, based on gender inequality in one facet and the power being exercised by communal authorities fraught with prejudices and faded influence of state's formal justice system on the other. There are hundred of identical happenings in remote Afghanistan going veiled on daily basis.
The role of the Afghan state justice institutions in maintaining rule of law and social orders is relatively weak. This particularly applies to rural Afghanistan, where almost 80% of the Afghan population lives in. Traditional justice system is active by default in many parts the country, being more powerful in southern, eastern and central parts of the country where state justice institutions have nominal existence.
The system is composed of customary/tribal institutions of decision making and dispute resolutions that incorporate the prevalent local customary law, institutionalized ritual and remediation. The members of these entities are village elders, influential leaders and religious leaders.
Due to the weakness of the formal justice system in Afghanistan, however, in many communities traditional justice systems operate by default as the only justice system. Community leaders are sometimes uncertain about how certain practices have come to be accepted in their communities elders will say that the values are religious values, and religious leaders identify the same values as cultural, coming from the elders. This can occur particularly with harmful cultural practices, such as forced marriage, or payment of a girl as compensation or restitution.
The delayed, denied or plagued legal justice system has left people with a single option of consulting traditional justice system. Many people view the formal justice system as foreign, corrupt, ineffective, expensive or geographically difficult to access.
For these reasons, in many communities, traditional justice systems are used exclusively or at least far more frequently than the formal justice system. The fallacious perception preaching traditional justice can be an effective way of managing disputes and maintaining peace and stability within communities, in the absence of a genuine alternative legal system can't be ruled out.
Having found the dreadful breach of social justice, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) urges, the social justice in Afghanistan needs to be protected and improved. Nearly 36 per cent of Afghans are now living under the poverty line and 40 per cent of Afghans are unemployed. Some human rights activists believe that corrupt government officials, unemployment, poverty, lack of development, economic problems and insecurity are challenges that need to be overcome to improve social justice in Afghanistan.
Social justice means an equal and fair opportunity for everyone to live in just conditions of the society. It envisages rights regarding social, economic and political matters for the all over development of a person to live a healthy social life.
It is preliminary that the essence of Social justice based on the values of fairness, equality, respect for diversity, access to social protection, and the application of human rights in all spheres of life, including in the workplace is publicized both in words and action. Lack of social justice anywhere is an affront to us all.
Social justice provides the foundation for a healthy community. It grows out of our sense that each person and each created being has value. Only as we recognize the value and dignity of each person can we build a healthy community, so it's a slow, painful process of learning and growing. To help the process along we develop attitudes of respect for one another.
We also shape policies and patterns of behavior to protect and enhance the worth of each person. We do this by building governmental and economic structures, educational and reformed religious institutions, and all the other systems that provide for health and social welfare. This justice is not a goal that we'll ever reach, but a process, a struggle in which we can be engaged through all the pain and all the joy.
As recognized by the World Summit, social development aims at social justice, solidarity, harmony and equality within and among countries and social justice, equality and equity constitute the fundamental values of all societies. To achieve "a society for all" governments has to make a commitment to the creation of a framework for action to promote social justice at regional, national and international levels.
It should also be pledged promoting equitable distribution of income and greater access to resources through equity and equality and opportunity for all. The government must recognize that economic growth should promote equity and social justice and that "a society for all" must be based on social justice and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Social justice is exercised within a society, particularly as it is exercised by and among the various social classes of that society. A socially just society is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, understands and value human rights, and recognizes the dignity of every human being.
The call for a major push putting a country on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) must be responded, by seeking to slash a host of social ills, from extreme poverty and hunger to maternal and infant mortality, to lack of access to education and health care, all by 2015, which are United Nation's key means of bringing social justice and development together to benefit the poorest and most vulnerable.
Pressing the immense significance of social justice, the General Assembly proclaimed 20 February as World Day of Social Justice in 2007, inviting Member States to devote the day to promoting national activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development.
The day lays strong emphasis over observance of World Day of Social Justice to support efforts of the international community in poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice for all.
The pursuit of social justice for the United Nations, for all is at the core of our global mission to promote development and human dignity. The adoption by the International Labour Organization of the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization is just one recent example of the UN system's commitment to social justice. The Declaration focuses on guaranteeing fair outcomes for all through employment, social protection, social dialogue, and fundamental principles and rights at work.
A prosperous Afghanistan's dream can be transformed into reality ascertaining social justice's underlying principle for peaceful and harmonious coexistence within communities and among nations. The government should uphold the principles of social justice to promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples including minorities.
The government should advance social justice to remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, disability and replacing traditional with legal justice system. The noteworthy is that only legal justice saves a person from arbitrariness of course and ensures provision of justice to anyone, anywhere.