Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) released the findings of its latest public opinion survey report titled: Afghan people’s attitudes and perceptions towards peace talks between the Government and the Taliban. The main objective of the survey was to analyze and examine the views and interpretation of the Afghan people on the process and nature of peace talks with the Taliban which has been initiated by the government of Afghanistan.

The survey key findings indicate that respondents (1,540 people) believe that the amount of the success of the National Unity Government to establish peace is 28.61%. While major concerns of the respondents about government’s reconciliation with the Taliban are: Compromising the rights of the people (25%), Failing to bring peace (20%), lack of transparency in the peace process (19%), as well as ignoring the women’s rights (14.3%) and disregarding the Constitution is (13.7%).

Other key findings of the survey also specify that 60.2% of the respondents believe that after peace with the Taliban “status of women will get worse”. However, 10.8% of them think that “status of women will get better”. While 18.7% of the respondents believe that “status of women will not change”.

A final key point in this survey shows that 63.3% of the respondents considered it appropriate to call the Taliban as “enemy” (24.4%), “terrorist” (19.9%), and “mercenaries” (19%). Only 1.8% of them were agreed to title the Taliban as “Mujahidin”.

The survey was conducted in fifteen provinces of Afghanistan including Kabul, Herat, Balkh, Kandahar, Bamyan, Badghis, Nangarhar, Badakhshan, Kunduz, Nangarhar, Jawzjan, Ghor, Zabul, Helmand, Paktia and Ghazni. The survey methodology was descriptive in nature and structured questionnaire was the main tool of data collection. The target respondents were limited to individuals over 18 years old and in aggregate the study covered 1540 respondents across the target provinces. The statistical bases for the respondents’ sampling were official data from the afghan governmental institutions as well as other national and international agencies.