The Taliban celebrated three years since their return to power at a former U.S. air base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, with little mention of the country's hardships or promises of hope for its struggling people.
Supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada was not present at the celebrations in Bagram, once the epicentre of America's war to topple the Taliban and hunt down al-Qaeda members involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks. Women were barred from attending.
Afghan women still face strict restrictions.
Head of the United Nations Office for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) for Afghanistan, Alison Davidian, briefed on the Afghanistan gender profile 2024 via teleconference from Kabul on Tuesday (13/8).
Regarding the UN Women report, Davidian said, “Today, there are no women in Afghanistan who hold leadership positions anywhere that have political influence, either at the national or provincial level.
When women were included in the Taliban structure, their role was mostly to monitor other women’s compliance with decisions against them that were discriminatory in nature. This erasure of political roles was truly reflected at the social level.”
Davidian added that a woman in Afghanistan could technically run for president three years ago. But today, Afghan women may not even be able to decide when to go and buy groceries.
“The Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls will affect future generations,” she explained.
He said various analyses showed that by 2026, the impact of restrictions that caused 1.1 million girls to drop out of school and 100 thousand women not to continue their education to university was correlated with an increase in early pregnancy by 45 percent and maternal mortality rates by 50 percent.
Davidian also said the world is watching what is happening to Afghan women, in some cases to condemn it, but in others to emulate the Taliban's systematic oppression, she said.
“We cannot let Afghan women fight alone. If we do, we have no moral ground to fight for women's rights elsewhere. Their fate determines the fate of women everywhere,” continued Davidian.
Aid agencies warn that humanitarian efforts in the country are woefully underfunded as Afghanistan’s economy collapses and climate change destroys people’s livelihoods. They also say that Afghans, especially women and girls, will suffer if there is not more diplomatic dialogue with the Taliban. No country has yet recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government. (uh/jm)
