Afghan Taliban at odds over women’s rights, UN

A UN delegation led by a senior female official concluded a four-day visit to Kabul, Kandahar and Herat on Friday to assess the situation of women first-hand. The delegation urged the Taliban administration to end the ongoing actions against women and girls.

A UN spokesman said after the visit that some Taliban officials were open-minded about women’s rights, but others were outspokenly opposed. He, however, did not reveal the name of any Taliban official who met the delegation.

UN spokesman Farhan Haq said the meetings focused on the withdrawal of US and NATO forces after a 20-year war and restrictions on women and girls imposed by the Taliban after taking control of power in August 2021. done

Farhan Haq said the visiting delegation led by UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammad found that “some Taliban officials have shown cooperation and have shown some signs of progress.” According to the spokesman, “The important thing is to reconcile with those (Taliban) officials who were willing to listen to them as opposed to the hardline officials.”

Farhan Haq stressed, “There is a difference of opinion among the Taliban regarding the empowerment of women and that the UN team will try to work together to advance the goals that we want and The most important of which is to fully reintegrate women and girls into society and restore their rights.”

Former Nigerian minister Amina Mohammed was accompanied by UN Women Executive Director for Gender Equality and Women’s Rights Seema Bahous and Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Khalid Khyari.

After taking control of the government in 2021, the Taliban have gradually reimposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, as they did during their first term in power, barring girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and restricting women from working, public Places and going to the gym were banned.

In December last year, the Taliban also banned women from joining international aid organizations, paralyzing aid operations that were helping to keep millions of Afghans alive.

This ban by the Taliban has posed a threat to humanitarian services across the country. In addition, thousands of women working for aid organizations in the war-torn country are losing their income, which they desperately need to support their families.

The Taliban, however, have allowed women to work in limited areas, including the health sector. Farhan Haq said, “What we have seen in terms of basic rights of women and girls is a huge step backwards. We are trying to do more and we will continue to work on this front.”

“Their message to the Taliban was very clear that these restrictions are pushing Afghan women and girls into a future that will imprison them in their homes and deny them their rights,” Amini Mohammad said in a statement later. It is a violation. These restrictions deprive communities of their services.”

He emphasized that the delivery of humanitarian aid is based on the principle of unhindered and safe access for all aid workers, including women.

Amina Mohammad said, “Our collective desire is for Afghanistan to be a prosperous country that enjoys peace with itself and its neighbors and is on the path of sustainable development, but currently Afghanistan is facing a terrible humanitarian crisis and climate change.” “Isolates itself despite being one of the most vulnerable countries on the planet.”

During this visit, the UN delegation also visited the western city of Herat and met with humanitarian workers, civil society representatives and women in the three cities. Before reaching Kabul, the members of this delegation had visited Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey in addition to the Muslim countries of the Middle East.

He met with the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Islamic Development Bank and Afghan women’s groups in Ankara and Islamabad, as well as a group of Afghan ambassadors and special envoys based in Doha.

It should be noted that no country in the world has recognized the Taliban government so far and its seat in the United Nations is held by the former Afghan government led by Ashraf Ghani.