Martin Fraser, Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, says the international community and international organizations must not remain silent about the situation of women in Afghanistan.
Fraser met with Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, and discussed the country’s human rights situation.
The Irish ambassador stressed that Bennett’s work monitoring human rights and reporting violations in Afghanistan plays an important role in supporting efforts to ensure accountability and keep the issue on the international community’s agenda.
He said these efforts are particularly important for keeping a spotlight on the widespread discrimination faced by Afghan women and girls.
A number of countries have repeatedly expressed concern about restrictions on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and called for them to be lifted.
Since taking control of Afghanistan, the de facto authorities have barred women and girls from education. Most recently, they closed medical institutes to women and girls, despite a shortage of health-care workers across the country.
The authorities’ actions have left millions of school-age girls unable to continue their education.
Women have also been barred from going to sports clubs, restaurants and public baths; being examined by male doctors; travelling without a male guardian; and working for domestic and international nongovernmental organizations, as well as UN offices in Afghanistan.
According to reports, if the ban remains in place, nearly four million girls could be deprived of an education by 2030.
