Two human rights activists have warned in an article published in the International Diplomat magazine that the lack of action from the global community will deprive Afghan women and girls of the opportunity to shape their own destiny.
The article, authored by Nazila Jamshidi, a women’s rights activist, and Annie Forsheimer, a former U.S. diplomat, was published today (Tuesday, April 15) and states that four years after the takeover of the interim government in Afghanistan, the situation for women and girls has deteriorated unprecedentedly, while the world has remained completely silent.
The authors emphasize that the current government has effectively excluded women from public, educational, work, and even healthcare sectors through the imposition of strict and restrictive laws.
Furthermore, the article warns that depriving women of medical education amidst a severe health crisis and rising maternal mortality could have catastrophic consequences for Afghanistan, particularly for women and children.
The authors have called on the United Nations to formally include Afghan women and girls in discussions with the current government so that they can determine their own fate.
They have described the UN’s proposed plan for a “comprehensive approach in Afghanistan” as unsuccessful and opaque, adding that this plan could dangerously undermine the last remaining leverage of the global community.
Ms. Jamshidi and Forsheimer have pointed out that there has yet to be any transparent and consultative process involving Afghans, particularly women, in this plan, and the role of the Afghan people has alarmingly been reduced to that of “stakeholders.”
They stressed that overlooking the rights of Afghan women and girls while granting quick and irreversible concessions to the current government will only perpetuate oppression and legitimacy.
While they criticize the dire situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, it is noted that since their return to power, the interim government has closed girls’ schools above the sixth grade, and there are no signs of changing this policy in the new academic year.
This action by the current government has left millions of female students without access to education.
Additionally, women have been banned from going to sports clubs, restaurants, public baths, being examined by male doctors, traveling without a male guardian, working in domestic and international NGOs, and even in UN offices in Afghanistan.
