The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

"This decision does not mean there is discrimination here, or that the activities of the United Nations are blocked. On the contrary, we are committed to all the rights of all our countrymen, taking into account their religious and cultural interests."

"Considering the emergency situation in Afghanistan, it is necessary for the member countries of the United Nations to resolve the problem of frozen Afghan assets, banking, travel bans and other restrictions as soon as possible so that Afghanistan can progress in economic, political and security areas."

"Afghans have the capacity to stand on their own feet."

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

UN officials met with the Taliban's higher education minister, at left, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 7, 2023 to discuss the country's ban on women attending universities. The organization said Tuesday that the Taliban has since barred its female staffers from working. (Taliban Higher Education Ministry/The Associated Press)

 

A week ago the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan further restricted women's human rights. Initially, when the Taliban took Kabul, they assured the world looking on, that they had every intention of respecting the human rights of women and girls. Presenting themselves as moderately reasonable, in the face of the reputation the first Taliban rule which imposed draconian laws against women seen in public without a male escort. Women were strictly forbidden from being seen without the all-enveloping burqas.

Women were forbidden to hold jobs outside their homes; paid work not for women, even widows without any means of income that could sustain the necessities of life. Child 'brides', a customary Islamist process of engineering girls into early motherhood, was rife. Education for girls was prohibited. Women in ill health could not be examined by male physicians. Women-only hospitals staffed by female physicians and surgeons who during surgeries were forced to wear that same burqa.

 

Afghan women chant slogans during a protest against the Taliban's ban on university education for women in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. The country's Taliban-run administration ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organizations to suspend employing women. (The Associated Press)

 

While the Taliban was busy assuring the global community that it had matured its outlook and was willing to recognize the human rights of women and girls, those same women and girls knew differently. The Taliban's reassurance to the outside world was meant to forestall international involvement in the country's internal affairs as much as to convince global investment to continue its presence in Afghanistan. It took little time before the frail effort to convince the world that the Taliban was anything but the Taliban prevailed.

First to feel the sharp cut of the Islamist sabre were the former government's civil servants, all those who cooperated with the foreign intervenors representing the international community which had ousted the Taliban in search of Osama bin Laden. People were hunted down as traitors to fundamentalist Islam and to Afghanistan. Those that were able to flee to Turkey and Pakistan did, while the former NATO- and U.S.-led coalition members airlifted Afghans known to have assisted them as translators and other workers to safety abroad.

 

Afghan women are protesting against the Taliban’s decision to ban them from the country’s universities. Despite the growing global backlash over the regime's attack on women's rights, the Taliban is refusing to back down.

 

Those Afghans who live under Taliban rule suffer privation and hunger and fear. International NGOs installed themselves to offer humanitarian aid. And then came the pronouncement that Afghan women could no longer work for NGOs. Women attending universities were denied the privilege of returning to classes, joining younger women for whom high school education had previously been forbidden. Now, a week ago the Taliban announced that female Afghan staffers employed with the UN may no longer report for work.

 

In response the United Nations protested the decision, as unlawful and a violation of women's rights. Women, the UN stressed, have been essential for delivering life-saving assistance to millions of Afghans. The UN took the step of instructing its national staff both men and women to remain at home. The response to which was a denial by Taliban authorities that they were responsible for Afghanistan's multiple humanitarian crises. Such decisions as that decried by the UN, they point out, was an internal matter, requiring respect.

 

In the wake of the Taliban takeover of the country and the following economic collapse, aid agencies' role has been crucial in the provision of food, education and health care support. Distribution has been a problem, severely affected by the Taliban edict that banned women from working at non-governmental organizations; citing that they weren't wearing the hijab correctly, or following gender segregation rules.

 

Members of the Taliban stand guard at the entrance gate of Kabul University in Kabul a day after the Taliban said female students would not be allowed access to the country's universities until further notice. (Ali Khara/Reuters)