KABUL (Khaama Press): On International Women’s Day, the United Nations in Afghanistan once more called on the country’s de facto authorities to remove the gender-based restrictions on the fundamental rights of Afghan women and girls.
March 8, marks International Women’s Day throughout the world – and is featured to appreciate women’s achievements in social, political, cultural, and other walks of life. Whereas in Afghanistan, women and girls have been barred from their basic natural rights to attend education, work, and the public environment.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, the ruling regime has issued a series of decrees adversely affecting Afghan women and girls by being trapped in their homes. These gender-based restrictions have barred women and girls to access education, working, or participating in public life, which can be considered human rights violations.
“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights, and it has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” said Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Otunbayeva further added, “confining half of the country’s population to their homes in one of the world’s largest humanitarian and economic crises is a colossal act of national self-harm. It will further isolate Afghanistan from its own citizens and from the rest of the world,”.
In September 2021, the de facto authorities suspended girls’ secondary education, and in December 2022, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education suspended university education for women. Taliban authorities have repeatedly said the issue of girls’ education is a temporary ban and will be resolved in a timely manner, however, no progress has been visible yet.
“Afghan women have shown incredible courage and resilience in the face of their ongoing and systematic erasure,” said Alison Davidian, Special Representative for UN Women in Afghanistan.
In the wake of the new academic year, universities and educational institutions reopened on March 6, 2023, in Afghanistan, but only for male students, which prompted massive reactions from the international community and the people of Afghanistan. The repressive policies of the ruling regime against women and girls continue with no prospect, and no hope to change for the better in the near future.