Taliban divided on restoring women’s rights: United Nations

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United Nations : A delegation led by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammad urged the Taliban to restore the rights of women and girls during a four-day visit to Afghanistan. A UN spokesman said that some Taliban officials were in favor of restoring women’s rights, but others were categorically against it.

The UN team met the Taliban in the capital Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar. However, it did not release the names of any Taliban officials involved in the meeting. The meetings focused on restrictions imposed on women and girls after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the team, led by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammad, found that the attitude of some Taliban officials was “cooperative and they have seen some signs of progress”.

“The important thing is to reconcile with those (Taliban) officials who were positive in their approach,” he said. Haq emphasized that there are “many different points of authority” among the Taliban and the UN team would like them to work together on our goals, the most important of which is to restore the rights of women and girls. Mohammed is a former Nigerian cabinet minister and a Muslim.

The visit, led by him, also included Sima Bahous, the executive director of UN Women. UN Women works for gender equality and women’s rights. Along with this, Khalid Khyari, Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs was also involved in this visit. As the Taliban did during its previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, it has gradually reimposed its harsher interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. Girls are barred from school after the sixth grade and women are banned from most jobs, public places and gyms. In late December, the Taliban barred aid groups from employing women. This took away the livelihood of thousands of women working for aid organizations in the war-torn country.

Women have been allowed limited work in some sectors, including the health sector. “What we’ve seen in terms of women and girls is a retrograde step,” Haque said. We are trying to do more and we will continue to work on that front. In a statement, Mohammad said his message to the Taliban was very clear: “These sanctions will lead Afghan women and girls to a future that confines them to their homes, violates their rights, and destroys their communities.” shall be deprived of his services.

He said, “Our collective ambition is for a prosperous Afghanistan, which lives at peace with itself as well as with its neighbors and moves forward on the path of sustainable development. But right now, Afghanistan is facing a dire humanitarian crisis. The visit also included a visit to western Herat. During this, Mohamed’s team also met humanitarian workers, civil society representatives and women in the three cities.

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