The United States has once again expressed concern over women’s rights and the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
The deputy spokesperson for the State Department said that the US government has made it clear to the “Taliban” that the current situation in Afghanistan is “unacceptable” for Washington.
“Its [Islamic Emirate’s] treatment of women and girls, its lack of human rights, basic human rights in everyday society, continues to be something of great concern to us and something that we have continued to make clear to the Taliban is unacceptable to us as it goes about its own desired journey for legitimacy,” said Vedant Patel, the deputy spokesperson for the State Department.
The Islamic Emirate has said such concerns are baseless, and that women’s rights are respected.
“Women are enjoying the rights given to them by Islamic Sharia. As far as the rights to education and work are concerned, they have not been denied totally and efforts are underway for them to be granted. This is an internal issue of Afghanistan and has nothing to do with the US,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate.
Although the Islamic Emirate has always denied women’s rights violations, women’s rights activists asked the caretaker government to remove restrictions imposed on Afghan women and girls.
“These concerns of the US and other countries will not be effective until the Islamic Emirate makes a decision about women’s rights,” Tafseer Seyaposh, a women rights activist said.
UNAMA in its January 22nd quarterly report expressed deep concerns about Afghanistan, women’s and human rights, the expulsion of Afghan refugees, the continuation of detentions and other related issues but the Islamic Emirate reacted to the report saying that they [the interim government] will not compromise on implementing Sharia law in the country.
With the one-year ban on women working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report that the ban on women working in NGOs in Afghanistan has had a major impact on the country’s economy.
According to this report, the economy of Afghanistan “a country that relies on humanitarian aid” is currently deteriorating due to the ban on women’s work.
“In the future, we must build a good economy in cooperation with women, and the Islamic Emirate must build a proper mechanism and provide work for women in government offices so that women can serve in society,” said Mohammad Nabi Afghan, an economic expert.
December 24th is the one-year anniversary of the prohibition of women from working in non-governmental organizations.
A number of women want the Islamic Emirate to provide working opportunities in various sectors.
Rozita, 40, the only breadwinner of her 6-member family who used to work in non-governmental organizations and is now unemployed, is busy preparing Afghan food in Kabul. She called on the Islamic Emirate to provide women with the opportunity to work in the country.
“I am the breadwinner of my own house. There are six of us in the family, I came here because of the poor economy, and we opened a restaurant here,” Rozita said.
But the Islamic Emirate said that women are working where they are needed.
The spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, Zabihullah Mujahid said: “About 150,000 of our sisters are busy working in the health sector; our sisters work in education, in higher education, in the police, in Tazkira authorities and in other sectors where they are needed, such as airfields. In parts that our sisters cannot work, their wages are paid at home.”
On December 24, 2022, the Ministry of Economy in a letter ordered domestic and foreign non-governmental organizations to suspend the duties of female employees until further notice, which has been accompanied by domestic and foreign reactions.—Tolonews
