As the two-year anniversary of the Taliban takeover approaches, the UN released a report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan. The report highlights increased restrictions on the freedom of Afghan women and girls. The Taliban has also firmly enforced limitations on women’s freedom of movement and employment. Despite promises of being more moderate than […]
The Taliban in Afghanistan seeks instructors from Pakistan for Afghan youth but denies local teachers job opportunities.
Taliban officials in Kabul have asked Pakistan to send teachers to Afghanistan, meanwhile firing thousands of Afghan professionals and staff members at academic institutions across the country. The Taliban Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohammed Nadeem, announced calls to Pakistan to send teachers to Afghanistan. Nadeem requested a meeting with Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan, Obaid […]
The Taliban shut down teacher training centers, leaving thousands out of jobs. The majority of the student were women.
The Taliban announced it will shut down teacher training centers throughout the country, leaving 4,000 Afghan professionals running the centers without jobs. Historically, a majority of trainees and aspiring teachers at teacher training centers were women until the Taliban took control of the government. Many of them have been subjected to a ban by the […]
With increasing Taliban restrictions against Afghan women, the mental health crisis worsens. “I feel like an empty shell of a human being.”
For nearly two years, Afghan women find themselves at the forefront of a mental health crisis over the bleak outlook for their future and the future of their country. Afghan women and girls in Afghanistan are suffering from depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, as a direct result of being forced into isolation by the Taliban. […]
Afghan women barred from beauty salons in latest Taliban edict: “Don’t we have the right to work or live?”
The Taliban has decided in their latest announcement to outlaw women’s beauty salons in Afghanistan. This follows restrictions on many rights and freedoms for Afghan women in education, employment and public spaces. The order came from Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada and was publicly declared by the Virtue and Vice Ministry. There was no reason […]
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has challenged traditional perceptions of gender, while also exacerbating inequalities
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, gender gaps in education, poverty, and gender-based violence have increasingly widened for Ukrainian women. The war has shifted the traditional understanding of gender dynamics in Ukraine as women fill positions left behind by men being drafted into the military. This has greatly expanded women’s role […]
Facing Restrictions on Freedom and Rights, Afghanistan Ranks as the Unhappiest Country in the World
Afghanistan ranks as the unhappiest country in the world another year in a row, in the latest annual Gallup World Happiness Report. The report specifically noted that life for people in Afghanistan one year after the Taliban rose to power has declined. Gallup surveyed adults in 142 countries and areas in 2022 about different negative […]
Amid the health and economic crisis in Afghanistan, the Taliban refuses to help. Instead, blames the US and others.
Eid al-Adha is usually a time of celebration for Muslims around the world. In Afghanistan, however, people are struggling to afford basic necessities due to the intense economic crisis. After decades of conflict, natural disasters, and other economic challenges, poverty runs rampant throughout the country. As a result, many Afghans are struggling to find jobs […]
Afghan men demand the right of women to pursue higher education. They say, “we need female and male doctors.”
At a graduation ceremony, 146 graduates from Paktia University Medical School walked the stage. There was not a single female graduate among them. Graduates of the medical school used this day as a moment to call for the Taliban to open up schools and universities for girls immediately, asserting that “girls also have the right […]
The Taliban “Suggests” the UN replace its national Afghan women staff with men. The UN says it is “steadfast” not to replace Afghan women with men.
In a recent meeting, the UN Envoy for Afghanistan told the UN Security Council that the Taliban, “act against the key values expressed in the United Nations Charter.” Roza Otunbayeva stated that while the Taliban wants to be recognized by the UN and its 192 member nations, the group continues to imposes restrictions against the […]
Afghan lawyers and judges are being persecuted by the Taliban. It threatens Afghan women, the justice system, and the rule of law.
The dangers facing Afghanistan’s judicial system began immediately after the Taliban takeover of the government in Afghanistan and has only been intensifying in the past nearly two years. In recent days, the threats and the persecution of the former judicial system employees have intensified even further, raising alarm among human rights organizations. The Taliban’s blatant […]
UN Report Highlights Gender Apartheid against Afghan Women
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recently released a report describing the challenges facing women and girls in Afghanistan as “gender apartheid” and that it should be called a “crime.” Co-authored by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan and the Working Group on discrimination against […]
UN Report: Acute Starvation Grips Afghanistan, Affecting Women and Children
Food insecurity, acute starvation, and hunger continue to plague numerous regions worldwide, with Afghanistan ranking among the most affected countries. U.N. agencies have sounded the alarm about the risk of starvation in eight nations, including Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, Haiti, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and […]
Taliban Orders International Organizations to Stop all Education Programs in Afghanistan
A new order from the Taliban demands that all international organizations providing education in Afghanistan stop their activities in a month and hand them over to local groups. A WhatsApp voice note began circulating among the Afghan networks on Wednesday, in which the official, purportedly a senior education official of the Taliban in Kabul, demands […]
Afghan Women Tell Special Envoys Not to Recognize the Taliban and “Refrain from Compromising our Rights.”
In a meeting with some special envoys of a few countries for Afghanistan, Afghan women emphasized that Taliban recognition should not be up for debate and that anything about Afghanistan should be consulted with Afghan women. Over 60 Afghan women representing diverse advocacy groups and coalitions met with the special envoys from Qatar, United Arab […]
Afghan Women Leaders Ask the UN Not to Recognize the Taliban
In an open letter to the United Nations leadership, UN Security Council, and member states, Afghan women demand that they stand “firm on their commitment” to not recognizing the Taliban as the official rulers of Afghanistan. The Taliban took power by force on August 15, 2021, and since their return, they have systematically violated the […]
Taliban barred women from working with the UN in Afghanistan. UN condemns and reviews its presence in Afghanistan.
The United Nations announced today in a statement that it is reviewing its “operational presence” in Afghanistan after the Taliban barred its women staff from working at the agency. The UN unequivocally condemns the decision, calling it “unacceptable” and “unlawful.” Last week, the Taliban authorities informed the UN that women employees of the UN would […]
Taliban Arrests Prominent Education Activist
This week the new academic year began in Afghanistan, and girls were once again denied their fundamental right to education. Schools only reopened for boys. The Taliban also arrested a long-time respected education activist for all kids across Afghanistan. Matiullah Wesa has spent years traveling to some of the most remote areas, promoting education for […]
Afghan women demand that the world listens to them and does not forget them.
As people worldwide reflect on the achievements of women this International Women’s Day, millions of Afghan women and girls are mourning the loss of their basic human rights and freedoms. They call on the world to listen to them and give them a central role in any discussion about their country. Since the Taliban took […]
Iranian Women Leading Unprecedented Protests
“Woman. Life. Freedom.” This is the chant that has been heard around the world as Iranian women lead an unprecedented revolution for freedom in their country. The nationwide protests were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of the morality police after she was arrested for not properly wearing […]
