The age-old Islamic ideology of curtailing women’s freedom is again on its high. The Ministry of Economics of Afghanistan has enforced the decree prohibiting women from working for national or International NGOs. The measures regarding the implementation of this decree have also been issued. The Afghanistan Government has also warned that it will revoke the licence of NGO’s employing women. However, this revocation is limited to employing Afghan women only.
The seizure of women’s rights by Afghanistan Government-
On the one hand, Saudi Arabia, where Islam originated, has started giving basic civil and political rights to women, which is appreciable and on the other hand, we have Afghanistan which has banned women from working for NGOs, previously it has also closed the doors of Universities for women. Since the change of Government in Afghanistan the education, healthcare, profession, work and movement of women and girls are being regulated/restricted by the Taliban authorities by hook or crook.
By that time when women were stopped from studying, the Afghan Minister of Higher Education supported this ban. As per the minister, it would prevent men and women from mixing at universities and he believed some subjects that are being taught have violated the principles of Islam. In his words “We told girls to have proper hijab but they didn’t and they wore dresses like they were going to a wedding ceremony.” He did not stop there he further stated “Girls were studying agriculture and engineering, but this didn’t match Afghan culture. Girls should learn, but not in areas that go against Islam and Afghan honour.”
The Afghanistan Government has also banned girls and all female staff including teachers from primary schools meaning there is now in effect a total ban on education for women in the country. This clearly shows what the present Afghanistan Government is trying to achieve.
The decree of the Ministry of Economics-
In December of 2022, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Economy passed a decree that stops female employees from coming to work. It is for all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The reasoning behind this was that this move was the result of some women allegedly not complying with the Taliban administration’s interpretation of the Islamic dress code for women.
As reported by The Guardian in 2022, the International Rescue Committee said in a statement that more than 3,000 women staff in Afghanistan were “critical for the delivery of humanitarian assistance” in the country. The European Union, a major funder of aid organisations working for Afghanistan, condemned the decision and said it was assessing “the impact it will have on our aid on the ground”.
United Nations on Afghanistan Government-
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Volker Turk, has expressed deep alarm over Afghanistan’s recent decision to revoke the license of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that continue to employ Afghan women in the country. In his statements, Mr. Turk has emphasised that the decree will lead to a devastating impact on the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, where more than half the population lives in poverty. He also said, “This is absolutely the wrong path.”
Mr. Turk emphasised that “no country can progress- politically, economically or socially while excluding half of its population from public life.” He called on Afghanistan’s leaders to rethink their course, not just for the sake of women and girls but for the future of the nation as a whole. “For the future of Afghanistan, the de facto authorities must change course,” Mr. Turk concluded.
United Nations in Afghanistan-
Afghanistan officially joined the United Nations on 19th November 1946 as the ‘Kingdom of Afghanistan’. As one of the UN’s earliest members, Afghanistan has contributed to the UN’s work. Out of 24 UN agencies, funds and programmes in the UN Country Team, 20 are located in Afghanistan. The UN Country Team’s overall vision and work are detailed in the One UN for Afghanistan framework.
As reported by the United Nations, “From January to end of June 2020, despite nationwide measures of lockdown and movement restrictions due to Covid-19, UN reached 4.5 million beneficiaries across all its programming in Afghanistan, distributed 65,900 metric tons of food and disbursed USD 7.7 million in cash-based transfers to help cover families’ food needs.”
The UN’s support to the Government and civil society contributed to the finalisation and promulgation, through the Presidential Decree, of the Law on Child Protection and the Government’s endorsement of policies to enhance women’s rights on inheritance and property ownership.
Over 5.3 million Afghan refugees have returned home since 2002. The UN is supporting the Government’s effort with regard to their return and sustainable reintegration. In 2019 alone, nearly one million people (returnees, IDPs, and host community members) were given improved access to basic services through a whole-of-community approach.
The UN supports the Government’s vision on education as set out in the National Education Strategic Plan (2017–2021). The number of primary school students has jumped from just over one million in 2002 to over 9.6 million to date, though an estimated 3.5 million children remain out of school.
At last, I would simply conclude that all these efforts of decades are going to fade away with the ongoing attitude of the present Afghanistan Government. The hard work of the United Nations and other NGOs will be of no use if such type of discriminatory policies are made and implemented. Every State of this world community has the right to have sovereignty and full rights over its citizens and laws. This right should not be abused by the states just to fulfil their orthodox ideologies. Even a simple policy change does have very huge impact on society and by the time, that makes a society, how it is going to be? If such type of arbitrary policies are made then it will have a very negative impact although I would say the devastating impacts in the long run. Since Afghanistan is a member of the UN then it abides by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)- 05 on gender equality.
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