What is the Taliban’s position regarding women in the labour force?
HealthNet TPO (HNI), HealthNet TPO stands with women’s right to work and continues life-saving activities following ban on women working for NGOs in Afghanistan, 30 December 2022
“Women are at the heart of HealthNet TPO. They are our doctors, our nurses, our midwives, counsellors, social workers, lab technicians, community health workers, finance officers, project managers and many more. It is through our female colleagues that we can reach women and children, the most vulnerable group in Afghanistan, to improve their health and wellbeing. Most women can only be helped by female health professionals. Without them, we will be unable to provide life-saving aid, preventing women from accessing healthcare. The recent ban on women working for NGOs comes on top of the closure of secondary schools and the ban on women attending universities. Not allowing women to study and to work is detrimental to all. Female workers are critical to the provision of humanitarian aid and healthcare in Afghanistan. The ban limits humanitarian access and will have a devastating effects on the future of the country. Afghanistan needs more female doctors and nurses, not fewer. The lives of women and children are at stake. Currently, HealthNet TPO can continue all health activities within health facilities managed by the organisation as our female colleagues have not been prohibited from working here. This must not change. However, our female staff within our offices who play an essential part in the functioning of the organisation and the delivery of our health projects have been affected as well as our health activities that support women and children directly within their communities. HealthNet TPO cannot and does not want to function without the full and safe employability of its female colleagues. The organisation is committed to working with (I)NGOs, the UN, donors and all relevant stakeholders to ensure this situation is resolved so that we are able to return to supporting the Afghan people across society, helping them to meet their urgent needs, rebuild livelihoods and create a peaceful, healthier future. About HealthNet TPO in Afghanistan HealthNet TPO supports the people of Afghanistan since 1994, improving the lives of millions of people through projects focussed on health, mental health and disease prevention and control. The organisation runs 23 projects in 19 provinces across the country delivering basic and specialised healthcare, mental health and psychosocial support services and emergency health interventions. More than 6,200 staff work for HealthNet TPO in Afghanistan, 2,016 of whom are female. In 2021, 2.3 million people received treatment through 135 primary and secondary health centres. Amongst many achievements, the organisation treated more than 66,000 children under five for severe acute malnutrition and provided emergency humanitarian support to almost 600,000 vulnerable people particularly women and children. In the early 2000’s, HealthNet TPO was a driving force in transforming the female health workforce in Afghanistan to improve the mortality rates of women and children. Through our training programmes for female midwives, nurses and health professionals we helped to save lives and improve the health of women and children and continue to do so.”
RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, G7 Tells Taliban To 'Urgently Reverse' Ban On Women Aid Workers, 29 December 2022
“Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) developed countries and several other Western democracies on December 29 called on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to "urgently reverse" a ban on women working in the war- wracked country's aid sector.”
UNHCR, UN High Commissioner for Refugees calls to reverse ban of women humanitarian workers in Afghanistan, 29 December 2022
“The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, joins the heads of other humanitarian organizations in calling on Afghanistan’s de facto authorities to reverse its directive that restricts women from working with non- governmental organizations. “Preventing women from humanitarian work is a grave denial of their humanity. It will only result in further suffering and hardship for all Afghans, especially women and children. This ban must be lifted,” said Grandi. More than 500 women staff work with UNHCR’s 19 NGO partners in Afghanistan, serving nearly a million women and girls. The most recent restrictions will force the UN Refugee Agency to temporarily stop critical activities in support of Afghan people, especially women and children. In addition to providing critical humanitarian aid, women staff are at the forefront of efforts to find solutions for Afghans affected by four decades of conflict and persecution, including millions of refugees and internally displaced people. Some 3.4 million people are currently displaced inside Afghanistan and another 2.9 million are displaced outside the country as refugees. “Severely limiting the rights of Afghan women and their involvement in humanitarian and development efforts risks pushing more families to flee across the borders as refugees. It also diminishes prospects for long-term solutions for those already displaced, such as making the decision to voluntarily return home to rebuild their lives,” said Grandi. Across Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, women have been actively leading and engaging in the humanitarian response, enabling UNHCR to reach over six million Afghans since August 2021. With so many other restrictions on women, this new decree will have a devastating impact on Afghanistan’s population, comprising an estimated 40 million people.”
MSF, Afghanistan: MSF condemns the ban on women working for NGOs, 29 December 2022
““More than 51 percent of our medical staff [in Afghanistan] are women,” said Filipe Ribeiro, MSF country representative in Afghanistan. “We are talking about nearly 900 doctors, nurses, and other professionals who strive every day to give thousands of Afghans the best care possible. MSF operations couldn’t exist without them. This newest directive is just another step in a systematic attempt to expunge women’s presence from the public domain—to everyone’s detriment.” Female workers play a critical role in the provision of humanitarian assistance and health care services in Afghanistan—a country where people are mostly dependent on humanitarian aid and face extreme poverty in part fueled by skyrocketing unemployment. No organization—however big or small—can deliver assistance to communities in need without the participation of women. The consequences of this latest decree will hit vulnerable groups the hardest, such as female patients and children, for whom it will become even more difficult—if not impossible—to see physicians. For the time being, all of MSF's activities have been maintained as our female colleagues continue to work unhindered in the health facilities managed by MSF and the Ministry of Health. This must not change: Prohibiting women from working would effectively prevent women and girls from accessing health care. Excluding women from the work force is against every principle of humanity and medical ethics to which health professionals subscribe. “If women are prevented from working in health facilities, and if women can only be treated by women, then it will be virtually impossible for them to access health care,” said Ribeiro. “As a result, no health care provider, including MSF, will be able to deliver medical services in Afghanistan.”
“Over 90 percent of our medical staff in Khost Maternity Hospital are females,” said Ribeiro. “They assist with the delivery of 1,800 babies every month. If this policy is fully implemented, more mothers will face additional—perhaps insurmountable—barriers to prenatal and postnatal services. They’ll have nowhere to go.” In addition to the closure of secondary schools in March 2022, the Ministry of Higher Education recently announced the decision to ban women from attending private and public universities. This will undoubtedly worsen the situation in the long-term. “The health care system in Afghanistan struggles to meet people’s basic needs,” said Ribeiro. “If patients can’t get treatment today, what will happen in the future when half of all potential medical students are not allowed to study. In Khost, we already find it challenging to fill all necessary positions, including gynecologists who are extremely scarce across the region. We need more female doctors, not fewer.” In order for essential services to be available to all genders, they must be delivered by all genders. That is why MSF in Afghanistan remains committed to serve all those in need of medical care, by maintaining our current teams as they are. In Afghanistan, MSF runs seven projects focused on secondary health care in Helmand, Kunduz, Herat, Khost, Kabul, Kandahar, and Bamiyan. More than 1,700 medical professionals work for MSF in Afghanistan, 894 of whom are female, 835 are male. In 2022, MSF teams provided more than 250,000 outpatient consultations, 42,000 inpatient admissions, 71,000 emergency room admissions, 11,000 surgical interventions, and 35,000 deliveries. Across MSF’s projects, there were 5,000 children enrolled at the ambulatory therapeutic feeding centers, 7,000 children admitted to the inpatient therapeutic feeding centers, 9,500 measles patients treated, 22,000 consultations for drug-sensitive tuberculosis, 2,000 drug-sensitive tuberculosis patients started on treatment, and 80 drug-resistant tuberculosis patients enrolled on treatment.”
“Four of the largest international aid groups working in Afghanistan warned on Thursday that the lives of women and children were at risk if the de facto authorities did not immediately reverse a ban on female NGO workers in the country. Save the Children, World Vision International, CARE International and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) all temporarily suspended their operations in Afghanistan following the de facto authorities announcement on Dec. 24, saying they cannot reach the millions of children, women and men in need of assistance without female staff. At a joint news conference, the four international non-government organisations called for an immediate reversal of the ban which came a week after women were prohibited from attending university. Girls are already banned from secondary schools and in November were banned from public gardens, gyms and public baths. Latest data shows that about 28 million people – more than half the population – including 14 million children, are in need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. About 97% of Afghans are at risk of falling below the poverty line this year. Over 1.1 million children aged under five are acutely malnourished.
Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children, said her organisation had been treating 73,000 children for the most life-threatening forms of malnutrition and 30,000 women via mobile clinics and these lives were at risk without female medical staff. She said Save the Children had 5,700 staff and community workers in Afghanistan of which 2,490 were women and has worked in the country for 40 years. Since the de facto authorities takeover in August 2021, Save the Children has helped nearly 4 million people including 2 million children. “The tragic thing is when the de facto authorities issued this decision Afghan women, men and children are facing one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world, including record levels of hunger. Afghanistan is facing its worst food crisis since records began with 6 million people on the brink of famine” “This is not a choice. We can’t deliver our life-saving support without our female colleagues. If we aren’t able to start programming again children will die … that’s how serious the situation is,” Ms Ashing told the virtual press conference. World Vision International has been working in Afghanistan for 21 years. The organisation has supported six million people, three million of whom are children. Andrew Morley, World Vision International President and CEO, said: “Female aid workers are vital for us to deliver principled humanitarian assistance. They are nurses, doctors, teachers, nutrition experts, team leaders, community health workers, and vaccinators. Our job is to save lives and create a brighter future for children in Afghanistan. This requires the full engagement and leadership of our female staff.” “We have been standing alongside the children of Afghanistan for more than two decades, throughout so many challenges. We must find an early resolution, for our female staff to continue bringing life in all its fullness for girls and women. They deserve nothing less.” CARE International has 900 staff, 38% of whom are women, spread across 9 provinces. CARE started working in Afghanistan in 1961. CARE International Secretary- General Sofia Sprechmann Sinerio, told the news conference: “Women and girls are already the ones eating last and least, at a time where an estimated 6 million Afghans are only one step away from famine. One can only imagine the impact this latest devastating decision will have on a population already facing extreme hardship. Women humanitarians are some of the most effective in the world; they are a non-negotiable part of aid delivery, which cannot discriminate.”
The NRC currently has 1,541 staff members in Afghanistan, of whom 469 are female. Since 15 August 2021, NRC teams have assisted over 870,000 people affected by displacement across 18 provinces in Afghanistan with support ranging from emergency responses to floods, earthquakes and drought, education, shelter, legal assistance, protection, livelihoods, food security and water. This year, NRC delivered assistance to 3,700 families to prepare them for winter. These lifesaving winterization activities are now on hold due to the ban. Adam Combs, NRC’s Regional Director, said: “We cannot function without our female staff; they form a vital part of our humanitarian response and make up approximately one third our workforce. We need unimpeded access for both men and women to our job.””
“In barring women from contributing to the efforts of aid organizations, the Taliban has in effect suspended aid for half the population of Afghanistan, aid that they depended on and without which they will not survive. 11.6 million women and girls are no longer receiving vital assistance. Women-headed households, which make up almost a quarter of households in Afghanistan, have nowhere left to turn and no livelihood support. Many national and international NGOs are unable to operate without their female staff. All services for women are impacted including their access to water, sanitation, hygiene, protection, food, shelter and livelihoods. The consequences of this are further increasing the vulnerability of women and girls already at risk, as services for survivors of violence or to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse are shut down. Thousands of children and families who depended on the income that women delivering humanitarian assistance brought in, are now even more destitute.”
Refugees International, Taliban Must Immediately Revoke Ban on Women Working in NGOs, 27 December 2022
“See below statement from Refugees International Senior Advocate for Women and Girls Devon Cone: “The Taliban’s decision to prohibit women from working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Afghanistan is a devastating blow to a country already in the grips of a humanitarian crisis. It is the latest in a string of restrictive policies aimed to erase Afghan women from public life. Refugees International condemns this decision in the strongest of terms and remains committed to supporting Afghan women in the face of such blatant violations of their basic human rights. […]””
UNOHCHR, Afghanistan: End destructive, destabilizing policies against women, Türk urges, 27 December 2022
“UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called on the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to revoke immediately a raft of policies that target the rights of women and girls, noting both the “terrible, cascading effects” on their lives and the destabilizing risks such policies pose to Afghan society. “No country can develop - indeed survive - socially and economically with half its population excluded. These unfathomable restrictions placed on women and girls will not only increase the suffering of all Afghans but, I fear, pose a risk beyond Afghanistan’s borders,” Türk said. “I urge the de facto authorities to ensure the respect and protection of the rights of all women and girls - to be seen, to be heard and to participate in and contribute to all aspects of the social, political and economic life of the country, in line with Afghanistan’s international obligations,” he said. On 24 December, the de facto authorities issued a decree banning women from working in NGOs. They had already suspended university education for women and secondary schooling for girls until what they termed further notice. “This latest decree by the de facto authorities will have terrible consequences for women and for all Afghan people,” the High Commissioner said. “Banning women from working in NGOS will deprive them and their families of their incomes, and of their right to contribute positively to the development of their country and to the well-being of their fellow citizens.”
NGOs and humanitarian organisations provide critical life-saving services for many people in Afghanistan, providing food, water, shelter and healthcare, and some critical programmes, such as pre- and post-natal and infant care, are only provided by women. Many staff working for these NGOs are female and many of the organisations have women in leadership roles. They are essential partners for the UN and other agencies in the delivery of their humanitarian and development programmes throughout the country. “The ban will significantly impair, if not destroy, the capacity of these NGOs to deliver the essential services on which so many vulnerable Afghans depend. It is all the more distressing with Afghanistan in the grip of winter, when we know humanitarian needs are at their greatest and the work these NGOs do is all the more critical,” Türk said. The High Commissioner also voiced deep concern that increased hardship in Afghan society is likely to increase the vulnerability of women and girls to sexual and gender-based violence and domestic violence. “Women and girls cannot be denied their inherent rights. Attempts by the de facto authorities to relegate them to silence and invisibility will not succeed - it will merely harm all Afghans, compound their suffering, and impede the country’s development. Such policies cannot be justified in any way,” Türk said. END”
IASC, Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Afghanistan Women’s participation in aid delivery must continue, 28 December 2022
“The decision by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities to ban women from working in humanitarian non- governmental organizations is a major blow for vulnerable communities, for women, for children, and for the entire country.
Female staff are key to every aspect of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. They are teachers, nutrition experts, team leaders, community health workers, vaccinators, nurses, doctors, and heads of organizations. They have access to populations that their male colleagues cannot reach and are critical to safeguarding the communities we serve. They save lives. Their professional expertise is indispensable. Their participation in aid delivery is not negotiable and must continue.Banning women from humanitarian work has immediate life-threatening consequences for all Afghans. Already, some time-critical programmes have had to stop temporarily due to lack of female staff. This comes at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan, including millions of women and children, require assistance to survive as the country grapples with the risk of famine conditions, economic decline, entrenched poverty and a brutal winter.
While humanitarian organizations continue to engage the de facto authorities, we cannot ignore the operational constraints now facing us as a humanitarian community. We will endeavour to continue lifesaving, time-critical activities unless impeded while we better assess the scope, parameters and consequences of this directive for the people we serve. But we foresee that many activities will need to be paused as we cannot deliver principled humanitarian assistance without female aid workers.
We remain resolute in our commitment to deliver independent, principled, lifesaving assistance to all the women, men and children who need it.We urge the de facto authorities to reconsider and reverse this directive, and all directives banning women from schools, universities and public life. No country can afford to exclude half of its population from contributing to society.
DRC, DRC Statement on the Ban on Women working with NGOs in Afghanistan, 28 December 2022
“Responding to the announcement issued by the Taliban on December 24th banning NGOs from employing women in Afghanistan, the Danish Refugee Council is temporarily suspending all activities, except for critical and lifesaving, while negotiations with IEA representatives are ongoing. The suspension of the activities comes in acknowledgement of the essential role Afghan women play in the provision of aid to the Afghan people.”
Médecins du Monde (MDM), Afghanistan: Médecins du Monde suspends activities and calls for the lifting of the ban on women aid workers, 28 December 2022
“On December 24, Médecins du Monde and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Afghanistan received a letter from the authorities stating that women were no longer allowed to work for national and international NGOs in the country. Médecins du Monde strongly condemns this decision and has decided to suspend its activities in Afghanistan. As Afghanistan faces economic collapse and a severe humanitarian crisis, NGOs play an essential role in saving lives and bringing aid to the population. Banning women from working will only have a dramatic and devastating impact on the lives of millions of vulnerable women, men and children in the country. By prohibiting women from working in NGOs, a red line has been crossed. Médecins du Monde (MdM) is taking the difficult decision to suspend its activities because an effective humanitarian response in line with humanitarian principles cannot be achieved without women. A choice also made by several NGOs in the country since the announcement on December 24. MdM calls for the lifting of the ban on women aid workers to resume its activities in the country. This decision made by the authorities comes just a few days after restrictions on Afghan girls' access to education were increased. Afghanistan is a historical mission of Médecins du Monde. After being present in the country for 30 years, from 1982 to 2012, MdM has decided to come back at the end of 2021. Currently, MdM is supporting a district hospital in Kabul through the physical rehabilitation of the structure and support in mother and child health. 150,000 people benefit from the medical services offered by this hospital.”
Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the High Representative of the European Union, Joint Statement from Foreign Ministers on the Taliban’s Ban on Afghan Women Working for National and International NGOsJoint Statement from Foreign Ministers on the Taliban’s Ban on Afghan Women Working for National and International NGOs, 28 December 2022
“The following is a statement from the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malta, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the High Representative of the European Union. Begin text: The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malta, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the High Representative of the European Union are gravely concerned that the Taliban’s reckless and dangerous order barring female employees of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the workplace puts at risk millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian assistance for their survival. We call on the Taliban to urgently reverse this decision. Women are absolutely central to humanitarian and basic needs operations. Unless they participate in aid delivery in Afghanistan, NGOs will be unable to reach the country’s most vulnerable people to provide food, medicine, winterization, and other materials and services they need to live. This would also affect the humanitarian assistance provided by international organizations, as international organizations utilize NGOs to deliver such materials and services. The Taliban continue to demonstrate their contempt for the rights, freedoms, and welfare of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls, and their disinterest in normal relations with the international community. We support the Afghan people’s calls for girls and women to return to work, school, and university, and for women to continue to play essential roles in humanitarian and basic needs assistance delivery, and we urge the Taliban to respect the political, economic, social, and cultural rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. To this end, we are in close contact with the United Nations, who are urging, also on behalf of all international donors, that the Taliban reverse this decision immediately. This would avoid any disruption and allow the continuation of all humanitarian operations of international and national NGOs. End text.”
UNFPA, Taliban banning women from higher education and from working with humanitarian organizations, 27 December 2022
“Statement by Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA I strongly condemn the recent decrees by the Taliban de facto authorities banning women from higher education and from working with national and international humanitarian organizations. These decisions violate international human rights law and deny women and girls in Afghanistan the freedom and ability to make their own choices and decisions,
depriving them of their autonomy and the rights to which they are entitled as human beings. By denying women and girls the right to education, the de facto authorities are denying the contributions of half the Afghan population to the country’s national development, economic growth, and stability. Women are also key to an effective humanitarian response. Each month, 24,000 women give birth in hard-to-reach areas of Afghanistan, and these women need health services to deliver safely. UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, counts on female humanitarian workers to deliver life-saving health and protection services to women and girls in Afghanistan. Over the past year, they and other partners helped UNFPA reach 4.3 million Afghans with essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services, and nearly 1 million people with psychosocial support services, life-skills training and information. UNFPA stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, as we have done for the past 46 years. We call on the de facto authorities to allow women and girls to return to school and to allow women working for non-governmental organizations to continue their life-saving work for the millions of Afghan people in dire need.”
World Vision, World Vision Afghanistan, temporarily suspends operations and expresses bitter disappointment at decision to ban women from working at NGOs, 27 December 2022
“World Vision, one of the world’s leading child-focused NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations), has released a statement calling on the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to reverse their decision to ban Afghan women from working at NGOs. Whilst it remains unclear how it will impact World Vision Afghanistan’s programming, a decision has been made to temporarily suspend operations to ascertain the impact on the organisation. Asuntha Charles, National Director of World Vision Afghanistan, says: “This decision is not in the interest of the people of Afghanistan. With the current humanitarian crisis gripping all of Afghanistan, we need more people working in NGOs to help alleviate the situation here, not less. This decision will only significantly worsen the reality here. Every individual, regardless of gender, should have the same opportunity to work for humanitarian aid and development organisations, or any industry. “Whilst all Afghans will be detrimentally impacted by this, women and girls who benefit from gender and culturally sensitive NGO programming will be disproportionately affected by this decision. World Vision Afghanistan call on Afghanistan’s de facto authorities to reconsider the scale of the damage this decision will have and reverse it immediately. “World Vision Afghanistan will be temporarily suspending operations whilst we ascertain the scale of impact this will have on our ability to deliver our life-saving work, on which millions of Afghans depend.” ENDS”
UNSC, Security Council Press Statement on Afghanistan, 27 December 2022
“The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Ruchira Kamboj (India): […] The members of the Security Council are furthermore profoundly concerned by reports that the Taliban have banned female employees of non-governmental organizations and international organizations from going to work, which would have a significant and immediate impact for humanitarian operations in the country, including those of the United Nations, and the delivery of aid and health work, and that these restrictions contradict the commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people, as well as the expectations of the international community.”
Save the Children, 9 facts about Save the Children’s work in Afghanistan, 27 December 2022
“KABUL, 27 December 2022 – Save the Children has suspended its operations in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s announcement that women are banned from working for INGOs. We cannot and will not operate without the full participation of and guarantees of safety for our female front line and office-based staff. A Save the Children spokesperson said: “Female staff members are at the heart of Save the Children’s work in Afghanistan. They are our doctors, nurses, midwives, they are our counsellors, case workers and teachers, they are our finance, security and human resources experts. “Most importantly, our female staff members enable us to access women and children. Most women in Afghanistan are only allowed to see female health professionals and case workers, and girls can only be taught by female teachers. If female staff are removed from the NGO workforce in Afghanistan, we will no longer be able to provide life-saving services to millions of women and children. Without them, we simply cannot safely operate. “The ban on female staff will have a direct impact on the life-saving assistance Save the Children provide and we are calling for an immediate reversal to this decision.” Save the Children is one of the largest INGOs in the
country and has been operating in Afghanistan since 1976. Here are 9 facts about Save the Children’s work in Afghanistan: Number of staff in Afghanistan – 5,700 staff and community workers Number of women staff - 2,490 staff or community workers Number of people helped since Save the Children re-started operations in September 2021 following the Taliban takeover – 3.9 million people, including 1 million girls and 1.2 million women Number of provinces where Save the Children works– 17 out of 34 (both directly and through partners)¹ Number of children in need of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan – 14 million Number of children with severe acute malnutrition Save the Children is currently treating– 73,000 Number of women currently receiving care via Save the Children mobile clinics – 30,000 Number of community-based education classes run by Save the Children – 3,392 Number of households who have received cash assistance from Save the Children totalling 16.4 million USD – 130, 514 ENDS”
UNAMA, UN SECURITY COUNCIL PRESS STATEMENT ON AFGHANISTAN, 27 December 2022
“The members of the Security Council are furthermore profoundly concerned by reports that the Taliban have banned female employees of NGOs and international organizations from going to work, which would have a significant and immediate impact for humanitarian operations in country, including those of the UN, and the delivery of aid and health work, and that these restrictions contradict the commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people as well as the expectations of the international community […]”
Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA), Statement on the decision to ban women NGO workers in Afghanistan, 26 December 2022
“The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) is profoundly concerned by the recent announcement of the de
facto authorities (DFA) that women are no longer allowed to work with national and international non-
governmental organisations (NGOs) in Afghanistan. Following only four days after the suspension of women’s rights to attend higher education, the ban on women NGO workers is one more step to completely exclude women from contributing to the development of their country, as well as a breach of humanitarian principles and a violation of women’s rights. Together with other NGOs, SCA is now seeking clarity on the implementation of this ban and assessing its consequences. SCA opposes the decision and urges the DFAto revoke it. Should the decision be implemented the effects will be detrimental to millions of Afghans in need of health services, education, humanitarian aid and livelihoods support, through SCA and other national and international NGOs. In addition, thousands of families that today depend on women as the sole breadwinners will be deprived of the only income they currently have. The 2,800 female staff of SCA are essential to our provision of services in 19 provinces in Afghanistan. Some examples of what will be at stake if our female staff can no longer work are: Health care in two provinces with a total population of around 1 million people Assisted delivery of around 18,000 children (2021 annual total) Education to 104,100 girls and boys (2021 annual total) Physiotherapy to over 22,000 patients (2021 annual total) Vaccinations to over 21,000 children (2021 annual total). These and many other potentially life-saving services cannot be delivered without the dedicated work of female NGO workers. SCA therefore urges the DFA to consider the impact of the recent announcement on the most vulnerable groups of the Afghan population and the catastrophic consequences it will have in the short and long term. From: Andreas Stefansson, Secretary General Date: 2022-12-26”
People in Need (PIN), People in need suspends programmes in Afghanistan and calls for lifting of a ban on female aid workers, 26 December 2022
“On 24 December, People in Need along with other national and international NGOs received a letter that as of 25 December, women are no longer allowed to work for local and international non-governmental organizations (NGO) in Afghanistan. Without women we would not have reached tens of thousands of Afghans in need during the last years. It is not possible to carry out an effective humanitarian response, in accordance with humanitarian principles, if women are prevented from working. Whilst we gain clarity on this announcement, People in Need, along with numerous other NGOs, has taken the decision to temporarily suspend majority of activities in Afghanistan. Hereby People in Need is calling on the Afghan authorities to immediately lift the ban on female NGO workers that can have a devastating humanitarian impact on millions of vulnerable men, women and children across the country.”
Mercy Corps, Mercy Corps to Temporarily Suspend Programs in Afghanistan, 26 December 2022
“Mercy Corps has taken the difficult decision to temporarily suspend our activities in Afghanistan while we seek clarity, along with other national and international non-governmental organizations, on the recent edict barring women from working in NGOs. Our female team members play a vital and necessary role in our delivery of services to the people of Afghanistan. Without female staff, we cannot effectively deliver humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable populations and will be unable to reach women and girls - who are the most vulnerable in a country that has the highest number of people in emergency food insecurity in the world. Nearly 20 million Afghans - almost half the population of the country - are facing acute hunger. Mercy Corps is committed to working with NGOs, the UN and all relevant stakeholders to ensure this situation is resolved so that we are able to return to supporting Afghans across society, helping them meet urgent needs, rebuild livelihoods and create a more peaceful future. Mercy Corps has worked in Afghanistan since 1986, partnering with communities to improve the quality of life for Afghans, from improved sanitation services to agriculture and vocational training. In 2020, we reached more than 370,000 people across the country.”
IFRC, "At the heart of our services in Afghanistan are women and girls: as recipients and as deliverers.", 26 December 2022
“Statement from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Kuala Lumpur / Geneva, 26 December 2022 - Every day, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) supports thousands of people in Afghanistan to cope with disasters, hunger, and access to health care. At the heart of these services are women and girls: as recipients, designers, and deliverers. They are the centre of our work. Women are the main clients of the primary health services supported through the Afghanistan Red Crescent Society. Female medical staff make these services possible as doctors, nurses, midwives, and outreach workers. Women lead the vocational training and care and support for destitute women in our Marastoon centres across the country. Women are critical to how we design and monitor services for women and girls. They should not, and cannot, be replaced by male colleagues. IFRC is extremely concerned by the recent announcements of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (IEA) suspending women’s access to higher education and to work in national and international non- governmental organisations. It is not clear yet how these announcements will apply to the IFRC. We remain committed to gender diversity, to our female colleagues and to service continuity involving female colleagues. That is how we reach communities and the most vulnerable across the country. We will represent this commitment to the authorities. However, whatever the direct effect of the announcements on our work, such exclusion is devastating for the country in the short term and long term. Its impact on those in need of humanitarian services will be appalling. We urge the authorities to consider this impact and to find solutions that enable continuity of life- saving assistance across Afghanistan, in the interests of women and girls, and of all Afghans.”
UNAMA, Statement of the Women Advisory Group to the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) on the de facto Ministry
of Economy’s decision to ban women personnel of INGOs and NGOs from working, 25 December 2022
“On 24 December 2022, the De facto Ministry of Economy took the decision to ban women personnel in International and National Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from working. This is extremely concerning, considering the necessity to employ women aid workers to reach out to affected women and girls. In the context of a country like Afghanistan, facing one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, the restrictions imposed on the rights of Afghan women and girls, especially on their mobility, make them face unique vulnerabilities and compound their dire humanitarian needs. Due to previously imposed restrictions on women’s interactions with men and their mobility, the decision taken by the De facto Ministry of Economy not only erases women’s presence and their contributions to the humanitarian response, it will also prevent all affected women and girls from receiving services and lifesaving assistance. The decision will lead to the response missing out half of the population, and to increased needs and deaths for millions of women and girls. This decision is directly grounded in discrimination on the basis of gender. The directive makes it impossible for humanitarian actors to continue saving lives without violating the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality. It also puts humanitarian actors at certain risk of doing harm to affected women and girls. We as a humanitarian community need to stand together and push back against this directive. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the De Facto Authorities have imposed sweeping
restrictions on the rights of women and girls and have taken major steps to regulate their lives. This decision comes shortly after the De facto Authorities banned all women from attending universities on 20 December 2022. In light of this growing trend and the grave recent infringements on women’s rights; the WAG urges the HCT to: Immediately stop all humanitarian activities in the field until Afghan women staff can resume work Negotiate with and urge the De facto Ministry of Economy to immediately overturn its decision and allow all Afghan women staff to resume work Ensure Afghan women are present in these negotiations and their priorities put at the forefront Make humanitarian aid and funding allocations dependent on women’s staff participation in the response”
NRC, CARE and Save the Children, NGOs condemn Afghan de facto authorities’ ban on women NGO workers, 25 December 2022
“Kabul, Afghanistan, 25 December 2022: Responding to the announcement of a ban on NGOs employing women in Afghanistan, the leaders of NRC, CARE and Save the Children said:
We cannot effectively reach children, women and men in desperate need in Afghanistan without our female staff. Without women driving our response, we would not have jointly reached millions of Afghans in need since August 2021. Beyond the impact on delivery of lifesaving assistance, this will affect thousands of jobs in the midst of an enormous economic crisis.
Whilst we gain clarity on this announcement, we are suspending our programmes, demanding that men and women can equally continue our lifesaving assistance in Afghanistan.
Signed:
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Inger Ashing, CEO, Save the Children
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Jan Egeland, Secretary-General, Norwegian Refugee Council
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Sofia Sprechmann Sinerio, Secretary-General, CARE International”
UNICEF, Restricting female humanitarians from working and female students from access to education in
Afghanistan is a ‘blatant violation of fundamental human rights', 25 December 2022 [Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell]
“NEW YORK, 25 December 2022 – “UNICEF strongly condemns the recent decree issued by the Taliban de facto authorities banning all female humanitarian workers at national and international NGOs from working across Afghanistan. This decision is a blatant violation of obligations under international humanitarian law and the most fundamental human rights of women in Afghanistan. It comes just days after the decision to ban all women from access to higher education. “Beyond the egregious roll back of basic rights, these decisions will have far-reaching consequences for the delivery of essential services for children and families across the country – especially in the areas of health, nutrition, education and child protection – areas where female humanitarian workers have an immeasurably important role to play. This includes the programming of UNICEF, through which we provide
services to 19 million people, including more than 10 million children, across the country. “By banning female NGO workers, the Taliban de facto authorities are effectively denying these services to a significant portion of the population and putting the lives and well-being of all Afghans, especially women and children, at risk. “UNICEF calls on the Taliban de facto authorities to immediately reverse both decisions, on higher education and humanitarian work, and to allow all female students to go back to school and female NGO workers to continue their important work in Afghanistan across the humanitarian sector.””
Cordaid, Cordaid suspends activities in Afghanistan in solidarity with female colleagues, 25 December 2022
“On 24 December, Cordaid like many other international NGOs received word that as of 25 December, women are no longer allowed to work for NGOs and INGOs, per Taliban decree. This decree is unfortunately the most recent in a long string of restrictions imposed on women (as well as men) in Afghanistan over the past 16 months. At the moment, Cordaid has decided to suspend all activities for the next few days until there is more clarity on this decree. In solidarity with our female colleagues. Cordaid and many other NGOs have pleaded with the de facto government to reverse this decree as soon as possible and are calling on donors and other actors such as the UN and the EU to do the same.”
Islamic Relief, Islamic Relief calls for lifting of ban on female aid workers in Afghanistan, 25 December 2022
“Islamic Relief is calling on the Afghan authorities to immediately lift the ban on female NGO workers. The ban will have a devastating humanitarian impact on millions of vulnerable men, women and children across the country.
While the situation for female staff remains uncertain, Islamic Relief, along with numerous other NGOs, has taken the difficult decision to temporarily suspend non-lifesaving activities in Afghanistan. This includes projects that support impoverished families to earn a living as well as education and some healthcare projects. Life-saving healthcare will continue. Islamic Relief has worked in Afghanistan since 1999 and this year supported more than 1 million Afghans with food, healthcare, education and other critical aid, including providing transformational support to widows and orphans. This could simply not have been achieved without the efforts and expertise of our female staff. It is not possible to carry out an effective humanitarian response, in accordance with humanitarian principles, if women are prevented from working.”
Christian Aid, Christian Aid condemns Taliban ban on female NGO staff, 25 December 2022
“Responding to the announcement of a ban on NGOs employing women in Afghanistan, Christian Aid's Head of Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Caribbean & Global Programmes Ray Hasan said “Millions of people in Afghanistan are on the verge of starvation. Reports that families are so desperate they have been forced to sell their children to buy food are utterly heartbreaking. “Imposing a ban on female aid workers will only curtail our ability to help the growing number of people in need, and risks compounding the dire humanitarian crisis that women and girls face. Moreover, this ruling will deeply trouble families relying on the income of female aid workers amidst Afghanistan’s severe economic crisis. “Christian Aid is rapidly seeking clarity on this announcement and urging the authorities to reverse the ban. Whilst we do this, we are unfortunately pausing the work of our programmes."”
IRC, IRC to suspend programmes in Afghanistan following Taliban ban on women working for NGOs, 25 December 2022
“New York, NY, December 25, 2022 — The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is dismayed and disheartened by the latest Taliban edict to ban women from working for NGOs in Afghanistan. The IRC has been working in Afghanistan since 1988. In the over 3 decades of our presence in Afghanistan, we have worked for the benefit of the Afghan people, having served millions of the most vulnerable across the country. Throughout these years, we have never had to cease delivering support. The IRC currently operates in twelve provinces across Afghanistan in the areas of emergency response, health, education, livelihoods and other life-saving interventions. Our male and female staff work closely with rural and urban communities to identify needs, design and implement programming in line with cultural sensitivities and social norms. Today, the IRC in Afghanistan employs over 8000 people - over 3,000 of whom are women. With Afghanistan in the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis and economic collapse, humanitarian actors have been essential in saving lives in the country over the course of the past year. None of that would have been possible without female humanitarian workers. In the last year alone, restrictions on access to work for women have furthered Afghanistan’s failing economy, producing an economic loss of up to $1bn - about 5% of Afghanistan’s GDP. The latest decree from the authorities barring Afghan women from working in national and international NGOs, following earlier decrees barring women from attending universities, vocational training, and private institutions will have lifelong impacts on the present and future of Afghanistan. The exclusion of women from humanitarian service delivery will have catastrophic consequences for the Afghan people because our services depend on women workers. At a time when over 97% of the population is at risk of poverty, the IRC urges the authorities to take into consideration the grave humanitarian implications of this recent decision. The IRC is committed to working with national and international NGOs, civil society organizations, the UN, and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the situation is resolved so that we are able to serve the Afghan people. For IRC our ability to deliver services rely on female staff at all levels of our organization. If we are not allowed to employ women, we are not able to deliver to those in need. Therefore, the IRC is currently suspending our services in Afghanistan. The IRC began work in Afghanistan in 1988, and now works with thousands of villages across twelve provinces, with Afghans making up more than 99% of IRC staff in the country. As Afghanistan struggles to recover from ongoing conflict and natural disasters, the IRC: works with local communities to identify, plan and manage their own development projects,
provides safe learning spaces in rural areas, community-based education, cash distribution provides uprooted families with tents, clean water, sanitation and other basic necessities, and helps people find livelihood opportunities as well as extensive resilience programming.”
ICRC, Afghanistan: ICRC deeply concerned for millions of women and girls, 25 December 2022
“Kabul (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is concerned by the recent announcement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) suspending with immediate effect the women's rights to study higher education curriculums and to work with national and international non-governmental organizations across the country. The exclusion of women and girls from the education system at all levels and potentially from their essential humanitarian roles can and will lead to catastrophic humanitarian consequences in the short to long term. The ICRC in Afghanistan employs hundreds of women. Humanitarian work in Afghanistan and around the world is only possible thanks to the efforts of all staff, including women. Questioning the full inclusion and participation of women in operations would jeopardize the whole humanitarian action. The ICRC is particularly concerned about the future of the Afghan healthcare system and its female patients. Since November 2021, the ICRC has been supporting 45 health structures including hospitals and medical schools, with a total capacity of 7057 beds serving an estimated population of 26 million people. This support includes the payment of the running costs, medical consumables and the salaries of 10,483 health workers (around one third - 33% - of which are women). This support is ongoing and discussions are currently taking place with relevant authorities regarding the impact the recent decision might have on it. It is clear that if women are no longer able to complete their health studies, in different specialties, it will have an even more severe impact on the delivery of healthcare services across Afghanistan, putting millions of lives at risk. At a time at which more than half the population (over 24 million people) is in need of humanitarian assistance, we urge the IEA authorities to consider the impact of the recent announcement on the population and to find a solution that will enable all humanitarian actors, to continue delivering life-saving assistance to millions of Afghans.”
UNOCHA, UN condemns reported ban on women working for NGOs and International Organizations, 24 December 2022
“KABUL, 24 December 2022 - The United Nations is profoundly concerned by reports that the Taliban de facto authorities today issued an order barring all female employees of national and international organizations from going to work with immediate effect. Any such order would violate the most fundamental rights of women, as well as be a clear breach of humanitarian principles. The UN will seek to meet with the Taliban leadership to obtain clarity on the reported order. Women must be enabled to play a critical role in all aspects of life, including the humanitarian response. Their participation must be both respected and safeguarded. This latest decision will only further hurt those most vulnerable, especially women and girls. The UN in Afghanistan and its partners condemn the reported order and remind the de facto authorities that taking away the free will of women to choose their own fate, disempowering and excluding them systematically from all aspects of public and political life takes the country backward, jeopardizing efforts for any meaningful peace or stability in the country.”
UN, Secretary-General ‘Deeply Disturbed’ by Reported Ban in Afghanistan on Women Working for Non-
Governmental Organizations, Warning Move Will Cause Further Untold Hardship, 24 December 2022
“SG/SM/21644 24 DECEMBER 2022 The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary- General António Guterres: The Secretary-General is deeply disturbed by the reported order of the de facto Taliban authorities banning women from working for national and international non-governmental organizations. This decision will undermine the work of numerous organizations working across the country helping those most vulnerable, especially women and girls. The United Nations and its partners, including national and international non-governmental organizations, are helping more than 28 million Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid to survive. The effective delivery of humanitarian assistance requires full, safe and unhindered access for all aid workers, including women. The reported ban on women working with the international community to save lives and livelihoods in Afghanistan will cause further untold hardship on the people of Afghanistan. The Secretary-General reiterates the rights of all women to participate in the workforce thus contributing to the greater good. For information media. Not an official record.”
UNAMA, SECRETARY-GENERAL ‘DEEPLY DISTURBED’ BY NEW TALIBAN ORDER BANNING WOMEN FROM WORKING
IN NGOS, 24 December 2022
“Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General - on Afghanistan The Secretary-General is deeply disturbed by the reported order of the de facto Taliban authorities banning women from working for national and international non-governmental organizations. This decision will undermine the work of numerous organizations working across the country helping those most vulnerable, especially women and girls. The United Nations and its partners, including national and international non-governmental organizations, are helping more than 28 million Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid to survive. The effective delivery of humanitarian assistance requires full, safe and unhindered access for all aid workers, including women. The reported ban on women working with the international community to save lives and livelihoods in Afghanistan will cause further untold hardship on the people of Afghanistan. The Secretary-General reiterates the rights of all women to participate in the workforce thus contributing to the greater good. -Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General”
UNAMA, UN OCHA STATEMENT: UN CONDEMNS REPORTED BAN ON WOMEN WORKING FOR NGOS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, 24 December 2022
“The United Nations is profoundly concerned by reports that the Taliban de facto authorities today issued an order barring all female employees of national and international organizations from going to work with immediate effect. Any such order would violate the most fundamental rights of women, as well as be a clear breach of humanitarian principles. The UN will seek to meet with the Taliban leadership to obtain clarity on the reported order. Women must be enabled to play a critical role in all aspects of life, including the humanitarian response.
Their participation must be both respected and safeguarded. This latest decision will only further hurt those most vulnerable, especially women and girls. The UN in Afghanistan and its partners condemn the reported order and remind the de facto authorities that taking away the free will of women to choose their own fate, disempowering and excluding them systematically from all aspects of public and political life takes the country backward,
jeopardizing efforts for any meaningful peace or stability in the country.”
UNAMA, UN in Afghanistan condemns Taliban decision to suspend women from universities and calls for its immediate reversal, 21 December 2022
“KABUL – The UN family and the entire humanitarian community in Afghanistan share the outrage of millions of Afghans and the international community over the decision by the Taliban de facto authorities to close universities to female students across the country until further notice and calls on the de facto authorities to immediately revoke the decision. The UN and its humanitarian partners also urge the de facto authorities to reopen girls' schools beyond the sixth grade and end all measures preventing women and girls from participating fully in daily public life. Banning women from attending university is a continuation of the systematic policies of targeted discrimination put in place by the Taliban against women. Since 15 August 2021, the de facto authorities have barred girls from attending secondary school, restricted women and girls’ freedom of movement, excluded women from most areas of the workforce and banned women from using parks, gyms and public bath houses. These restrictions culminate with the confinement of Afghan women and girls to the four walls of their homes.
Preventing half of the population from contributing meaningfully to society and the economy will have a devastating impact on the whole country. It will expose Afghanistan to further international isolation, economic hardship and suffering, impacting millions for years to come. The UN estimates that restricting women from working can result in an economic loss of up to $1 billion – or up to five percent of the country’s GDP. The ban of women from universities, including female teachers and professors, will contribute to additional economic losses. Education is a basic human right. Excluding women and girls from secondary and tertiary education not only denies them this right, it denies Afghan society as a whole the benefit of the contributions that women and girls have to offer. It denies all of Afghanistan a future. The steps taken by the de facto authorities to exclude women and girls from education, the workplace and other areas of life increase risks of forced and underage marriage, violence and abuse. Continued discrimination against more than half the population of the country will stand in the way of
Afghanistan achieving an inclusive society where everyone can live in dignity and enjoy equal opportunities. The UN in Afghanistan and its humanitarian partners remind the Taliban that taking away the free will of women to choose their own fate, disempowering and excluding them systematically from all aspects of their public and political life is regressive and stands against universal human rights standards upon which peaceful and stable societies are based on. This decision will be a negative factor for Afghans abroad considering to return and force more to flee the country.”
Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), Afghanistan: Risk Overview, 07 November 2022
“Women are no longer assigned to senior civil positions, and although female staff continue to receive their salaries, most are not allowed to return to work. The absence of women in decision-making positions is likely to also worsen the exclusion of women in service delivery. […] As the Taliban appoint more of their own to middle- and lower-level bureaucratic positions, many functions can be expected to further deteriorate. Some may completely collapse because of appointees’ lack of experience or expertise in their respective assignments.
Appointment across all levels of government will extend the reach of Taliban restrictions on various rights of the
Afghan people, especially affecting women and girls.”
UNAMA, UN in Afghanistan calls for end to harassment of its Afghan female workforce, UN in Afghanistan calls for end to harassment of its Afghan female workforce | UNAMA (unmissions.org), 12 September 2022
“There has been an emerging pattern of harassment of Afghan UN female staff by the de facto authorities, including an incident today in which three Afghan women working for the United Nations were singled out and temporarily detained for questioning by armed security agents of the de facto authorities.
The UN calls for an immediate end to all such acts of intimidation and harassment targeting its Afghan female staff, calling on the de facto authorities to reiterate and enforce explicit guarantees for the safety and security of all UN personnel operating in Afghanistan in a manner consistent with Afghanistan’s obligations under international law”.
Aljazeera, Taliban official says Islam grants women right to education and work, 31 August 2022
“A Taliban official has said that Islam grants women the right to education, work, and entrepreneurship, and reiterated that the group is working to create a so-called “safe environment” for girls and women in secondary schools and the workplace.
“I must say that Islam has given women the right to education, Islam has given women the right to work, Islam has given women the right to entrepreneurship […] if Islam has allowed it, who am I to ban it.” [quote by Taliban spokesperson of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, Sadeq Akif Muhajir]
“The comments by Muhajir came more than a year after the armed group took over the country and imposed
several limitations on women’s freedoms, including a ban on secondary education for girls.
Since returning to power, the Taliban has among other things, shut down girls’ secondary schools across the country, ordered women to wear hijabs in the workplace and to cover their faces in public, and has banned women from travelling long distanced without a close male relative.”
“But a study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) this year found that Afghan women’s employment levels fell by an estimated 16 percent in the months immediately following the Taliban takeover. In contrast, male employment dropped by 6 percent. ‘In the pessimistic scenario in which restrictions intensify and women do not feel they can safely show up at their workplaces, the scale of job losses for women could reach 28 percent,’ the report said.
Working Afghan women have previously told Al Jazeera that while the Taliban has not directly fired female government employees, it has restricted women from entering workplaces and has paid them a notably reduced salary to remain at home.”
“The Taliban’s return to power has exacerbated Afghanistan’s economic woes. The country has been reeling from
a humanitarian crisis with more than half of the population facing hunger.
The Western-imposed sanctions and the freezing of nearly $10bn in Afghan central bank assets by the US have
largely contributed to the collapse of the economy.”
Pajhwok, Amid extreme hardships, women vendors demand dignified job, 31 August 2022
“Two women vendors, who are sisters-in-law, sell hand-made things on the roads in Kabul from dawn to dusk to
earn […]”
Al Jazeera, Women working inside an Afghan chemical lab face uncertain future, 19 August 2022
“Noori, aged 30, is a lab technician at Afghanistan’s largest chemical plant, located outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province. […] She started as a lab assistant and quickly worked her way up to become manager of the entire urea production laboratory. It was a position that she studied hard for and was proud to earn. Yet soon after the Taliban retook control of the country last August, Noori was stripped of her role and the female staff were separated from their male colleagues.[…] But now, working under the supervision of a man far less qualified than herself, Noori and many of her female colleagues wonder what the future holds for them – and for their careers – in the Taliban’s Afghanistan.[…] Against the backdrop of a humanitarian and economic crisis, the rights of Afghan women have also begun to erode. Many girls’ high schools around the country remain closed, locking thousands out of an education that seemed within their grasp only 12 months ago. Across the country, many women, particularly those working outside the healthcare and education sectors, have lost their jobs, and now find themselves unable to secure any form of employment. Some remain at home simply out of fear of interacting with the Taliban. Others continue to attend their jobs but find their workplaces are now gender-
segregated. Demonstrations in support of women’s rights have, on several occasions, been violently repressed, and many women remain fearful that advocating for their rights will result in harassment, arrest, or worse.”
BBC News, From Kabul and beyond, a year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, 15 August 2022
“Kabul, where women are told to give their jobs to men. I'm sitting down with a few former senior civil servants from the finance ministry who share their messages. They're part of a group of more than 60 women, many from the Afghanistan Revenue Directorate, who banded together after being ordered to go home last August. They say Taliban officials then told them: Send CVs of your male relatives who can apply for your jobs… Taliban officials say women are still working. Those who do are mainly medical staff, educators and security workers including at the airport - spaces where women frequent. The Taliban also emphasise that women, who once held about a quarter of the government's jobs, are still being paid - albeit a small fraction of their salary.”
Al Jazeera, A year of Taliban takeover: The missing women in Afghan workforce, 11 August 2022
“While the new regime has not directly fired female government employees such as Samar, it has restricted women from entering the workplaces, paying them a significantly reduced salary to stay at home, many working Afghan women told Al Jazeera… Meanwhile, in the private sector as well, several organisations have reduced the number of female staff, either out of financial crunch, Taliban coercion or as a precautionary measure to avoid the group’s wrath. A study by the International Labor Organization (ILO) this year documented a disproportionate drop in women’s employment in Afghanistan – 16 percent in the months immediately following the Taliban takeover. In contrast, male employment dropped by 6 percent… Working women in Afghanistan are also vulnerable to
unemployment shocks due to the existing economic crisis, restrictions on women’s movement by the Taliban, and the prevalent patriarchy… A recent World Bank survey noted that 42 percent of women-owned businesses in Afghanistan had temporarily closed compared with 26 percent of the firms owned by men. Additionally, about 83 percent of the businesswomen indicated that they were expecting revenue losses over the next six months, forcing them to engage in coping mechanisms such as downsizing their staff, often comprising largely of women.”
BBC News, From Kabul and beyond, a year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, 15 August 2022
“Kabul, where women are told to give their jobs to men … They say Taliban officials then told them: Send CVs of
your male relatives who can apply for your jobs.”
Human Rights Watch, Economic Causes of Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Crisis, 4 August 2022
“[…] Taliban policies that bar women from most paid jobs have had a swift and devastating impact on households
in which women were the sole or main earners. Repeated WFP surveys indicate that nearly 100 percent of female-
headed households don’t have enough to eat and almost all are taking “drastic measures” to obtain food, such as selling vital household items, sending children to work, or marrying off young girls for dowries. Even in areas in which women are still allowed to work in some jobs – primarily education and health care – they are often unable to comply with oppressive Taliban requirements, such as having a male family member escort them to work and even to remain there throughout the workday.”
BBC News: Afghanistan: How one TV presenter became a refugee, 1 August 2022
“On 14 August 2021, the night before the Taliban took control of Kabul, Shabhnam Dawran was preparing to
present the news bulletin on Radio Television Afghanistan. […] At their first official news conference, a Taliban spokesman told a room filled with journalists that women could work "shoulder to shoulder with men". The next day, a nervous but excited Shabhnam put on her work clothes and made her way to the office. But as soon as she arrived, she was confronted by Taliban soldiers, who she says were guarding the building and only allowing male workers to enter. […] When she told them she had every right to work, Shabhnam says one of the soldiers pointed his rifle at her, placed his finger on the trigger and said: "One bullet will be enough for you - will you leave or should I shoot you here?" She then left, but posted a video describing the encounter on social media. It went viral, putting her and her family's life in danger. She packed a small bag and fled the country a few days later, taking her two younger siblings - Meena and Hemat - with her.”
Khaama Press, German FM Says ‘Every Human Right Has Been Taken From Women and Girls in Afghanistan’, 27 July 2022
“German media reported on Tuesday, July 26, that Annalena Baerbock, the foreign minister of Germany, had said
that the Taliban’s rule over Afghanistan was a unique instance of egregious human rights abuses.
She also emphasized that women in Afghanistan are facing “the biggest violation of women’s rights on the Earth,” and that a greater emphasis on Afghan women and girls, whose lives “stopped” when the Taliban took power, is required.
Barred from work and education, she expressed concern regarding the deteriorating women’s rights in Afghanistan saying “every human right has been taken from women and girls in Afghanistan.”
(…) This comes at a time when Afghanistan’s situation with regards to human rights and women’s rights under the Taliban rule has worsened as girls are deprived of attending school and women in the public sector are denied their right to work.”
Amnesty International (Afghanistan), Afghanistan: Death in slow motion: Women and girls under Taliban rule, 27 July 2022
"In general, the Taliban appears to permit women to work if, according to Taliban policies, they cannot be replaced by men or if the position is deemed not to be a “man’s job"…"Many of the women who have continued working are finding it difficult and stressful because of Taliban restrictions on their clothing, behaviour and opportunities. Shabnam, a 25-year-old nurse in a government hospital in Kabul, said that Taliban members had also regularly visited her workplace:
They were saying we shouldn’t work with men or communicate with them, and we should change our dress and clothes. Then one day they said I should not wear my uniform. I said I respect my uniform, because I worked so hard to get it, and they had no right to tell me what to wear… One of them slapped me in the face, and another pointed his gun at me, and said they could kill me, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything."
"Taliban restrictions on work have created a desperate situation for many women who were their families’ only wage-earner. The hardships these women are facing have been exacerbated by Afghanistan’s humanitarian and economic crisis. According to a World Food Programme survey released in February 2022, nearly 100% of female- headed households are facing insufficient food consumption, and 85% are taking “drastic measures” to obtain food"
Khaama, The Taliban Tells Afghan Women to Send Male Relatives to Replace Them at Work, 19 July 2022
“[…] the Taliban has instructed women working at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance to send male relatives to do their job.”
The Guardian, Send us a man to do your job so we can sack you, Taliban tell female officials, 18 July 2022
“The Taliban have asked women working at Afghanistan’s finance ministry to send a male relative to do their job a year after female public-sector workers were barred from government work and told to stay at home. Women who worked in government positions were sent home from their jobs shortly after the Taliban took power in August 2021, and have been paid heavily reduced salaries to do nothing. But several women told the Guardian they had received similar calls from Taliban officials requesting they recommend male relatives in their place, because the “workload in the office has increased and they need to hire a man instead of us”, according to one woman who did not wish her identity to be revealed.” “Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, said in May: “Current restrictions on women’s employment have been estimated to result in an immediate economic loss of up to $1bn – or up to 5% of Afghanistan’s GDP. “There is almost universal poverty in the country,” she added. “An entire generation is threatened by food insecurity and malnutrition.” “Maryam*, 37, received a call from the HR department of the Afghan ministry of finance, where she had worked for more than a decade. She said: “I was asked to introduce a male family member to replace me at the ministry, so I could be dismissed from the
job…Since they came [to power], the Taliban have demoted me and reduced my salary. I cannot even afford my son’s school fees. When I questioned this, an official rudely told me to get out of his office and said that my demotion was not negotiable…Maryam said she was aware of at least 60 female colleagues from the finance department who had received similar calls.” “In a report this year, HRW investigated the loss of women’s jobs and livelihoods in Ghazni province since August 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Kabul. “Nearly all the women interviewed who previously had paid employment had lost their jobs,” an interviewee said in the report…Only female healthcare workers and teachers can go to work. Women working in other fields are forced to stay home now.”
ToloNews, Activists: Rise in Forced Marriages Linked to Closed Girls' Schools, 8 July 2022
“Some women’s rights activists in Bamyan province said that the closure of girls’ schools above sixth grade has caused a surged in the number of forced marriages and has added to domestic violence in this province. "According to the activists, the closure of schools for female students has caused many girls to turn to hard labor. "When the schools are closed, some traditional families ... forced (daughters) to marry, and I have seen many school students who were forced to marry underage,” said Latifah Sadat, women's rights activist."
[…]
"After nearly a year of girls being deprived of school and of increasing poverty in Bamyan, some students say they have turned to hard labor.
"We started sewing and doing handicrafts as a way to escape unemployment. I would prefer to get employment
than to be unemployed,” Mastora Akbari, one of the students, told TOLOnews."
Rukhshana Media, Taliban fired all female employees of a clinic in Kandahar because they came to work without male chaperone, 29 June 2022
“The Taliban fired all five female health workers of a clinic in Maiwand district of southern Kandahar province because they weren’t accompanied by male companions on Wednesday, June 29, local sources said. Two nurses, a vaccinator, a midwife and a health officer, all working at Maiwand Bashir Health Center, were among those fired by the Taliban, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A source from the Baran Institute, a health institution affiliated with the Kandahar Public Health Department, confirmed the report, saying they were trying to meet with local Taliban officials in the province to resolve the issue.”
The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre Land info, Country info response Afghanistan: the situation for Afghan women after Taliban takeover, 22 June 2022
"Figures from Reporters Without Borders (as reproduced in Kumar & Noori 2022) show that only 100 of the country's 700 female journalists were still working at the end of 2021. According to an international journalist (conversation in Islamabad) that follows developments in Afghanistan closely, in March 2022 there were still female journalists which was determined to continue reporting from the country. Women were newscasters on TV, they reported and interviewed people in the street. The females the journalists were at that time covered with a simple scarf.
On March 27, 2022, BBC News, Voice of America and Deutsche, among others Welle closed to viewers in Afghanistan (BBC 2022). According to the international the journalist (conversation in Islamabad, March 2022) this was about broadcasts on dari and pashto. He believed that the reason for this should have been that women who participated in the broadcasts did not follow acceptable dress code and that they were not covered properly. So it was not what was reported, but how women appeared in the broadcasts that was the reason why the broadcasts were taken off air, according to the journalist.
In May 2022, a directive came with a requirement that all female news anchors should cover the faces while on the air. Several female presenters took part countermeasures and male presenters showed solidarity with their female colleagues by wearing black face masks when they read the news. One was started social media campaign - #FreeHerFace. The Taliban, for its part, stressed that the decision was final and not subject to negotiation (Al Jazeera 2022c; Barr & Fetrat 2022; Strømme, Wolasmal & Fjeld 2022)."
ToloNews, Women in Kabul Call for Right to Work, End of Restrictions, 9 June 2022
" The "Female Civil Service Employment of Afghanistan"…urged the Islamic Emirate to let allow women to return to work.
They say that despite officials in the caretaker government stating repeatedly that they will decide whether or not women will continue to work in government institutions, their fate is still unclear.
Most female workers in government institutions have been denied access to work since the Islamic Emirate assumed control of the country, and a number of them have been fired. The Islamic Emirate, on the other hand, has said that female employees of government institutions are paid even though thet remain their houses; however, it is unclear how long this will continue."
Gandhara, Afghan Protester 'Ready To Give Life' To Defend Women's Rights, 1 June 2022
“An Afghan protester told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on May 26 that she's not afraid to give her life to defend the rights of women and young girls in the country. Her comments came after female protesters took to the streets of Kabul to demand the Taliban allow education and jobs for women.”
Tolo News, Haqqani: 'We Are Not Forcing Women to Wear Hijab', 18 May 2022
"When asked about women’s access to work, acting Minister of Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani said that the Islamic Emirate is seeking to provide work opportunities for women within the framework of Islamic and national principles. “Here in Afghanistan there are Islamic, national, cultural, and traditional principles; within the limit of those principles, we are working to provide them with opportunities to work and that is our goal,” he said."
Afghan Voice Agency, Haqqani: 'We Are Not Forcing Women to Wear Hijab', 18 May 2022
"When asked about women’s access to work, acting Minister of Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, said that the Islamic Emirate is seeking to provide work opportunities for women within the framework of Islamic and national principles. “Here in Afghanistan there are Islamic, national, cultural, and traditional principles; within the limit of those principles, we are working to provide them with opportunities to work and that is our goal,” he said."
The Guardian, ‘We are worse off’: Afghanistan further impoverished as women vanish from workforce, 16 May 2022
"From civil servants, teachers and doctors to journalists and business owners, loss of female workers under the Taliban has already cost the economy $1bn. It is not only government positions that women have been forced out
of. According to Reporters Without Borders, only 100 of Kabul’s 700 female journalists were still working by the end of 2021. In 2019, 36% of teachers in the country were women, according World Bank data, the highest number for 20 years, but the Taliban’s ban in March on education for girls forced many female educators out of work. But a report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) in January found that Afghan women’s employment levels fell by an estimated 16% in the third quarter of 2021, compared with 6% for men. Women’s employment was expected to be 21% lower than before the Taliban takeover by mid-2022 if current conditions continued, according to the ILO, though this does not take into account employees such as Nasira who are still paid without being allowed to work."
Afghan Voice Agency, Health Ministry Pledges to Hire More Midwives, 16 May 2022
"The Ministry of Public Health said it intends to increase the number of female professionals in health institutions to prevent maternal mortality. According to Mohammad Ishaq Sahebzada, deputy minister of finance and administration of the Ministry of Public Health, more than 38,000 midwives are working at health institutions in the country. The deputy stressed the importance of providing more employment opportunities for women in the health sector. “We promise the people and the international institutions that in the future we will increase midwives in the health sector to a level that is in line with international standards,” Sahebzada said.
Hela Gharshin, the director general of midwives at the Ministry of Public Health, said that due to the lack of higher education in the field of midwifery in the country, some midwives do not want to work in the field. “Our midwives in remote areas are working up to three days at a time because there is a shortage of midwives; Midwives are also subject to risk and their education is two years; Higher education in the field of midwifery is very rare,” she said. Based on available numbers, 6,000 midwives are working within the Ministry of Public Health, and the shortage of professional midwives in remote areas of the country is considered a major challenge."
Tolo News, Ministry: 7,000 Vacancies for Teachers, Other Staff, 14 May 2022
"The Ministry of Education announced vacancies for thousands of teachers in the country. At a press conference in Kabul, the Ministry of Education announced more than 7,000 vacancies for teachers and administrative staff in the education departments of eight provinces. Nearly 3,000 vacancies were reserved for women, they said.
The Guardian, The Guardian view on Afghan women: the Taliban turn the screws, 10 May 2022
"Though the Taliban justify the burqa as a matter of tradition, this has only been the case in the most conservative rural areas. For many Afghan women, this is a wholly alien and unwelcome imposition. Yet, equally, their greatest concern may not be the edict to cover their faces per se, but the fact that this is the latest blow removing their ability to work, earn, or be present in the public sphere, and handing control of their bodies to the men in their families. Authorities also suggested that women should not leave their homes if possible, emboldening enforcers on the ground. Women cannot even decide independently what risks they are willing to take, since if their faces
are seen in public their male “guardians” face fines, jail time and losing their jobs. (Women who work for the
government will also be fired.)"
The Guardian, ‘The Taliban know they need us’: the Afghan hospitals run by women, 9 May 2022
"But behind the walls of several female-run hospitals in Kabul, a different reality exists: here, women save lives on a daily basis, offer marriage advice, care for and adopt abandoned children. Many of the doctors and nurses working here have raised children and often remain their family’s sole financial supporters. And they all agree: things work better when women run the show."
Khaama, SIGAR: Since the Taliban Assumed Control of Afghanistan, 900,000 People Have Lost Their Jobs, 9 May 2022
"According to the International Labor Organization, more than 500,000 Afghan workers lost their jobs in the third quarter of 2021, and the number of people who will lose their jobs since the Taliban took control is expected to
reach 700,000 to 900,000 people by mid-2022. Working women are disproportionately affected, according to
SIGAR, with women’s employment expected to fall by 21% by mid-2022."
BBC News, Afghanistan: Women’s faces become latest Taliban restriction after face veil rule, 8 May 2022 "Teenage girls have still not been allowed back to school in most of the country, and whilst women are working in some sectors such as healthcare and education, many others have been told not to return to their offices."
The Guardian, We had 4,000 policewomen in Afghanistan. Let them get back to work, 21 April 2022
“Despite being forced to flee, Ebtekar hopes to raise awareness on the issues facing policewomen in Afghanistan. When the Taliban took over, there were nearly 4,000 women police officers in the country, most of whom lost their jobs. A fraction were retained to manage women’s prisons. The Ministry of Women Affairs and other women’s support services were also dissolved. The Taliban has maintained a very small number of women as security officials, who have been reportedly called on during investigations and house raids”
US DOS, 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Afghanistan, 12 April 2022
“After the Taliban takeover, most women-led businesses suspended operations due to the ongoing liquidity crisis and fear of violating Taliban edicts against women in the marketplace. […] Since their takeover, the Taliban permitted women to continue their roles as health practitioners, but many women were afraid to return to work due to safety and security concerns related to the Taliban’s stated policies restricting women in the workplace.
After August 15, the ever-smaller number of qualified female health practitioners steeply increased the risk of poor health outcomes for women. […] After August 15, the Taliban prohibited most female government employees from working, although the Taliban claimed they continued to pay their salaries. Afghanistan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI) executives sought meetings with the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Economy after the takeover to get clarity on whether the Taliban would allow the estimated 57,000 women-led private businesses in the country to remain open. The AWCCI stated they failed to get a formal meeting with high-level Taliban decisionmakers but were assured informally that women would be allowed to work “if that work
conformed with Islamic law.” […] In September the Taliban-appointed “Kabul mayor” instructed the city’s female staff (amounting to approximately one-third of Kabul’s 3,000 municipal employees) to stay at home, with the exception of women whose jobs could not be replaced by men. Taliban leaders stated they would implement their version of sharia, prohibiting women from working alongside men, but gave no indication when female employees would be able to return to work. A similar Taliban ruling kept public universities from opening in September, as they were not configured to meet the Taliban’s gender-segregation standards, which effectively barred women from obtaining a secondary education, disenfranchising them from professional employment. In October, media reported Taliban representatives stated women would continue to work at police stations and in passport offices. The Taliban further stated they were trying to provide working conditions for women in the sectors where they were needed, according to Islamic law. Taliban representatives also stated women were banned from most employment while saying women could keep their jobs only if they were in a role a man could not fill. In a December 16 interview, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed no women had been fired from public- sector jobs and that they continued to receive salaries at home. As of December the UN OCHA mapped the agreements between aid agencies and the Taliban in each of the country’s 34 provinces, showing where female staff members would be permitted to work. The document, reviewed by HRW, indicated that, as of October 28, Taliban representatives in only three provinces had provided a written agreement unconditionally permitting women aid workers to do their jobs.”
Afghan Voice Agency, Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Reopens in Herat, 11 April 2022
Officials at the chamber said they will attempt to provide facilities for women’s activities.
“Since the chamber is now reopened and it has resumed activities, other women are encouraged. The women who
suspended their business activities, they will resume them again,” said Bahnaz , a member of the chamber.
According to the Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the activities of has increased.
A female entrepreneur in Herat called on the government and international organizations to provide support as
they have suffered severe economic challenges […] There are a total of 130 members in the 's_Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Herat. Based on available figures, dozens of women entrepreneurs left Afghanistan following the recent political changes in the country. According to the department of Commerce and Industry, more than 1,500 women are engaged in business in Herat.”
UNHCR, Afghanistan Situation Regional Refugee Response Plan - 2021 Final Report, 31 March 2022
“Since August 2021, women have largely been excluded from the workforce both as a result of the economic crisis and restrictions imposed by the de facto authorities. In the public sector, exceptions are made in some cases for women working in healthcare, primary schools, as well as for a very small number of female civil servants.”
WHO, WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the meeting on Interim Priorities for Health Sector in Afghanistan – 29 March 2022, 29 March 2022
“Last year’s conflict led to major disruptions to essential health services, and a significant exodus of health workers. When I visited Afghanistan in September last year, I had the honour of meeting with several female health workers. We must support them with decent salaries, safe working conditions, and education.”
TOLO News, Facing Criticism, Govt Says More Posts for Women Are Planned, 11 March 2022
“The Ministry of Higher Education announced 275 posts for female teachers in the capital city of Kabul.”
International Federation of Journalists, Afghanistan: 87% of women journalists have suffered discrimination under Taliban rule, 9 March 2022
“The survey, “Working conditions of women journalists under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan" addresses women journalists' psychological, physical, and digital safety situation and the growing crisis of freedom of expression in the country. The survey found that:
·87% of women journalists have experienced gender discrimination during the Taliban regime
·60% of women journalists have lost their jobs and careers.
·79% of women journalists said they have been insulted and threatened under the Taliban regime, including physical threats, abuse by Taliban officials, written and verbal threats.
·91% of working women journalists were the sole economic support of their families
·87% of women journalists are not motivated to work in the current situation due to fear and panic Respondents also shared deep concerns over Taliban policies affecting security, the restriction of media funding and the lack of a media law.
The survey also shows that women journalists need more training in safety and capacity building.
Over 500 respondents from 34 provinces took part in the survey.”
OHCHR, Interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner's report on Afghanistan, 7 March 2022
“Since August 2021, women have largely been excluded from the workforce both as a result of the economic crisis and restrictions imposed by the de facto authorities. In the public sector, exceptions are made in some cases for women working in health-care, primary schools, as well as for a very small number of civil servants.”
AAN, Regime Change, Economic Decline and No Legal Protection: What has happened to the Afghan media?, 7 March 2022
“Only about 17 per cent of female journalists or media workers returned to work by early December 2021. The situation for female journalists remains precarious, because the Taleban’s policy on this matter is still unclear. In 17 of the country’s 34 provinces there are no women working in the media. […]
“On the evening of 15 August, the office posted a message on a WhatsApp group with all employees in it, asking female employees to stay home until further notice,” Zahra Rahimi, a former female journalist working with Tolonews, told AAN.”
HRW, Afghanistan: Taliban Threatening Provincial Media, 7 March 2022
“An estimated 80 percent of women journalists across Afghanistan have lost their jobs or left the profession since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, and hundreds of media outlets have closed. […]
In some provinces, Taliban officials told all women journalists to stop working. The few who are allowed to work can no longer have roles in which they come face-to-face with the public. […]
A female journalist in Balkh said that, in September, Taliban soldiers had beaten her on the street while she was
trying to cover women’s protests. She said: “Journalists can easily get beaten by Taliban soldiers in the streets and no one will be held responsible. In the past few months, the journalist from Arezo TV has been beaten and a Pajhwak journalist in Balkh has been arrested.”[…]
In Ghor province, the Taliban’s Cultural Affairs Department, which regulates the media, has turned away former women journalists when they came to their jobs, saying they have no orders confirming that female journalists can work. As of February, there were no female journalists in Ghor. In Kapisa, a journalist said that in the first days of the Taliban takeover, officials said that women journalists should stay home, and there has been no change since then.[...]
A former journalist in Helmand said that she had six female colleagues, but as of February there were no female journalists working in the province. She said that Taliban officials have instructed the media not to involve any women as program hosts or guests. Cultural programs in which women had been involved have also been
terminated.”
UNHCR, Afghanistan Crisis update: Women and Girls in Displacement, 1 March 2022
“In localities such as Badakhshan and Herat the lack of women staff among service providers was raised as a barrier. Data are currently unavailable to determine the proportion of public services that include women providers in Afghanistan. However, information on the provinces that lack agreements for the full engagement of women humanitarian staff can provide some insight. As of 25 December 2021, nine provinces in the country had only partial agreements for women humanitarian staff. That is, while some organizations secured the ability for women staff to work in all sectors, others were only able to secure agreements for work in health and education. This leaves 3,492,666 women (more than 18 per cent of Afghan women and girls) without or with limited access to women aid workers. Engagement with the de facto authorities to advocate for expanding partial agreements is currently on-going but, in most cases, assurances received have only been verbal. This is particularly worrisome in conservative communities, where only women aid workers are allowed to speak to women and girls for needs assessments and provision of aid. If their views aren’t provided or taken into consideration, this may result in gender-blind interventions. Even where women humanitarian workers are allowed to operate, their work often remains conditional on the accompaniment by a male chaperone, which may deter women and girls from disclosing certain needs and may affect survey responses.”
TOLO News, Afghan Women Artisans Struggling With Lack of Work, 24 February 2022
“Afghan women who make handicrafts complain of a decline in their activities. These women say that in the current situation their business has decreased significantly.
“We have been working here for five years, our business was very good before the political change in the country,
we have had a lot of progress; after the takeover of the Taliban, our work became very limited, restrictions were imposed on us. We are not prospering, the markets are shrinking and we have a lot of restrictions,” said Aliya, a business owner.
“Our demand is that women should be allowed to go to work, and without any harassment, because some families do not have men, they should allow the women to work," said Firoozah, a businesswoman.
Aliya, who studied computer science, is the sole breadwinner of a family of five.
In addition to computer science, she is also skilled in sewing handicrafts and has been working in a handicraft workshop for more than five years.
According to Aliya, the number of female workers in this workshop has been reduced from twenty to three.
“80 percent of women have lost their jobs, most of the women are the breadwinners who are currently at home and are facing severe economic problems," said Aliya, a businesswoman.
“In the past, women were working here and our business was very good, but now it has diminished,” said
Azizullah, a handicraft seller.
“There were 12 girls and women who worked here, they were tailors, but now all of them are unemployed at
home,” said Khwaja Homayoun, a handicraft seller.”
Gandhara, Afghan Beauty Parlors Take a Cut After Taliban Takeover, 22 February 2022
“Three years ago, Nida, a young Afghan entrepreneur, established a modern beauty parlor in Shahr-e Nau, an upscale neighborhood in Kabul. [...] But she closed her salon shortly after the Taliban swiftly seized Kabul in August, well aware that businesses like hers were being defaced with spray paint to cover posters of women models and brides used to attract customers. Some salon owners removed the pictures themselves or painted them over to avoid trouble with the new authorities. [...] After repeated closures, Nida recently obtained a trade license from the Taliban. But her clientele and peace of mind have disappeared. "We women are terrified of the Taliban and worried about our future," she told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "Now, we often wait for just one customer to show up during an entire day."”
The Guardian, ‘The Taliban want revenge’: Afghanistan’s female judges in exile in Australia, 19 February 2022
““At 10am I was at work in Kabul. At 11am I got a phone call: ‘The Taliban are in control. They are looking for you, go home and hide,’” said Farah Altaf Atahee, who fled with her husband and three children.
The Guardian met Atahee and other female judges in mid-December in Athens, where they had been evacuated from Afghanistan and were awaiting relocation to new homes.
Fifteen judges and their families – a cohort of about 70 people – have now been resettled in Australia.
As she recounted the events of the day the Taliban seized power in Kabul, Atahee fought back tears. She said she realised that thousands of recently released prisoners, including Taliban leaders and heroin traffickers, the violent criminals she had sent to jail, wanted revenge on her and other judicial officers.”
““Everything we worked for, everything we had, gone,” she said, from the Melissa office, an Athens-based NGO
supporting refugees. “My home, my family, my work, my life, my savings, all gone, in less than an hour.”
Gandhara News, Six Months And An Eternity: Afghans Lose Hope Under Taliban Rule, 15 February 2022
“Khaleda Tahsin, 51, another Afghan journalist, is giving up on journalism after 22 years spent chasing her country's evolving story nonstop. She braved suicide attacks, threats, and intimidation from both the government and the insurgents.
But the sole breadwinner for the family is calling an end to her career. She resigned from her job as the editor in chief at Radio Killid, a private station, this month because the conditions for women's work had so rapidly deteriorated under the Taliban.
"Conditions for work, particularly for women, have become tough," she told RFE/RL. "I don't have any peace of mind because of all the security threats."
Tahsin says that while women journalists can still work in theory, they have no protections. "Our major challenge is that we do not have access to information while the authorities remain unaccountable," she said.
Afghan women have endured the brunt of Taliban restrictions and discrimination. Most teenage Afghan girls are still waiting to return to school, while women have lost jobs, businesses, and the expanded societal roles they had gained over the past two decades.
"Women have been completely marginalized politically," Zahra Rahnavard, a resident of Kabul, told RFE/RL. "[The Taliban] had promised to preserve women's rights, but we see nothing. Everyone is in a state of despair and
hopelessness."”
The Guardian, The Taliban forced Afghan TV workers into hiding. Now they’re asking Hollywood for help, 14 February 2022
“[...]Rahima, a screenwriter, said she was in the middle of teaching a university class when she learned that the Taliban had entered Kabul. She and a female colleague ran out to buy burkas, only to find the shops already closed. She went home and locked herself inside. She has stayed in hiding for the past five and a half months, she said.
“In our neighborhood, everyone recognizes me as a woman activist, the university teacher and TV employee,” Rahima said through a translator. In the first 100 days of Taliban rule, more than 70% of journalists lost their jobs, and at least 250 news outlets closed their doors, according to a report from an Afghan press watchdog this fall. By September, fewer than 100 of Kabul’s 700 female journalists were still working, according to a report from
Reporters Without Borders. […] While larger TV stations are still reporting the news, and a few women still appear as correspondents on larger networks, many of the faces are new, as older reporters have fled or gone into hiding, former TV workers said. Violence against journalists, including the vicious beating of two journalists covering a women’s rights protest, has undermined the Taliban’s pledge that it would allow independent media outlets to continue operating. At least 50 journalists and media workers have been detained or arrested over the past six months, according to Reporters Without Borders.”
ToloNews, Students Welcome Reopening of Public Universities, 31 January 2022
“[...] University students are praising the government’s decision to reopen all public universities across the country. The Ministry of Higher Education announced on Sunday that all public universities in warm areas will be opened on February 2nd and in cold areas on February 26th. Bargi Khalil, a university instructor, told TOLOnews: “There should be no change in the educational method of the Ministry of Higher Education. We don’t say that there should not be positive changes, but the former methods should continue.” Earlier, the Islamic Emirate said it has made plans to segregate male and female students.”
Reuters, Afghan women losing jobs , 20 January 2022
“Hard-won gains in women's rights over the last two decades have been quickly reversed, and reports from international rights experts and labour organisations this week painted a bleak picture for female employment and access to public space. Though the economic crisis is hitting the entire country - some agencies predict it will leave almost the entire population in poverty in the coming months - the effect is disproportionately felt by women. [...] "Work in key sectors has dried up while newly imposed restrictions on women's participation in some economic areas are also hitting home." [...] Afghan women's employment levels fell by an estimated 16% in the third quarter of 2021, according to an ILO report released on Wednesday [19 January 2020], relative to 6% for men. Women's employment was expected to be 21% lower than it was before the Taliban takeover by mid-2022 if current conditions continued, according to the ILO.”
Human Rights Watch, Afghanistan: Taliban Deprive Women of Livelihoods, Identity, 18 January 2022
“Nearly all the women interviewed who previously had paid employment had lost their jobs. “In Ghazni [province], only female healthcare workers and teachers can go to work,” a nongovernmental organization worker said. “Women working in other fields are forced to stay home now.” [...]
Those still working have largely not been paid because health care and education were almost entirely financed by foreign donors, whose aid has been cut off. The only interviewee being paid regularly was working for an international nongovernmental group. [...] While primary schools for girls are open, the teachers have not received their salaries. [...]
Taliban restrictions have compounded the financial crisis for women. The owner of a business exporting products produced by female farmers said the farmers are no longer allowed to work, the products cannot be exported, and the farmers she sources from cannot afford transportation costs. [...]
Taliban authorities in Ghazni city search for women they see as having engaged in behavior they find unacceptable. [...] Several said they had relatives or friends in hiding who were afraid to be interviewed. “Women who were in the army or worked as police were targets,” a government worker said. “Women’s rights activists feared for their lives and either left the province or stopped their activities. I fear for my life too: I worked, and I was active in civil
society. I don’t do those activities anymore.” Several cited the Taliban’s killing of two female police officers in Ghazni, days before the province fell to the Taliban, as having struck particular fear among women in the community. [...]
The Taliban have imposed new restrictions on women’s dress and conduct, which affect every aspect of their lives, including their career options. “Women can only become teachers or nurses, nothing else,” the government worker said. [...]
“The Taliban government has affected our daily lives,” a student said. “In the past, when I would come to Ghazni, I would wear the same dresses as in Kabul, and I could go around the city on my own. But now we are required to wear a burqa, and our commute to the town is restricted.” [...]
When women are allowed to work, their workplaces operate under new Taliban restrictions. A health worker said her boss arranged a meeting with a senior Taliban official. “The hospital assembled all female staff to tell us how we should behave after this,” she said. “How we should dress, and how we should work separately from the male personnel. We were advised to talk to male personnel in an insolent manner and angry tone, not in a soft tone, so that we don’t evoke sexual desires in them.”
There were also new requirements to wear a burqa and a long dress. [...]
Taliban restrictions on women, difficulty discerning what they are, and arbitrary enforcement impair women’s
access to health care. “Doctors are also scared of treating female patients,” a government worker said. “It’s also hard to find female doctors.” She said there used to be more women healthcare workers in private hospitals and clinics, but they are harder to find now.”
Khaama Press, IEA to resume hiring government employees, women are excluded, 11 January 2022 Administrative Reform Commission of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announced that they are working on a new policy to resume the recruitment process of civil servants. Speaking to journalists in Kabul on Monday, January 10, 2022, officials of the Commission said that they will reactivate the network of Administrative Reforms and will and will recruit civil servants through open competition. About women, the officials said that decision about female government employees is not yet made and that it will take time to.
VOA, Former Afghan female soldier: ‘I am so afraid’ under Taliban, 31 December 2021
“Afghan women who served in the country's military are speaking out about how their life has changed under the Taliban.
"I feel like I am in prison," said Jamila, 28, a former Afghan military officer in the western city of Herat. "I have to be at home. I can't work or go out. I am so afraid."
More than 6,300 women served in the former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). Now they face not only threats to their life as former members of the military but also the Taliban's imposed restrictions on their gender.
Human Rights Watch and the United Nations accused the Taliban in November of the summary killing of more than 100 former Afghan security officials despite the group's promise of general amnesty.
Jamila served for 10 years in the 207th Zafar (Victory) Corps of the Afghan National Army, headquartered in Herat province. She says she now hears news every day of someone else who was killed or disappeared.
"I fear that they (the Taliban) might find me and kill me," she said.”
AVA Press, The Ambiguous Fate of Women in Afghanistan’s Armed Forces, 28 December 2021
“Female soldiers in province say they have become destitute since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, adding that they are in precarious security and economic situation. They say security threats on the one hand and poverty on the other have made life difficult for them. Meanwhile, the Taliban’s interior ministry says they are working on a method to clarify the fate of officers.”
Reporters without borders, Since the Taliban takeover, 40% of Afghan media have closed, 80% of women journalists have lost their jobs, December 20, 2021 - Updated on December 21, 2021
“A survey by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) shows a
radical change in the Afghan media landscape since the Taliban took power. A total of 231 media outlets have had to close and more than 6,400 journalists have lost their jobs since 15 August. Women journalists have been hit
hardest, with four out of five no longer working.”
“Six provinces have seen three quarters of their male journalists lose their jobs. But no female journalist at all is still working in 15 of the countries 34 provinces. For example, in the northern province of Jowzjan, which used to have 19 media outlets employing 112 women, none of the 12 media outlets still operating is employing a woman. The Taliban controlling many localities impose conditions on the local media that include not employing any women journalists at all. The media landscape is now largely devoid of women journalists, even in regions such as Kabul where traditionally there were more of them. Fewer that 100 women journalists dared to return to work in the weeks after the Taliban arrived in Kabul and told women to stay at home. Others have returned to their media outlets in the past two months. But, of the 1,190 women journalists and media workers counted in the capital at the start of August, only 320 are now working – a 73% fall.”
AVA Press, The Taliban Leader’s Special Decree on Women Is Disappointing, 4 December 2021
“The Taliban leader’s decree on women has sparked controversy. It is the first time the Taliban leader has spoken about women and their rights. This decree, however, is extremely conservative and does not comply with established and accepted human rights standards.
This decree reflects the patriarchal view of society towards women. In this view, women are identified as weak beings and are pitied. This view will never give women the right to -determination. The decree also does not mention women’s civil and political rights as their most basic rights. The decree does not mention the right to work, the right to education, and the right to political and civil participation of women.
In this decree, women’s rights are reduced only to the right to choose a husband. It does not mention other basic rights based on global human rights values. This decree seeks to ensure justice within the framework of a
polygamous legal system; Today, polygamy is a violation of women’s human rights. Even this system never meets the same standards as its traditional counterparts in Afghanistan and is more motivated by a decline in male sexual desire and a sense of diversity in a patriarchal society.”
TOLO News, Women Activists Seek Govt, Society Inclusion, 29 November 2021
“Many challenges lay in front of women in the previous government; right now, the women do not have access to their rights either--rights to education or to work. We ask the Islamic Emirate to fulfill their commitments that they promised earlier,” said Diana Azizi, a women's activist.”
DW, Afghanistan: What Taliban's new media rules mean for female actors, 28 November 2021
“The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice — which replaced the Ministry of Women's Affairs after the Islamic fundamentalist group seized power in the country in August — also told broadcasters not to screen films or programs that are "against Islamic or Afghan values."
The broadcasting of films that promote foreign cultures or traditions in Afghan society, or which provoke immorality, is also to be prohibited, the directive said.
Women TV journalists, however, are allowed to present their reports if they wear the Islamic hijab.
The Taliban's interpretation of the hijab — which can range from a hair covering to a face veil or full body covering
— is unclear, and the majority of Afghan women already wear headscarves.”
Variety, Afghan Actresses Decry Taliban Ban on Women in Entertainment: ‘An Artist Without Art is Basically Dead’, 26 November 2021
“Women may no longer appear in dramas and soap operas on television and newswomen must wear the hijab, says the first missive of its kind from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. (...)
When broadcast journalist Zahra Nabi heard news of the religious directives, she felt a sense of relief. In her view, they serve to make an impossible situation for Afghan media more visible on a global stage.
“The Taliban we’re facing on the street is completely different from the Taliban you see on the media or at Doha,” she explains. “They always capture journalists, beat them, arrest them for so many hours. They take cameras,
break them and don’t allow us to report.
“We’re already having very tough times. At least now they announced their intentions, so that the international press and community can see,” continues Nabi.”
Amnesty International (Afghanistan), “They are the Revolution”: Afghan Women fighting for their future under Taliban rule, 25 November 2021
“At a time when Afghans have had a whole spectrum of rights taken away from them almost overnight, these 16 stories serve as a reminder of how much Afghan women have achieved over the last 20 years despite political instability and conflict and the heightened risks that they now face under the present regime.”
DW, Afghanistan: What Taliban’s new media rules mean for female actors, 24 November 2021 “Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unveiled a new set of restrictions on Afghan media Sunday, banning television channels from showing dramas and soap operas featuring women actors.
The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice — which replaced the Ministry of Women's Affairs after the Islamic fundamentalist group seized power in the country in August — also told broadcasters not to screen films or programs that are "against Islamic or Afghan values."
The broadcasting of films that promote foreign cultures or traditions in Afghan society, or which provoke immorality, is also to be prohibited, the directive said.
Women television journalists, however, are allowed to present their reports if they wear the Islamic hijab.”
The Independent, Afghan journalists ‘facing death threats’ and harsh rules, with female reporters hit hardest, 23 November 2021
“Journalists in Afghanistan are facing death threats and harsh new rules, which are particularly impacting women, according to campaigners.
Human Rights Watch warned the Taliban’s clampdown on the press is escalating, with Taliban intelligence officials forcing all journalists to enter all of their articles to be authorised before they can be published.
New rules unveiled by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice on Sunday have blocked soap operas and dramas from including women actors. (...)
“I used to produce reports on virginity testing and violence against women, which no one can cover anymore,” a woman, who worked as a journalist in Herat in north-western Afghanistan, said. “No program covers women’s issues, especially on TV channels. The educational and entertainment programs have all stopped.
Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The Taliban’s new media regulations and threats against journalists reflect broader efforts to silence all criticism of Taliban rule. The disappearance of any space for dissent and worsening restrictions for women in the media and arts is devastating.
“Despite the Taliban’s promises to allow media that ‘respected Islamic values’ to function, the reality for Afghanistan is that journalists live in fear of a knock on the door or a summons from the authorities. This is contributing to an information blackout in which Taliban abuses increasingly happen in secret and without accountability.””
UNICEF, Afghanistan Humanitarian Situation Report, October 2021, 15 November 2021
“All cluster partners continue to experience challenges with liquidity, affecting salary and contractor payments. Challenges remain across the country with varied permissions on women’s right to work, across and within provinces as well as across clusters. This directly impacts education and child protection services and while some programming continues, there is a need to engage with authorities at all levels across the clusters to ensure
harmonization.”
TOLO News, Afghan Woman Journalist Working as Street Vendor in Kabul, 14 November 2021
“Farzana Ayoubi, a woman journalist, must work as a vendor on a Kabul street due to economic problems in order
to support her three-member family.
Mrs. Ayoubi said that she became jobless after the rapid political change in Afghanistan.
“With the closure of some media organizations, journalists became jobless and I was forced to work as a vendor as they don’t allow us (women) to work,” she said.
She called on the international community and media watchdogs to pay attention to the problems of the media family in Afghanistan. [...]
“When the political changes came to Afghanistan, the media family was severely damaged. The journalists unfortunately engaged in hazardous work, and working as vendors on the streets, ” said Masrror Lutfi, head of Afghanistan’s National Journalists' Union.
This comes as the UN and other humanitarian organizations expressed concerns over the severe economical crisis
ahead of a cold winter in Afghanistan.”
The Guardian, ‘I loved my job in the police. Then the Taliban came for me’, 14 November 2021
“Fatima Ahmadi only stopped screaming when the Taliban held a knife to her child’s throat, and told her: “Shut up, or we will kill your son.” They had burst into the policewoman’s Kabul home one late September morning, demanding she hand over her weapons. She told the Taliban she had no guns at home, but they said she was lying, ransacked the house, then began beating her, pulling out handfuls of hair, and when she would not stop shouting, they grabbed her nine-year-old son.
The knife was pressed so violently into his throat it left a red welt, visible in photographs seen by the Observer. Ahmadi’s back was covered with bruising from an assault so vicious that she lost control of her bodily functions. The men eventually left, but with an ominous warning. “We will come back.”
A divorced single mother of two young children, Ahmadi had no idea who gave the Taliban her address, or what they might do on a return visit, but she knew the family couldn’t risk waiting to find out. There have been several murders of female police officers since the hardline group took control of Afghanistan, including a vicious attack on one woman who was eight months pregnant.
So she packed her bags, went into hiding and days later managed to flee with her two boys to Pakistan. But their visa is only valid for 60 days and she is terrified about what will come next; Pakistani authorities are deporting Afghans without documents. [...]
She has tried to apply for refugee status in Pakistan through the United Nations, but has had no response yet. Asylum applications to western countries that sponsored police training, and encouraged women to join the force, have met with silence, despite the documented evidence of threats to her and her children’s lives.
But there are regular reports of reprisal killings, despite an official amnesty for anyone who worked in the security forces or for the last government. Thousands of people are still in hiding inside Afghanistan and thousands more like Ahmadi are clinging to precarious safety in neighbouring countries.”
Human Rights Watch, Afghanistan: Taliban blocking female aid workers, 4 November 2021
Taliban rules prohibiting most women from operating as aid workers are worsening the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Countrywide restrictions mean that aid will reach fewer families in need, particularly women-headed households.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has mapped the agreements
between aid agencies and the Taliban in each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, showing where female staff members will be permitted to function. The document, reviewed by Human Rights Watch, indicates that, as of October 28, 2021, Taliban officials in only three provinces had provided a written agreement unconditionally permitting women aid workers to do their jobs. In over half the country, women aid workers face severe restrictions, such as requirements for a male family member to escort them while they do their jobs, making it difficult or impossible for them to do their job effectively.
In Badghis province, the Taliban are not allowing women aid workers to work at all. In two other provinces – Bamiyan and Daikundi – the Taliban have said women aid workers are only permitted to work during assessments – gathering information about people’s needs – but not in other stages, such as delivering aid.
In 16 more provinces, the Taliban have said that women aid workers must be accompanied by a mahram (a male
family member chaperone) when they are outside the office. The most crucial work women aid workers do is often outside the office, meeting with people in need including women and girls, assessing their needs, determining risk factors they face, and ensuring that assistance reaches those who need it most. Requiring women aid workers in these roles to be escorted, forces a male family member to essentially become a second unpaid worker or – very often – will prove to be an impossible requirement that forces the woman to leave her job.
The Taliban have also restricted the types of work female aid workers can do. In 11 provinces, women aid workers are permitted to work only in health and education programs, blocking them from other areas of humanitarian assistance, such as distributing food and other necessities, water and sanitation, and livelihoods assistance, in which women’s participation is also essential. Another key aspect of aid programming is protecting and assisting people, predominantly women and girls, who may face gender-based violence. Without women workers this task is virtually impossible. The Taliban, since taking over Afghanistan on August 15, have systematically dismantled systems established in the country to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. [...]
Many women aid workers have been afraid to go to work since the return of the Taliban, fearing harassment on the street and at their workplace and retaliation by Taliban members and sympathizers who oppose women working. Without a written agreement, women workers will feel less secure and able to continue their work.
Aid agencies told Human Rights Watch that the Taliban are increasingly imposing requirements for offices, strictly segregating employees by gender, with no contact between female and male employees. Such restrictions harm both those in need of assistance and women employees, and reduce the effectiveness of agencies women aid workers kept from the room where decisions are being made, won’t be able to provide their expertise, with expected harm to potential female recipients. And women workers who are cut out of key discussions and decision-making in their agencies will find that their careers, job retention, and morale suffer.
Human Rights Watch, From Taliban to Taliban: Cycle of Hope, Despair on Women’s Rights, 1 November 2021 “Secondary schools have reopened for boys but remain closed to the vast majority of girls. Women are banned from most employment; the Taliban government added insult to injury by saying women in their employ could keep their jobs only if they were in a role a man cannot fill—such as being an attendant in a women’s toilet.
Women are mostly out of university, and due to new restrictions it is unclear when and how they can return. Many female teachers have been dismissed.
The policy of requiring a mahram, a male family member as chaperone, to accompany any woman leaving her home, is not in place according to a Kabul official but Taliban members on the street are still sometimes enforcing it, as well as harassing women about their clothing. The Taliban have systematically closed down shelters for women and girls fleeing domestic violence. Women’s sports have been banned.
The Taliban have appointed an all-male cabinet. They abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and handed over the women’s ministry building to the reinstated Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which was responsible for some of the worst abuses against women during the Taliban’s previous period in power from 1996 to 2001.”
Gandhara News, Afghan women protest in Kabul demanding right to work, education 26 October 2021
“Female activists held a protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul, demanding the right to work and education. During their October 26 march, they called on the international community do more to pressure Taliban leaders to respect their rights. Since taking power in August, the Taliban has prevented older girls from attending school and most women from working.”
BBC News, Fleeing Afghanistan: 'Women are imprisoned, while the criminals are free', 26 October 2021
“Asked whether women would hold prominent roles, such as judge or minister, in the future, Mr Karimi [secretary to the Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi] told the BBC he could not comment, because "the working conditions and opportunities for women" were "still being discussed".”
Al Jazeera, Anxious wait for Afghan girls as opening of high schools stalled, 5 October 2021
“Women employment
Though Hossaini is no longer in the country, the women Al Jazeera spoke to said there are tens of thousands of
Afghan women who have had their lives put on hold by the stalling of fully reopening all schools across the country.
Masuda Sultan, an Afghan-American entrepreneur and activist who has also joined in the efforts to restart employment and education for women, said it is not just the girls who are heavily affected by the continued shutdown of secondary education for female students.
“More women are employed in education than any other sector in Afghanistan,” said Sultan.
UNICEF estimated that roughly one-third of Afghan teachers were women, and Momand and Afghani said a further 150,000 are employed in other facets of the education sector.
“For a lot of families, teaching is the only job they’ll let their women have,” said Sultan referring to the decades- long practice of gender-segregating primary and secondary education in the country.
Because of this, Sultan said it is imperative to reopen all schools across the country as quickly as possible, “If you don’t employ these teachers, then we are failing women in Afghanistan.” “
Reuters, Protests get harder for Afghan women amid risks and red tape, 4 October 2021
“Women in Afghanistan who object to what the Taliban have said and done since returning to power are finding it harder to protest, now that impromptu demonstrations have been banned and previous rallies were broken up by gunfire and beatings.
Resistance within families and concerns over sharing information over social media that could identify people involved are also acting as deterrents, according to six female protesters Reuters spoke to across the country. Sporadic demonstrations by women demanding that the Taliban respect their civil freedoms have been captured on social media, as have the sometimes violent responses, drawing the world's attention to issues of equality and human rights.
The last time the Taliban ruled in the 1990s, they banned women from work and girls from school, allowed women to leave their homes only when accompanied by a male relative and insisted that women wore all-enveloping burqas.
Those who broke the rules were sometimes whipped in public by the Islamist militants' "moral police".
This time the Taliban are promising greater freedom for women, including in education and employment, in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.
Yet older girls are still not back at school, there are no women in senior positions in the new government, the Women's Ministry in Kabul has been shut and the Taliban have said women will only be allowed to work in a small number of jobs.”
The Guardian, ‘I don’t know where to go’: uncertain fate of the women in Kabul’s shelters, 1 October 2021
“When a Kabul-based shelter that once housed 80 women closed during the Taliban takeover, its cook lost her
income as well as a way to provide for her extended family. “My mother and I were the breadwinners but now we both sit at home, not knowing how we will survive,” says the 30-year-old, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Since last year she cooked, twice a day, receiving £190 a month and independence from her abusive husband, who was a crystal meth addict. Her mother, who was the cook at another shelter funded by the same western NGO, also lost her job.
“Now that I am locked up in my house, I suffer a lot, mentally and financially,” the daughter says. She fears for her own two daughters, who were meant to enter secondary school next year. “As an illiterate Afghan woman, I was working to help my two daughters go to school but now they can’t even get an education.””
NY Times, At Afghan Universities, Increasing Fear that Women will never be allowed back, 29 September [updated 5 October]
“The new government has also prohibited most women from returning to the workplace, citing security concerns, though officials have described that as temporary. (The original Taliban movement did that as well in its early days in 1990s, but never followed up.)”
UNHCR, Afghanistan situation: Emergency preparedness and response in Iran, 27 September 2021
“There have been reports that women-owned businesses, especially restaurants and cafes, have remained closed by the Taliban in Kabul. “Women have been progressively excluded from the public sphere, prohibited from appearing without a male guardian and face increasing restrictions on their right to work,” the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said at the UN General Assembly on 21 September.”
TOLO News, Kabul restaurants owned, staffed by women now closed, 22 September 2021
“In order to feed their families, women are seeking ways to work and earn money, Tabasom said.
“Women are the breadwinners for some families, so these families are facing economic and financial problems,” she added. The café’s employees said that each of them is leading a family. Opportunities for work must be found for women.Qadira said: “They should consider our demands. When they don’t pay attention, how will the Taliban start governance?”Sabrina Sultani said: “I was earning my livelihood by working at the café for two years. I helped my family.” Afghan businesswomen lost millions of Afs as the Taliban took Afghanistan in mid-August. Noor-ul-Haq Omari, head of the Union of Kabul Workers, said: “Investments led by women have unfortunately stopped. They lost their jobs and funds. In some cases, the women have sold their company’s expensive things at a very low
price.”Dozens of Afghan businesswomen had begun to invest in various fields across the country over the past few
years, and now this has stopped.”
Reuters, Taliban replaces women’s ministry with ministry of virtue and vice, 17 September 2021
“Female employees said they had been trying to come to work for several weeks only to be told to return to their homes, according to videos filmed outside the building seen by Reuters.”
“A senior Taliban leader said earlier this week that women would not be allowed to work in government ministries with men.”
BBC news, Afghanistan: Life under Taliban rule one month on, 16 September 2021
“She’s concerned that the Taliban may not let women work - something the group has denied. For the moment, though, women in Afghanistan are being told to stay at home for their own safety, unless they are teachers or medics.”
TOLO News, Kabul Airport Employees, Including Women, Return to Work, 13 September 2021
“Lida, one of the 100 female security employees at the airport, said she is happy to return to her job after more than two weeks of staying at home.
“We were about to get a salary but then the Taliban came and we did not receive our salaries. Now we are working
for free,” she said.
“We are happy that they asked us to resume our work. We want the government to pay us a salary from now on,” said Zahra Amiri, an employee at the airport.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Gandhara, Not Keeping Its Word: Afghan Woman Quits Job After Pressure From Taliban, 11 September 2021
“A young Afghan woman has quit her job at a private foreign-language center in Kabul after what she described as intimidation and harassment by Taliban fighters stationed outside her workplace. [...]
"I put on Islamic clothing and went to work, but the moment I arrived there I faced insults and shouting from Taliban fighters standing at the entrance."
The teacher said armed Taliban militants were guarding the commercial building that houses several companies and offices in a crowded neighborhood in downtown Kabul.
"When I tried to enter my office, one of them asked me, 'Where are you going?' I told them that I work here. He said: 'Who told you to come? Go back home, fast,'" the woman told RFE/RL on September 10.
The language instructor said she was particularly concerned when the fighters called her an "infidel." [...]
The teacher said three other women in her circle experienced similar assaults by Taliban fighters when they tried
to go to work. They all quit their jobs rather than face the harassment, she said.”
TOLO News, Afghan Women Seek Right to Return to Govt Jobs, 10 September 2021
“Despite their willingness to work, women in government jobs say they have been prevented by the Taliban from
returning to work.
Speaking to TOLOnews, they urged the Taliban to pave the way for women employees to return to work.
Shugufa Najibi, who has her master's degree in law from India, worked in Afghanistan's parliament for around ten years and said:“ When I went to the office, they stopped me. I asked 'Why? Your officials say women can work?' When I left, they told me through my colleagues to not come anymore.”
Based on the numbers of the Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction ( SIGAR ), more than 5,000 women were working in the military sector in Afghanistan. [...]
The Taliban have only allowed women in the health and education sectors to restart work. ”
UNHCR REGIONAL BUREAU FOR ASIA AND PACIFIC (RBAP), FLASH EXTERNAL UPDATE: AFGHANISTAN SITUATION
“Female humanitarian colleagues, however, have only been permitted to work in specific sectors in some provinces, largely in the areas of health and education. Female humanitarians are reportedly not currently permitted to work in several of Afghanistan's provinces.”
Human Rights Watch, How the International Community Can Protect Afghan Women and Girls, 2 September 2021
“Access to Employment
“They are going to be working with us, shoulder to shoulder with us,” Zabihullah Mujahid said of women on August
17. But on August 24, he urged women to stay home from work, citing security concerns related to misconduct by the Taliban’s own forces. This followed incidents of the Taliban forcing women out of work in banks and the media.”