KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) emphasizes the need to protect the fundamental rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, particularly their right to education and work.
In a declaration released after its fifteenth session held on May 4 and 5 in Gambia, the second largest organization after the UN with 57 member states emphasized the importance of full respect for the human rights of the people of Afghanistan.
“We reaffirm our support for a peaceful, stable, prosperous and inclusive Afghanistan and in this regard reiterate the need to address the challenges faced by Afghan people, such as humanitarian, human rights, ethnic groups, security and terrorism, narcotics and social challenges,” parts of OIC statement reads.
The Taliban also participated in this year’s OIC summit.
In a statement, the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that besides attending the main event, its delegation also actively participated in meetings, exchanging views on various bilateral and multilateral issues with OIC officials and representatives from member states.
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 has had a devastating impact on the rights of women and girls. The regime has banned girls from attending school above the sixth grade and has imposed over 50 other restrictions on women’s work, freedom of movement and expression.
Over the past years, the majority of the world, including Islamic nations and organizations, has condemned the Taliban’s misogynistic policies, calling on the regime to abide by international laws and uphold the fundamental rights of women.
The Taliban, however, argues that their policies and practices are rooted in Islamic Sharia law and Afghan traditions, claiming that human rights and equality are Western concepts that clash with Islamic principles.
It is not the first instance where the OIC and other international Islamic organizations have called on the Taliban to reverse the bans and allow women and girls to go to school and work.
The OIC has previously voiced concern about the Taliban’s widespread abuse of human rights in Afghanistan, especially those of women and girls, saying that the group’s misogynist policies are “against our religion.”
Last year, the Secretary-General of the Organization, Hissein Brahim Taha, described the Taliban’s bans on women “in violation of the purposes of Islamic law and the methodology of the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad.”
Last month, Dr. Mohammad bin Abdul Karim Al Issa, the Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL), the largest Islamic NGO, also criticized the Taliban’s policies towards women, describing them as based on a “fundamentally flawed, selective, and extreme” interpretation of Islamic texts.
“In the Qur’an, God describes human beings as rational, and nowhere in the Islamic tradition is the capacity for reason gendered,” he said.
