WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – Zubaida Akbar, a women’s rights and civil society activist from Afghanistan, was awarded the 2024 Rights and Leadership Award by the International Action Network for Gender Equality and Law (IANGEL).
In a statement, IANGEL, a U.S.-based network of lawyers, commented Ms. Akbar’s work and dedication in promoting equality and advocating against the draconian policies imposed on Afghan women and girls by the Taliban.
IANGEL is dedicated to advancing gender equality and protecting the human rights of women and girls worldwide.
Established in 2015, IANGEL’s Rights and Leadership Award honors exceptional leaders who promote women’s rights and gender equality. In 2018, the award was renamed in memory of Amel Zenoune-Zouani, an Algerian law student murdered by fundamentalists in 1997 for refusing to abandon her studies.
The award is presented annually to activists advocating for gender justice worldwide, serving as a tribute to Zouani’s sacrifice in the pursuit of gender equality.
This year, the IANGEL award was presented to Zubaida Akbar, an activist from Afghanistan currently living in the U.S., and Hafidha Chekir, a labor activist and human rights defender from Tunisia.
“We faced a tough decision from a very competitive and impressive pool of nominees, so we selected two exceptional advocates for gender justice to receive our award,” the organization said.
“Zubaida Akbar is a leading women’s rights and civil society activist from Afghanistan, tirelessly working to defend the human rights of Afghan women and girls and marginalized communities in Afghanistan,” it added.
“Ms. Akbar is a role model for women human rights defenders fighting against the fundamentalist oppression of women everywhere.” Karima Bennoune, the 2016 Rights and Leadership Awardee, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Women from Afghanistan are winning such accolades at a time when the Taliban has nearly erased women from the country’s socio-political life.
Since their return to power, the Taliban have steadily imposed repressive measures against women and girls in Afghanistan. Under their rule, women are prohibited from working in the public sector and for NGOs, pursuing secondary and university education, traveling long distances without male relatives, and accessing parks, public baths, and gyms.
UN experts, legal scholars, and activists all say that the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls amounts to a system of apartheid, designed to deliberately subjugate them based solely on their gender.
Despite substantial calls and pressure from the majority of the world, including Islamic countries and organizations, for the Taliban to uphold the fundamental rights of women and girls, the fundamentalist regime argues that their policies and practices are grounded in Islamic Sharia law and Afghan traditions.
