KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated his call for the Taliban to lift the restrictions imposed on women and girls, including the bans on education and work.
In a post on X on Friday, marking two years since the Taliban banned women and girls from universities and working in NGOs, Blinken said Afghan women and girls are the “lynchpin” to a more stable, peaceful, and prosperous Afghanistan.
“We call on the Taliban to immediately reverse these edicts,” the US top diplomat said.
After their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban gradually curtailed the fundamental rights of women and girls, beginning with a ban on attending secondary schools. In December 2022, they expanded the ban to include universities and work for non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Recently, the regime banned women and girls from pursuing medical education, including nursing and midwifery, closing the last avenue available for women and girls to pursue education in the country.
Afghanistan, under Taliban rule, is the only country in the world where girls and women are denied access to education, work, and many other fundamental rights.
The Taliban’s crackdown on women’s rights has been met with widespread condemnation and backlash from the international community, including from the majority of Islamic countries and organizations. However, the regime has shown no signs of reversing its policies.
On the second anniversary of the Taliban’s bans on universities and work, Rina Amiri, the US Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights, called for global solidarity and support for Afghan women, stressing that failure to act would undermine women’s rights worldwide.
In an open letter on Friday, Amiri urged the international community to prioritize human rights, particularly those of women and girls, in any engagement with the Taliban.
“Progress in improving diplomatic and economic ties must be meaningfully linked to concrete measures to reverse extreme policies targeting women and girls,” she said.
The US special envoy pointed out that this is not the first time Afghan women have faced setbacks in the country’s history. Despite the challenges, they have re-emerged as leaders in nearly every sector of society and played a key role in Afghanistan’s revival.
“They will do so again,” Amiri said. “To ensure they prevail, we must collectively support them,” she emphasized.
“The world is being tested. If we fail Afghan women and girls, we fail women and girls everywhere and set a dangerous precedent that will be replicated elsewhere, far beyond Afghanistan,” she concluded.
