UN Deputy Secretary-General calls for putting pressure on Taliban to ensure women’s rights in Afghanistan

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has called for putting pressure on the Taliban to ensure women's and girls rights

Kabul: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has called for putting pressure on the Taliban to ensure women’s and girls rights to education and work in Afghanistan, TOLO News reported.

Mohammed while speaking at a press conference, said that the situation of women and girls is getting worse day by day in Afghanistan.

---

The UN Deputy Secretary-General said: “There is a Women in Islam conference that is coming up that will be taking on some of these issues, you will know that the OIC had sent a mission recently to Afghanistan so we think the neighbourhood’s important as well (to) create that pressure and that momentum, they’re part of the international community and they’ve got to put pressure to make sure that women’s rights are back where they should be in Afghanistan.” As per some women’s rights activists, the Taliban should provide the rights of employment and education to women and girls, in order to attract the trust of the world.

A women’s rights activist, Tafsir Seyaposh, said: “The Taliban must first establish credibility at the national level if it hopes to earn credibility at the international level. How long would they continue to disregard women and how far they would go to violate their rights.”

“It is the responsibility of the world and the current authorities of Afghanistan to pay serious attention to the alarming situation that Afghan women have and the situation that has isolated Afghanistan,” said Suraya Paikan, another women’s rights activist, according to TOLO News.

The Taliban has not yet commented on the remarks of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. It previously denied the violation of women’s and girls rights saying that their rights are ensured in Afghanistan in accordance with the Islamic principles.

Meanwhile, as many as 11 countries have put pressure on the Taliban for violating women’s rights in Afghanistan during the United Nations (UN) meeting, reported Khaama Press.

Countries including the United States, France, Britain, Japan, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Ecuador, Albania, and Malta, referred to the treatment of Afghan women and girls by the Taliban as “gender-based violence”, according to a joint statement. The Women’s Rights Council representative further called for global support to define ‘gender apartheid’ in international law.

The statement also stated that systematic violations of women’s rights have taken away their freedom and forced gender segregation, constituting instances of gender-based violence, Khaama Press reported.