UN: Rights of Afghan women, girls under attack

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The humanitarian organizations must aim to scale up assistance to women and girls by providing food, healthcare, education, livelihood opportunities and protection services….reports Asian Lite News

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has raised concerns over the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, stating that “Afghan women are deprived of basic rights.”

The UN office said: “The fundamental rights of Afghan women and girls are under attack. They need the UN’s support and solidarity now more than ever.”

The humanitarian organizations must aim to scale up assistance to women and girls by providing food, healthcare, education, livelihood opportunities and protection services.

“The fundamental rights of Afghan women and girls are under attack. They need our support and solidarity now more than ever. Humanitarians aim to scale up assistance to women and girls by providing food, healthcare, education, livelihood opportunities and protection services,” OCHA tweeted.

According to OCHA, 11.8 million women and girls need urgent humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.

OCHA’s tweet comes after women staged a protest in Kabul on Wednesday.

Dozens of Afghan women in the capital city of Kabul are protesting against certain regulations imposed on them by the ruling Taliban, reported Sputnik citing an activist. The Taliban force women to wear hijab in public places and at work, said the activist, stressing, it points that the new rulers in Kabul do not want women to work.

Some women who participated in Wednesday’s protest were former employees of the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission, who lost their jobs following the Taliban takeover last August, TOLO News reported.

One such participant, Ferozan Amiri, said: “We the women working in the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission, and the 28 percent active force of the government department, have suffered major damage with the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban’s ruling on government departments on August 15, 2021.”

The protesters also released a resolution which comprised five points — allowing females to work; women’s meaningful inclusion in the government’s decision-making body about women’s affairs; formation of policies to support women’s rights; preservation of posts which were occupied by women; and the creation of a safe environment for women.

“Women are concerned over the fate of jobs in the (Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission). You know, this institution is neutral. Around 28 per cent of the civil service is filled by women,” TOLO News quoted another protester, Khujusta Ilham, as saying.

Meanwhile, Taliban officials have said that there has been no decision to exclude women from the government structure.

“The issue of women’s working activity in (government) departments is under discussion. After an assessment, if the women’s presence is needed in any department, they will be working in the same posts and the same departments,” said Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for Taliban.

To consider the recognition of the current Afghan government, the international community requires the observation of human rights, women rights, and the formation of an inclusive government. (ANI/IANS)

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