Press briefing by UN Women on the new Afghanistan Gender Alert
Remarks by UN Women Chief of Humanitarian Action Sofia Calltorp at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
Around the world, girls are preparing to go back to school this September.
In Afghanistan, girls are preparing to mark four years since the Taliban banned them from secondary education.
Today, UN Women is releasing new data which shows that, despite this ban, the vast majority of Afghans – women and men alike – support girls’ education.
In a nationwide, door-to-door survey of more than 2,000 Afghans, more than 9 out of 10 said it was important for girls to continue their schooling.
Support was overwhelming across the board: from men and women, in both urban and rural communities.
It is clear: Despite the existing bans, the Afghan people want their daughters to exercise their right to education.
In a country where half the population lives in poverty, education is the difference between despair and possibility.
These findings can be found in a new UN Women Gender Alert, spotlighting the normalization of the women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan, four years after the Taliban takeover. The Gender Alert comes one year after the so-called morality law’ codified a sweeping set of restrictions on women and girls.
The Gender Alert also looked at the Taliban’s ban on women working for NGOs – announced nearly three years ago. Its impact is devastating.
In a survey conducted this July and August, 97 per cent of Afghan women in areas where the ban is enforced said it has harmed their daily lives.
Three-quarters described their mental health as “bad” or “very bad”.
This is why investing in Afghan women’s organizations is at the core of UN Women’s work.
Because when other doors are closed, these community organizations remain one of the only lifelines left.
If you can’t leave your home without a man, or speak to men outside your family – where do you turn for healthcare, mental health support or simply the chance to connect with other women?
You turn to local women’s organizations.
Their work is especially critical for Afghan women and girls returning from Iran and Pakistan – among the 1.7 million Afghans who have returned this year alone – many forcibly.
Without women aid workers, many will simply miss out on life-saving support.
Gender alert: Four years of Taliban rule: Afghan women resist as restrictions tighten
Yet, despite everything, Afghan women and girls are not giving up hope.
In our nationwide, door-to-door survey, more than half of women said they remained hopeful about achieving their future aspirations – despite nearly every door to public life being shut.
Hope itself has become a strategy. A deliberate response to repression.
The international community must hear this hope – and respond.
In September, Member States will gather for the UN General Assembly and commemorate 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action laid out a roadmap for gender equality.
And whereas the world has seen significant progress in the last 30 years in advancing the education of women and girls, for Afghan women and girls, the last four years mark an unprecedented regression.
Our response to the systematic erasure of women and girls in Afghanistan will be one of the greatest tests of our resolve.
The question is simple: Do we truly believe in equal rights for women and girls?
Afghan women and girls are holding onto hope.
We must meet that hope with action, not silence.
