Taliban deprive women of livelihoods, equality: UN official

New Delhi:  In the year that has passed since the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan, the world has seen daily and continuous deterioration in the situation of women and girls in the war-torn nation and this has spanned every aspect of their human rights, from living standards to social and political status, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous, said on Monday.
Monday marks a year since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, with basic women’s rights suppressed, media freedom curtailed and large swathes of the country plunged into poverty.
No country has recognised the Taliban’s de facto government and women have taken to the streets in Afghanistan to denounce the restrictions on their rights to education, work and freedom of movement.
It has been a year of increasing disrespect for their right to live free and equal lives, denying them opportunity to livelihoods, access to healthcare and education, and escape from situations of violence.
The Taliban’s meticulously constructed policies of inequality set Afghanistan apart. It is the only country in the world where girls are banned from going to high school. There are no women in the Taliban’s cabinet, no Ministry of Women’s Affairs, thereby effectively removing women’s right to political participation, said Bahous in a statement.
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