As world leaders parade across the United Nations General Assembly stage this month, Afghan women and girls remain among the many vulnerable and violated communities whose situation requires these leaders’ urgent action, not simply their empty words. World leaders, particularly from the United States, should require Afghan women to be part of any negotiation with the Taliban.
The U.S. has been the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan since the 2021 Taliban takeover. Fortunately for the many American officials who — for 20 years — have regularly expressed their commitment to Afghan women’s rights, the emerging nexus of Afghanistan’s escalating security and humanitarian crises provide the U.S. with both ample opportunity and formidable leverage to honor their outstanding commitments to Afghanistan’s women.
Since their takeover just two years ago, the Taliban have steadily and systematically increased their exclusion of women and girls from public life. What began as prohibiting Afghan girls from secondary education has frighteningly escalated into Taliban-backed torching of their schools. What started as the barring of Afghan women from employment within specific occupations has rapidly expanded to a near-complete ban on women working outside the home. What began as the frenetic implementation of more than 20 restrictive Taliban edicts on girls’ education has disturbingly evolved into the widespread harassment and intimidation of educators, including the kidnapping of beloved girls’ education champion, Matiullah Wesa.
About the authors
Mary Akrami
Mary Akrami is a leading human rights activist and the former executive director of the Afghan Women’s Network. She is also the former executive director of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center, which established the first shelter for women at risk in 2003. Mary operated shelters in Kabul and had restaurants where she created job opportunities for women. She has been a staunch advocate for the prevention of violence against women and instrumental in advocating for women’s inclusion and the passage of Afghanistan’s violence against women law — “Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women.”
Zainab Salbi
Zainab Salbi is the founder of Women for Women International and is on the board of directors of the Vital Voices Global Partnership. She is a celebrated humanitarian, author, and journalist. Salbi is co-founder for DaughtersforEarth.com, chief awareness officer at FindCenter.com, and host of Redefined podcast. Oprah Winfrey identified her as one of the 25 women changing the world to People magazine, and Foreign Policy magazine called her one of “100 Top Global Thinkers.”
Alyse Nelson
Alyse Nelson is the co-founder, president & CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership. Nelson has worked for the organization for more than 22 years, serving as vice president and senior director of programs before assuming her current role in 2009. Under her leadership, Vital Voices has expanded its reach to serve over 20,000 women leaders across 184 countries and territories.
