BBC News: “Every day I wake up with the hope of going back to school. They [the Taliban] keep saying they will open schools. But it’s been almost two years now. I don’t believe them. It breaks my heart,” says 17-year-old Habiba. She blinks and bites her lip trying hard not to tear up. Habiba
Khaama: On Saturday, several parents and students urged the caretaker government of Afghanistan to reopen secondary schools for girls, which had been shuttered for the previous 544 days. Parents of the students expressed concern for their children’s future and urged the authorities to allow their daughters to return to school. Click here to read more
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi March 13, 2023 Afghanistan on March 13 kicked off a nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign for children under the age of 5, the office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan told RFE/RL. The campaign is the second since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Before returning to power, the
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 8, 2023 ISLAMABAD — The United Nations said Wednesday that Taliban restrictions on the rights of women and girls had “effectively trapped” most of them in their homes, turning Afghanistan into the “most repressive” country in the world for women. The U.N. statement marking International Women’s Day comes as female activists
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 7, 2023 ISLAMABAD — The International Labor Organization said Tuesday that female employment levels in Afghanistan had fallen steeply since the Taliban took over the war-ravaged country. The ILO, in a new report, found that Taliban curbs on women’s activities and their ability to work had contributed to the decline. It
Tolo News: Universities in the cold areas of the country started classes on Monday with the absence of female students. In December of last year, the Ministry of Higher Education announced that the female students are suspended from going to universities until further notice. The female students meanwhile expressed criticism over the closure of their
Tolo News: The European Union special envoy for Afghanistan, Tomas Niklasson, said that the issue of girls’ schools was discussed with authorities, but he did not hear any commitment about opening classes for the new school year. Niklasson who is on a visit to Afghanistan, has met with several senior officials of the Islamic Emirate.
Khaama: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken once again condemned the Taliban’s ban on female employees’ work, adding that gender-based restrictions will lead to a shortage of food, medicine, and other life-saving supplies, affecting vulnerable people including women and girls. The Secretary of State in a recorded speech sent to the United Nations Human Rights
Akmal Dawi VOA News February 23, 2023 Afghanistan has a higher maternal mortality rate than all its six neighbors combined, according to a World Health Organization report released Thursday, and experts say the maternal health crisis is feared to get worse. The landlocked country’s 620 fatalties per 100,000 live births is the highest in Asia,
By Nargis Momand Hasanzai Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 23, 2023 The Taliban has banned begging and rounded up thousands of impoverished Afghans seeking alms on the streets of the capital, Kabul, in recent months. But many of Kabul’s poorest are now going door-to-door around the city of some 5 million people in search of food