Women’s rights must be ‘enforced’

THE Taliban issued a decree on Friday in the name of their supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, instructing Afghan ministries “to take serious action” on women’s rights, but failed to mention girls’ access to schools.

“The Islamic Emirate’s leadership directs all relevant organisations, Ulema-e Karam (scholars) and Tribal Elders to take serious action to enforce Women’s Rights,” Afghan caretaker government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

According to the decree, women’s consent is necessary during marriage and no one can force women to marry by coercion or pressure.

“A woman is not a property, but a noble and free human being; no one can give her to anyone in exchange for a peace deal and or to end animosity,” the decree said.

No one can marry a widow by force, including her relatives, and a widow has the right to marry or to choose her future, the decree added.

A widow has the heritage right and fixed share in the property of her husband, children, father and relatives, and no one can deprive a widow of her right, according to the decree.

“Those with multi marriages (more than one wife) are obliged to give rights to all women in accordance with sharia (Islamic) law, and maintain justice between them,” the decree said.

The Taliban leader has instructed the Ministry of Information and Culture to publish articles related to women’s rights and called for proper implementation of the decree.

He also called on provincial governors and district chiefs to co-operate comprehensively with the relevant ministries and the Supreme Court in the implementation of decree.

The move comes after the Islamists seized power in mid-august and as they seek to restore Afghanistan’s access to billions of dollars in assets and aid suspended when the previous, Western-backed regime collapsed in the final stages of a US military withdrawal.

Respect for women’s rights has repeatedly been cited by key global donors as a condition for restoring aid.

The decree crucially makes no mention of girls’ secondary education – which has been suspended for millions – or the employment of women, who have been barred from returning to jobs in the public sector.

Women’s rights were severely curtailed during the Taliban’s previous stint in power, which lasted from 1996 to late 2001.

Women were forced to wear the allcovering burqa, only allowed to leave the home with a male chaperone and banned from work and education.

Akhundzada has maintained a low public profile since becoming supreme leader in 2016, after his predecessor was killed in a US drone strike.

On October 30, the Taliban released a 10-minute audio recording purported to be him addressing a madrassa in the southern city of Kandahar that day.

Meanwhile, The UN said this week that a programme to pay $300 million (about R4.7 billion) a year in cash to Afghan families with children, elderly people or people with disabilities is the best way to target increasing poverty.

In what the UN Development Programme (UNDP) described as an “alarming” socio-economic outlook for Afghanistan for the next 13 months, it also pushed a $100m “cash for work” project to boost employment and $90m in small business payments.

“This will be probably the best shot at halting this massive collapse into near universal poverty,” UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Kanni Wignaraja, told Reuters.

Child marriage has also increased in tandem with soaring poverty since the Taliban seized power, with reports of destitute parents even promising baby girls for future marriage in exchange for dowries, women’s rights activists said.

They predicted the rate of child marriage – which was prevalent even before the Taliban’s return – could nearly double in the coming months.

“It paralyses (my) heart hearing these stories ... It’s not a marriage. It’s child rape,” said prominent Afghan women’s rights campaigner Wazhma Frogh.

She said she was hearing of cases every day – often involving girls under 10 years of age, although it was not clear if young girls would be forced to have sex before reaching puberty.

UN children’s agency Unicef said there were credible reports of families offering daughters as young as 20 days old for future marriage in return for a dowry.

As Afghanistan struggles with a sharp drop in international development aid after mid-august, an economy and banking system on the brink of collapse, the Covid-19 pandemic and severe drought, UNDP has projected that poverty may become nearly universal by mid 2022 – affecting more than 90% of the country’s 39 million people.

The UN World Food Programme has said 22.8 million people are facing acute food insecurity.

The UNDP set up a special trust fund in October, with a €50m (about R900m) pledge from Germany, to provide urgently needed cash directly to Afghans. So far, the fund has received pledges for $170m.

The UNDP report makes the case for boosting a cash payment programme, known as Abadei, which was launched in October. Since then the UNDP said it has made $100 000 in “cash for work” payments, creating jobs for 2 300 people in Mazar, Kunduz and Herat, and is being expanded to other provinces.

The report also warned that Afghanistan’s economic growth will not turn positive in the near term unless restrictions on women working are lifted, $250m a year in aid to combat Covid-19 continues and sanctions are eased to allow for humanitarian assistance.

It estimates that restricting female employment could cause an immediate economic loss of between $600m and $1bn – 3% to 5% of gross domestic product.

Wignaraja, who has met Taliban officials in Kabul, said a message needed to be sent that “all capable men and women should be fully back to work and contribute your full potential to not only mitigate the immediate economic disaster, but think about this as the future of the country.” |