No school. No work. No rights. ‘I cry for myself and the girls’ of Afghanistan

Asiah Ahmad and her 28-member team were working and designing traditional women’s costumes when the Taliban entered Kabul in August 2021.

The 23-year-old Ahmad was in charge of a company that produced clothing. But as the Taliban swept back to power, she and her staff would quickly become jobless, their company shut down, as the restrictions on women began anew.

Ahmad didn’t give up. She applied for a job in one of the UN offices in Afghanistan and was accepted.

But the Taliban’s recent decree banning women from working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has once again confined her to her home.

“It was a gloomy day. I am the only breadwinner in a family of 10,” she told the Star in Persian via WhatsApp. “If I can’t go to work, who will provide for my family?

“This is not just my story; it is the story of thousands of my generation in Afghanistan. We were born and grew up in war; there was no peace, but we were content that we were rather free, but now we are in complete darkness and suffering from the nightmare of war and an uncertain future,” Ahmad said.

“I cry for myself and the girls of my country.”

After the Taliban’s decree, major international aid groups and NGOs — including Save the Children, Afghanistan, the International Rescue Committee, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE — have all suspended their activities in the country.

Keyan Salarkia, the communications director for Save the Children Afghanistan said, “We will continue our suspension until there are opportunities to resume with the full participation of women. To do this, we need assurance from relevant authorities that our female staff will be able to work safely and without impediment.”

Save the Children has 5,700 staff and community workers in Afghanistan, of which 2,490 were women. It has worked in the country for 40 years. The organization supports Afghan children’s education and health.

“If female staff are removed from the NGOs workforce in Afghanistan, we will no longer be able to provide life-saving services to millions of women and children,” Salarkia told the Star via email.

He added that Save the Children cannot resume its programs until the ban on female NGO workers is reversed.

“We are looking to the UN and our partners across the sector to remain united. It will be a collective effort to tackle this latest restriction and the whole humanitarian community will be affected by this ban. We urge governments to do all they can to put pressure on the Taliban to lift the ban and to stand ready to continue their support to humanitarian actors as we navigate this extremely challenging period.”

The past year has seen restrictions on women in the country steadily worsen, despite widespread international condemnation.

Under the rule of the Taliban, women are not allowed to go to school, to universities or to work. In addition, women are no longer allowed to go to sports clubs, parks or public women’s baths.

The Taliban have even ceased the activities of bakeries run by women in Kabul until further notice, sources told the Star.

Bibi Fatema, 48, who has been a baker for 15 years in Kabul, said the Taliban Morality Police — tasked with the “Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” — ordered them not to work in bakeries anymore.

She said the Taliban said women working in bakeries don’t wear the “Islamic Hijab,” and that the majority of customers are men and young boys.

“The Taliban have made life hell for us, and we don’t know what to do and how to get out of this hell,” Bibi Fatema told the Star via phone.

The mother of three young girls cried while asking, if she is not allowed to go out and work, how will she support herself and who will help her?

“We are tired of this kind of life. I wish God would not create any women in Afghanistan.”

The lives of thousands of women and children who no longer have a source of income under the Taliban have become excruciatingly difficult.

Nilofar Ayoubi, an Afghan activist, said she believes that such decrees by the Taliban put the lives of thousands of women and children in danger.

“This new order tells the world what we already knew and have been screaming (at the) top of our lungs, that Taliban 2.0 is a lie and they will never change,” Ayoubi said to Star via WhatsApp.

“This situation is forcing Afghan women to seek unpleasant alternatives to survive, such as agreeing to become a second, third or fourth wife to a man or increasing the number of child marriages.”

“This is indeed the result of U.S. and Taliban illegal love affairs,” Ayoubi adds.

She said she believes that Washington is supporting the Taliban by pumping millions into the country ostensibly meant for humanitarian aid.

Although the Taliban say they have no access to world aid cash, which is $40 million weekly, there is no clarity about how it is being spent.

Marjan Sadat is a Toronto-based general assignment reporter for the Star. Reach her via email: [email protected] Twitter: marjanasadat

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