2023-08-14 17:23:40
This is a true humanitarian crisis that has been going on for two years now, said Murwarid Ziayee, director of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan.
This organization participated in a demonstration this Sunday in Ottawa as part of a global global campaign to condemn the Taliban. It also organizes another demonstration in Vancouver for Tuesday, August 15. The group wants the Taliban to eventually be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
The Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan organization denounces that the oppression of women and girls by the Taliban has led to widespread human rights violations and a spiral of gender-based violence. Millions of Afghan women and girls have been deprived of basic rights such as education, work, and freedom of movement, expression, and association. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that officially prohibits the education of girls and women.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, following the chaotic withdrawal of US troops that invaded that country in 2001. Since then, some 2,455 US soldiers have been killed in the conflict.
Canada also participated in the military campaign in Afghanistan, in which some 175 Canadian servicemen were killed, including seven civilians. That war cost the lives of 46,000 Afghan civilians.
During those 20 years of foreign military presence in Afghanistan, girls were able to go to school and women rose through the ranks in universities, companies and ministries.
Six months after the fall of Kabul, the United Nations reported that 95% of the Afghan population was starving. In addition, women have been denied vital medical services and denied access to many professions.
This month, the BBC’s Persian Service reported that Taliban commanders in some provinces have extended the ban on education for girls as young as 10 years of age. The Taliban previously banned girls from attending secondary school.
Murwarid Ziayee, director of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, grew up in Kabul and spent two decades working on development projects in Afghanistan during the so-called democratic period.
His organization runs schools and recently asked students ages 10 to 12 to draw how they see their future. Many of them were drawn behind bars or in a cave, while others were drawn in total darkness.
The reality of their lives is so hard to comprehend. What we hear is a feeling of despair. This pushes me to be stronger and fight back because they can’t do it from within, even though women have shown a lot of strength and courage in resisting the Taliban. A quote from Murwarid Ziayee, director of Canadian Women for Women.
This organization has stopped operating some of its physical schools to develop an online education system, used by mothers and fathers so that their daughters can study in secret.
Afghan students demand the right to education. Some Afghan women and girls have fled the country, but for those who remain, their education is a concern, as it is for Canadians who support their efforts to learn.
Foto: (Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press)
Opposition to recognition of the Taliban
Within the Afghan diaspora, there is debate over whether the international community should recognize the Taliban government and work with them to alleviate famine.
The UN agencies are also divided. Some of them have suspended activities that exclude women and others limit their work to exclusively male teams.
Murwarid Ziayee said that the defense of human rights should not compromise humanitarian aid. According to her, the sanctions imposed on Afghanistan punish ordinary people. Instead, certain Taliban leaders who travel abroad or do business abroad should be targeted. This could prompt accountability for rights atrocities.
Canada can fund online learning projects and make good on its belated promise to resettle 40,000 Afghans in the country. Ottawa could also make good on its promise to allow Canadian agencies to help the Afghan population, he added.
The Liberals passed Bill C-41 in June, which amended parts of Canada’s terrorism law, which prohibits aid workers from hiring or buying anything in Afghanistan.
The law immediately created obstacles for humanitarian groups trying to bring food and medical supplies into Afghanistan. It also subjects organizations that want to build clinics or water wells to an authorization process with no start date.
In a July 14 presentation to interested parties, Canada’s Ministry of Public Safety said it plans to launch this authorization process in the coming months.
Senator Ratna Omidvar championed this law for more than a year and helped amend it so aid can be delivered more quickly and Ottawa reviews the law’s effectiveness.
Omidvar has not received a timetable for implementation of the law, but says officials are working to start the permitting process. She expects its release to be announced sometime in September.
In Canadian parliamentary and political life, that might not be too long, he said. Things are moving. I know the groups would like to get permission as soon as possible.
Murwarid Ziayee is concerned that Ottawa has yet to solve a problem that other countries solved just months after the Taliban’s capture of Kabul. While we greatly appreciate the approval of this bill, we need some clarity. We cannot wait two more years to have a schedule or a start date, he added.
Fuente: RC/PC
Adaptation: RCI / R. Valencia
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