It was a giant misstep by the U.S. to sign a peace deal that did not even include continuing recognition of the rights of women who had grown with our involvement to expect an education. Considering the United States' invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 is largely to blame for the country's current state of affairs, the U.S. had a responsibility to not just abandon Afghan citizens without leaving them a lifeline.
Despite the threat of death or sexual violence, Afghan women still continue to protest against the oppressive regime of the Taliban. government leaders and organizations are not applying resources to make tangible political changes to match the courage of these female advocates. Steps towards tangible change can be achieved.
According to their website's mission statement, one of the United Nation's jobs is to "protect human rights." (Click Here.) However, they not taken any concrete steps to hold the Taliban accountable for its war on women. They have taken measures to ensure that citizens in Ukraine have a constant supply of money and resources. Afghanistan's women should not be left to fight for basic equality when organizations such as the United Nations have the resources to help.
There are a variety of ways that the UN could provide assistance to Afghanistan. They could use their platform to educate the public on the gravity of treatment towards Afghan women and to call for political and educational reforms. They should also make sure that girls at least have access to resources for higher education. The UN should collect data on how women are disproportionately affected by Taliban rule in different regions in order to learn how to best provide assistance.
Another huge asset is U.S. foreign aid. Governmental institutions should place conditions that in order to receive aid, Afghanistan and the Taliban must give women and girls the right to receive higher education. The Taliban might be willing to compromise by allowing girls to attend school past the elementary level if it was a stipulation in order to receive non-humanitarian aid such as the $8.62 billion from 2002-2017 in counternarcotics assistance as the U.S. provided Afghanistan over that time. In fact the Taliban has stated an objective of once more blocking the cultivation of opium and manufacturing of heroin as in the past, so this counternarcotics assistance could be valuable to use as a leveraging tool.
It's time that these governmental institutions stand up for women in Afghanistan instead of forcing them to fight alone.
We have to play then cards as they are in our hand. The Taliban runs Afghanistan--we no longer do, by our own choice, So if we respect that fact and work the deals with the existing powers, we might just get them to make progress, too.
What has happened to Afghanistan girls and women is atrocious and inhumane by any standard. World media knows it. The Taliban know it, and we know it. Jointly, we can do something about it.
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