It has been over a year since the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan. The lives of women and girls are at risk and their freedoms and human rights have been abolished under the Taliban Regime. Primary school education is now the only form of education accessible to girls in the country. Yesterday the Taliban suspended all University education too after gradually shutting down mainstream secondary education for girls. Women are banned from all mainstream employment, they have difficulty accessing healthcare, cannot be involved in politics or take an active part in society and are confined to the home, leaving only to carry out a limited range of activities, and must adhere to strict regulations regarding how they dress. Women who had good careers as teachers, doctors, lawyers, civil servants and members of the police and armed forces or who worked in the media and other sectors and industries have been forcibly retired from their jobs. Despite conforming to and wearing the Taliban’s version of enforced Hijab, women are still systematically whipped and beaten in public. Sexual violence and forced marriages to Taliban fighters is common. Brave Afghan women who have demonstrated peacefully demanding their basic Human Rights, such as the right to work and education are subject to harassment, beatings, unlawful arrests and torture. Women who have been widowed by years of terrorism and wars, or whose husbands, father, or brothers who were their breadwinners and members of the Afghan National Army or police officers who were murdered by the Taliban via suicide bombings or targetted killings, have no access to any financial support nor can they feed their children and are left with no options but to beg on the streets, and in extreme cases families have been left with no choice but to sell their childen. Women have no representation in the Afghan Parliament where previously women were well represented in all constituencies across Afghanistan and have lost their political voice. This has impacted on the lives of all ordinary law abiding men women and children in Afghanistan.

The future of Afghanistan, a country already suffering from decades of civil war, is severely impacted by the current geo-political crisis. When females are not allowed access to education there will be a huge socio-economical problem impacting greatly on future generations. The longer girls are kept out of school the less likely they will be able to return to education of any sort in the future and there will be a huge vacuum in every professional sector. Already Afghanistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates and among the highest rates of women dying in childbirth due to lack of medical care and with a lack of female doctors nurses and midwives this will be an even bigger tragedy. The rule of the Taliban has meant that they have put Ministers in charge of government departments who have absolutely no experience, qualifications, understanding or ability to serve society, thus  demolishing all of the progress made in the last 20 years in Afghanistan in terms of economic growth, education and women's rights. With no Afghan women permitted to take part in government and politics, womens voices have been silenced and their needs and their very existance have been denied since the Taliban seized control. 

With the approach of the winter months and an impending humanitarian and economic crisis with millions of people facing starvation and the freezing winter temperatures with no funds to heat their homes there is little time left to take action to avert a catastrophic disaster in Afghanistan.

We therefore ask the Secretary General of the United Nations and the leaders of NATO to urgently work with all parties and international allies, leveraging the access still possible on the ground through third-party states, to ensure:

o   The right of women in Afghanistan to move freely and safely, and to continue to study and to work without restrictions or fear of reprisals.

o   The right of women in Afghanistan to have access to healthcare.

o   The right of women in Afghanistan to participate in politics, law, and NGO work without threat or harm.

o   The presence of international observers and aid to support the most vulnerable.

We call on International Leaders to put pressure on the Taliban to demand that the Human Rights of all females in Afghanistan is restored and upheld, and to provide urgent funding to support a coordinated education plan for all Afghan children.

We call on the leaders of Muslim countries to raise their voices and make it clear to the Taliban that religion does not justify preventing girls from going to school and to withdraw any support for the Taliban in terms of negotiations or financial aid until they give women back their basic Human Rights - to live and work free of oppression, to have access to education and healthcare and to take up their rightful place within Afghan society.