AFGHANISTAN: SARA’s Notebook (One)

AFGHANISTAN: SARA’s Notebook

SARA AHMAD

[Sara on herself: My life’s experiences till now, made my personality to become a responsible, hard – working , intelligent , and compassionate young Afghan woman with a passion for justice and a keen interest in women rights , education right and climate justice.
Skilled in art, leadership , and public speaking . Have strong interpersonal and communication skills , with a great eye for detail . Women’s rights advocate , Trainee lawyer, Self employed and looking for new opportunities]

ONE

Finnish Immigration Service has announced that all Afghan women and girls will be granted refugee status due to the worsening position of women’s rights and freedoms since the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan.

The Finnish Immigration Service has updated its guidelines on the processing of applications submitted by Afghans to reflect this change.

The decision-making practice aligns with the report published by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) on January 25, 2023

TWO

Far from seeing their rights as bargaining chips for aid, Afghan women live in a reality where the mounting restrictions also affect their ability to survive.

While insecurity may no longer come in the form of bombs and war machines, Afghan women consistently report an atmosphere of fear enforced through targeted harassment, beatings, killings, and disappearances committed by the Taliban or other militant groups the Taliban have at best failed to deter and at worst enabled.

And that’s without mentioning the intense targeted violence suffered by Shia and Hazara communities.

“Just because we are not hearing any terrifying voices of gunfire or explosions does not mean we have security,” said one participant from Baghlan.

“When there is unemployment, poverty, and the school gates are closed for girls, this is called insecurity.”

Taliban restrictions on free movement, secure employment outside the home, support networks, and even on what men can allow female family members to do has directly led to reduced household income, an increasing inability to meet basic survival needs, and a non-stop feeling of insecurity that ripples into household conflicts and a notable rise in domestic violence.

THREE

A group of female foreign ministers attending the Munich Security Conference 2023 in a statement on Saturday stressed the need for the removal of Taliban restrictions on women.
According to the statement released in Munich on Saturday, 18 February: “Together, we, female Foreign Ministers at the Munich Security Conference 2023, strongly condemn the Talibans’ push to exclude women from all public life: women are kept from strolling in parks, are not seen on TV screens anymore, are deprived of their right to attend schools and universities, and are now also kept from working in humanitarian assistance. By excluding half of Afghanistan’s population from society, the Taliban are committing gravest violations of human rights.”

FOUR

#Iranian handball player announced that she banned from leaving. Mrs. Janbaz wrote on the Instagram social network, “Forbidden to leave, for me, who went and was everywhere in the world, I came back and said that I belong to this land??!!!
For me who loves Iran???”
It is strange that a protester means a criminal.
This protesting Iranian athlete had previously resigned from the Iranian women’s national handball team in support of nationwide protests.

FIVE

The removal of women’s freedoms is, having a dire effect on mental health and many highly educated women that can leave the country wish to do so.

Healthy, educated young women who are suddenly not allowed to study, learn or work are having to remain in the home. Of course, after the COVID-19 lockdowns, this is all the more relatable to the rest of the world. However, with COVID-19, we all knew there would be an end to the pandemic, but what is the end goal here in Afghanistan?

How do women make it through this time if education is banned after the age of 10? So many skills will be lost and many lives will also be lost, whether through starvation, poor mental health or a lack of medical care due to a shortage of well-trained and educated female medical staff, such as doctors, gynecologists and nurses. Mortality rates already reported to be higher.

SIX

“Exactly 514 days ago, my heart was shattered along with the dreams of millions of girls in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country; they unleashed terror upon us, tearing apart families and our homes and leaving us hopeless and in a world that no longer feels like our own,” Somaya Faruqi, a Girls’ Education Advocate, Captain of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team and ECW Global Champion, said at the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) High-Level Financing Conference in Geneva, Switzerland this week, calling on the world to take decisive action against the Taliban.

“We should take the situation of Afghanistan as a global humanitarian crisis,” urged Fawzia Koofi , Women’s Rights Activist and Former Deputy Speaker in the Afghan National Parliament, requesting the international community to provide study opportunities to Afghan women and girls outside Afghanistan.

“Two decades of educational progress has literally been wiped out in 18 months by the return of the Taliban and the devastating restrictions that have been imposed on women and girls,” remarked Christina Lamb , who has been reporting on Afghanistan for over 30 years as a foreign correspondent.

SEVEN

In December – as many around the globe were preparing for the holidays – Sama, a former attorney, remained hunkered down in her house in Kabul, Afghanistan, trying to comprehend how her world had changed.

The Taliban had just released a series of edicts robbing Afghan women of more of their hard-won freedoms. They suspended women’s higher education, ended school for girls above 6th grade, and banned women from working in local and international nongovernmental organizations.

“We were not shocked,” says Sama, who cannot use her real name due to safety concerns. “Day by day, they restrict our freedoms.” Eventually, she jokes darkly, “they may announce that women should stop breathing.”

EIGHT

The AIBA reportedly had close to 6000 registered lawyers, both male and female, until the Taliban ordered it to cease operations at the end of 2021. Afterwards, the Taliban once again authorized the MoJ to administer the affairs of lawyers.

This is in line with policy during the first period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Article 3 of the 1999 Advocates Law (during that period) states that “managing and leading the affairs related to advocates shall be performed through the Ministry of Justice.”

The Taliban has now established a Directorate of Advocates within the MoJ to administer lawyer-related affairs. All the lawyers formerly registered with the AIBA have to appear for an assessment by the directorate which will determine whether or not the lawyers undergoing the process can keep their licenses to practice law. Among other things, the assessment includes questions regarding Sharia law (commonly referred to as Islamic law).

It is further reported that female applicants are not allowed to take part in the process.

This year the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, observed on January 24, 2023, was focused on the situation of legal professionals and the practice of law in Afghanistan. On that day the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe(CCBE ) in collaboration with the AIBA, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBA), and French-speaking Brussels Bar officially announced that the AIBA in exile will be reopened in Brussels.

It will be hosted by the French-speaking Brussels.

NINE

Far from seeing their rights as bargaining chips for aid, Afghan women live in a reality where the mounting restrictions also affect their ability to survive.

While insecurity may no longer come in the form of bombs and war machines, Afghan women consistently report an atmosphere of fear enforced through targeted harassment, beatings, killings, and disappearances committed by the Taliban or other militant groups the Taliban have at best failed to deter and at worst enabled. And that’s without mentioning the intense targeted violence suffered by Shia and Hazara communities.

“Just because we are not hearing any terrifying voices of gunfire or explosions does not mean we have security,” said one participant from Baghlan. “When there is unemployment, poverty, and the school gates are closed for girls, this is called insecurity.”

Taliban restrictions on free movement, secure employment outside the home, support networks, and even on what men can allow female family members to do has directly led to reduced household income, an increasing inability to meet basic survival needs, and a non-stop feeling of insecurity that ripples into household conflicts and a notable rise in domestic violence.

TEN

Saudi Arabia introduced its first-ever robot that can communicate in the Arabic dialect, perform popular local dances, and respond to questions at a conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The interactive machine boasts a built-in camera that uses artificial intelligence to recognize when people are standing in front of it. It  can then begin a conversation when a visitor addresses it with the sentence “Hello Sara.”

Sara has the ability to recognize different dialects from within the Kingdom. She can also analyze sentences and comprehend their content.

This allows her to come up with relevant answers and better yet she even sends them in the form of text.

ELEVEN

On February 11th, the UN celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It is a day to promote equal access and participation of females in Science.

However in Afghanistan, today it’s 509 days since Taliban’s ban on girls returning to secondary school and 55 days since they banned women from going to university.

With the return of the Taliban, Afghanistan became the only country that does not allow women and girls to get education. It is preventing a generation of future scientist that could help the development of Afghanistan in the long-run.

TWELVE

Under the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the use of musical instruments and singing is prohibited, and possessing instruments is considered a crime, so many artists have lost their livelihood.

“Artists and musicians in Afghanistan are dealing with the toughest time of their lives. The family and children of many of them do not even have food to eat and, in some cases, a place to live,” said Aryana Sayeed, a well-known Afghan pop singer and a previous judge on “The Voice of Afghanistan“

THIRTEEN

Denmark, Sweden Offer Protection to All Women, Girls from Afghanistan.
EU member states should follow as Taliban crackdown continues.

FOURTEEN

“Sometimes mothers are so malnourished they can’t produce milk for their children. We see them putting tea in bottles to give to newborn babies of only 7 or 8 days, which can be very dangerous”

New harrowing Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) report on #Afghanistan‘s health care system.

FIFTEEN

RSF and 14 media call for the release of Franco-Afghan journalist Mortaza Behboudi, detained in Afghanistan.

‘ We call on the Taliban regime to put an end to this senseless situation. Mortaza Behboudi is a renowned journalist, respected and appreciated by his colleagues.’

SIXTEEN

Female aid workers are critical to ensure we effectively meet the needs of women + children in crises like here in Afghanistan.

The exclusion of Afghan women NGO workers means millions of women and girls could be left out of the humanitarian response.

SEVENTEEN

The Taliban arrested Ismail Mashaal while giving books to girls in the Dehburi area of Kabul city. He was a university lecturer who resigned from his job to protest the ban on girls’ education and started to distribute books in a handcart to residents of Kabul, primarily girls.

EIGHTEEN

Afghanistan: Single Women, Widows Struggle For Food Under Taliban Regime’s Crackdown On Women Rights.

NINETEEN

As the hardliners tighten their grip, the Afghan people are suffering for it. The UN estimates that two thirds of the population, or 28 million people, will need assistance in 2023, up from 24 million in 2022.

The humanitarian crisis disproportionately hurts girls and women, as the burdens of malnutrition and disease fall more heavily on girls than boys; rising poverty increases the number of child brides married for dowries; and restrictions on basic services affect women in dangerous ways, particularly during childbirth.

TWENTY

Day 497 of Taliban ban on girls returning to secondary school in Afghanistan.

The Taliban are doubling down on their ban on women’s education, reinforcing in a message to private universities that Afghan women are barred from taking university entry exams.

TWENTY – ONE

The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has published an updated joint assessment of the situation in Afghanistan. In newly published Country Guidance, it concludes that women and girls are at risk of persecution under the Taliban and, therefore, are in general eligible for refugee status in Europe.

TWENTY TWO

On International Day of Education (24 January), UNESCO is calling for an immediate and non-negotiable access to education and return to school for all girls and young women in Afghanistan.

Since September 2021, the return to school for all Afghan girls over the age of 12 have been indefinitely postponed leaving 1.1 million girls and young women without access to formal education. Currently, 80% of school-aged Afghan girls and young women – 2.5 million people are out of school.

In December 2022, university education for women was suspended until further notice, affecting over 100,000 female students attending government and private higher education institutions.

TWENTY THREE

Taliban militias break into the homes of female university students seeking brides.

TWENTY FOUR

Day 490 of Taliban ban on girls returning to secondary school in Afghanistan.

“In our childhood, Islamic clerics taught that in the pre-Islamic era of ignorance girls were buried alive.
Now in the 21st century the violence with which Taliban are banning girls from getting an education is burying alive their hopes, dreams & possibilities for the future. “

Thanks Lynzy Billing for photo.

TWENTY FIVE

Lawyers, judges, prosecutors and other actors involved with the legal system in Afghanistan face grave risks to their safety, and those still practicing must navigate a deeply challenging, non-independent legal system”, Special Rapporteurs Margaret Satterthwaite, on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Richard Bennett, on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said in a joint statement.

Lawyers in Afghanistan – especially women – are risking their lives in efforts to protect the rule of law, they said ahead of the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, marked on 24 January.

They called for greater international support to lawyers, legal aid providers, and non-governmental organizations working to advance justice and human rights – and for special attention to be paid to the situation of women lawyers and those working to promote gender rights.

TWENTY SIX

Many provinces in Afghanistan have seen an exceptionally cold winter, with temperatures dropping to as low as -21 degrees Celsius.

TWENTY SEVEN

Freezing temperatures in #Afghanistan that dipped as low as -34 Celsius — the coldest recorded in 15 years — have killed at least 70 people and 77,000 animals, according to officials on January 19, as the country’s #humanitarian #crisis worsens.

TWENTY EIGHT

“I want to tell the terrorists that no matter how much oppression you would impose on us, you can’t defeat us!” told Fatima Amiri.

Amiri lost an eye and an eardrum as a result of the explosion. Her jaw was also badly damaged. In all, 54 other students, mostly girls, were killed.

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