The U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, Rina Amiri, says women’s rights in Afghanistan “suffered a tremendous setback” after the Taliban seized power in August, but that supporting Afghan women is “one area where there is solidarity” in the United States and international community.
Amiri, who was appointed as a special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights in December, said that the Taliban has “consistently” pledged to reopen girls’ schools, but that “education without a link to economic opportunities and without the ability to work is not very meaningful.”
In an interview with Breshna Omarkhel of VOA’s Afghan service, Amiri said that the international community “needs to step up and provide direct support” to Afghan women and civil society.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
: In your opinion, have Afghan women lost their two-decade gains after the Taliban seized power in August 2021?
: You know, on August 15, I think we all recognize that Afghan women and the Afghan population, in general, suffered a tremendous setback. Overnight, Afghan women and girls were shut out of schools, shut out of work, and prevented from participating in public and political life after two decades of tremendous gains. But my hope is that the achievements [to be preserved]. And we've already seen the tremendous resilience among Afghan women and girls and their determination to not turn the clock backwards.
How would you respond to some of the activists saying that the U.S. and theinternational community have left Afghan women to the mercy of the Taliban?
: I'm sympathetic to them. I think that it's understandable that, you know, I was speaking to Afghan women inside the country in the months that led up to the Taliban takeover and on the day of and I, you know, I heard the devastation of their voice and just the level of disbelief that suddenly overnight they were, these were women who were serving as ministers, as parliamentarians, as lawyers as judges, as shopkeepers, that suddenly all of that was being taken away when they had received such support from the international community. So, I can see where that frustration, and that dismay, comes from. But one area where there's solidarity is the issue of Afghan women's rights. There is support among Republicans among Democrats, among the country as a whole. So, this and, you know, I've had the benefit now, not just in this job but in all the work that I've done in the last two decades to be able to speak to a wide variety of countries, civil society actors throughout the world; and they always ask me when they find out that I am from Afghan heritage, the first thing they ask me is what they can do to support Afghan women's rights. And that hasn't changed. In fact, that has been amplified since August 15th.
: We know that the Taliban have imposed strict rules and are imposing new restrictions on women. What can the U.S. and the international community do to ensure that women in Afghanistan have their very basic rights? Does the U.S. have any leverage on the Taliban?