Five years have passed since the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power, with the country continuing to face a severe humanitarian crisis and growing restrictions on women and girls, according to US media reports and United Nations officials.
Reports say the situation of human rights in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly, with the Taliban continuing to impose restrictions on the rights and freedoms of women and girls.
According to UNESCO, around 2.4 million Afghan girls are currently out of school. Women and girls have increasingly been deprived of their ability to participate independently in education, employment and public life.
The humanitarian situation remains equally concerning. Reports indicate that approximately one in every 10 Afghan children suffers from severe malnutrition, highlighting the scale of the country’s food and humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has urged the international community to maintain funding for programmes supporting women in Afghanistan.
Speaking to journalists, Susan Ferguson, the UN’s special representative for women in Afghanistan, warned that funding shortages could force half of the 74 women’s organisations operating in the country to suspend their activities.
Ferguson said only around 25 per cent of the $1.7 billion humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan had been funded, leaving major gaps in assistance programmes.
She said three-quarters of women’s organisations in Afghanistan had faced funding cuts over the past year, while the country was experiencing an acute crisis concerning women’s rights.
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Ferguson called on governments and international donors to continue financing programmes for Afghan women, stressing that sustained support was essential amid the worsening humanitarian and rights situation.
She also said the Taliban had issued more than 100 orders restricting women’s rights, including measures preventing Afghan girls and women from attending secondary schools and universities.
Five years after the Taliban takeover, international organisations continue to warn that restrictions on women’s education, employment and participation in public life, combined with severe humanitarian needs and funding shortages, are placing millions of Afghans at increasing risk.
