Witness: Afghan women demonstrate against possible international recognition of the Taliban

A group of Afghan women organized a demonstration in the capital, Kabul, today, Saturday, to protest against an international meeting that could pave the way for the recognition of the Taliban movement.

Despite the campaigns of repression that affected women in Afghanistan, this did not prevent them from going out and expressing their anger and rejection of any movement that paves the way towards recognition of the extremist movement.

The meeting will be held on Monday and Tuesday in the Qatari capital, Doha, and includes various countries to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

But the United Nations confirmed last week that the meeting would not focus on recognizing the Taliban administration, after statements by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed caused controversy when she said that the next meeting “may find those small steps that take us back to the path of recognition.”

Yesterday, Friday, the Taliban government considered that preventing Afghan women from working with the United Nations is an “internal social matter,” in response to the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution denouncing this matter.

On Thursday, the 15 members of the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning, in particular, the Taliban authorities’ move in early April to extend a ban banning non-governmental organizations from employing Afghan women to include United Nations agencies, considering that it “undermines human rights and humanitarian principles.”

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, women were prevented from attending schools and universities, as well as from working in most government jobs and non-governmental organizations, and they were also prevented from entering public places such as gyms and parks.