New York, The Hague November 29, 2021
Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) expresses its profound concern at the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the worsening situation for the human rights of women and girls. PGA urges the international community to recognize its collective responsibility in the protection of human rights of all Afghans and to consider an effective, gender-sensitive response to the deteriorating humanitarian context.
More than 11 million Afghans - almost one-third of the entire population - are women and girls under the age of 25 years old. Half the country needs humanitarian assistance and more than three million Afghans[1] have been internally displaced by violence or other causes. Afghan women and girls face unique challenges as part of the current crisis.
According to media reports, Afghan families in displacement camps have been forced to sell their daughters, some as young as 4 years old, to pay debts and buy food. The humanitarian crisis is expected to deepen with the coming winter as the country’s economy continues in free fall. Development assistance before the Taliban takeover made up 75% of the government’s budget.
It is heartbreaking to read about these stories and the indifference at the plight of our sisters in Afghanistan. We need to build pressure on the Taliban to defend the gains women and girls achieved during the last two decades while, at the same time, urge the international community to aid the poverty-stricken people in Afghanistan.
Any administration that violates the rule of law, imposes undemocratic principles and continues to violate the rights of the citizens of the country cannot be considered and acknowledged as a legitimate Government.PGA Board member Kasthuri Patto, Member of Parliament (Malaysia)
In 2003, Afghanistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women (CEDAW), which requires countries to “pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women.” The country is also a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which has clearly stated that child, early and forced marriage violates a child’s most fundamental rights. Several international and regional human rights standards outlaw child marriage, including CEDAW, and do so either directly or indirectly by prohibiting harmful practices, all forms of discrimination against girls and women, and violence against women, girls, and children.
Many women and girls have grown up with expectations of a future in which they could study, work, access health care, and have freedom of movement. The international community should not and cannot let them down. The withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan should not be justification to forget about the commitments to uphold and bolster human rights in the country.
During PGA’s Roundtable on November 4th, Hon. Shinkai Karokhail, former Afghan MP and Ambassador of Afghanistan to Canada, stressed that the international community should look to the future and prioritize the education of the next generation of Afghan women and girls.
First and foremost, we need to highlight the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan need our help, our priority right now should be making sure that much needed food and other aid reaches the poverty-stricken Afghans. Second, we need to make sure that the Taliban fail in making Afghan people hostage for their political gains and recognition. We need to find ways of engaging directly with the people of Afghanistan. Any financial resources going through the Taliban are not guaranteed to reach the people of Afghanistan and will most certainly be used for the financing of global terrorism.PGA Member Hon. Mariam Solaimankhail, MP (Afghanistan)
To this end, PGA urges Governments, financial institutions and UN partners to build consensus around humanitarian aid and provision of essential services in Afghanistan and identify levers of influence that will pressure the Taliban to halt human rights abuses of civilians, taking specific and urgent steps to address the vulnerabilities and needs of women and girls.
PGA also calls on Parliamentarians from around the world to allocate public funds to directly support UNICEF and/or other national or regional programmes which could effectively assist in the education sector and skills training in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls.
As a sign of solidarity in rejecting all forms of violence against the people of Afghanistan, PGA National Groups representing Parliamentarians from all political parties are encouraged to write to the Afghanistan embassies or consular offices on our stand as we commemorate the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-based Violence holding the Taliban-led administration accountable for their actions and to create global awareness on crimes against women and children.
You can sign the Women Political Leaders open letter to the G20 Leaders here.
For more information about PGA’s work on Afghanistan, please visit our sites here and here to read about measures the international community can take to protect Afghan civilians from the Taliban regime and prevent mass atrocities. These roundtables have been organized by PGA, in collaboration with the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS).
