Dozens of women protested Thursday in Afghanistan ahead of the announcement of the formation of the new Taliban government, which should not include women.
According to Taliban sources, the new masters of the country could announce the composition of their government just after prayer on Friday, just days after the departure of the last American troops on Monday and the end of a 20-year war.
“We are not afraid, we are united”
The Taliban have repeatedly promised that this government would be “inclusive”. The deputy head of their political bureau in Qatar, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, renewed this promise on Wednesday in an interview with the BBC. But he also hinted that there “might not be” women appointed as ministers, only at lower levels. Pariahs during their first passage to power between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban are expected at the turn by the international community which keeps in mind the brutality of their regime at the time. Their strict application of Sharia, Islamic law, had notably resulted in the gradual disappearance of women from public space and the persecution of opponents.
About fifty women took to the streets of Herat, the cosmopolitan capital of western Afghanistan, on Thursday to claim their right to work and demand the participation of women in the new executive, noted a journalist. “It is our right to have an education, work and safety,” the demonstrators sang in unison. “We are not afraid, we are united. “Talks are underway to form a government but they do not talk about the participation of women”, regretted Basira Taheri, one of the organizers of the demonstration. “We want the Taliban to consult with us,” she added. “We will continue our demonstrations, they started in Herat, they will soon extend to other provinces”.
18 million people in dire humanitarian situation
But another aspect also worries the international community: the fate of the UN mission in Afghanistan. The mandate of this assistance mission called Manua in French (Unama in English) expires on September 17 and a debate on its extension is scheduled for September 9 at the UN Security Council. The situation remains very uncertain and it would be “a reasonable approach at this stage” to carry out a “technical renewal” of the mandate, say several UN sources on condition of anonymity.
For the Organization and the West, the objective is “not to lose certain aspects” of the current mandate, “including human rights, the protection of civilians” and the coordination of international humanitarian aid. In Afghanistan, 18 million people are in dire humanitarian conditions. An equivalent number could join them, the UN recently warned in appealing for international donations. Thursday, the spokesperson of the Organization, Stéphane Dujarric, announced that humanitarian flights operated by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) had “recently resumed” allowing “160 humanitarian organizations to continue their vital activities in the Afghan provinces ”.