Afghan women days
Yesterday a two-day event (1-2/2) dedicated to Afghan women, strongly encouraged by the President David Sassoli, started at the European Parliament. Following the Taliban’s seizure of power of August 2021, women in Afghanistan have seen their rights destroyed in a process that aims at removing them from all aspects of social life. They are no longer allowed to work or study. They are forced to live in someone else’s shadow. But Afghan women are strong and courageous, and they are demonstrating it with all their strength in these days in Brussels, where in the last months they had already made their voice heard as finalists for the Sakharov Prize 2021.
Many women eager to fight for their rights have spoken and will speak during this series of debates, which has been opened by a speech of President Roberta Metsola followed by a touching message from UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie.
Among them was Sima Samar, former Minister for Women’s Affairs, who highlighted the need to actively involve Afghan women in the process of rebuilding an acceptable level of respect for human rights that the international community has shown its willingness to implement.
Amina Mohammedi, UN Deputy Secretary-General, also made her voice heard in the hemicycle, emphasising the close connection between the condition of women and the state of health of a nation.
The Afghan singer-songwriter Aryana Sayeed then performed her song “Lady of the Land of Fire”, powerfully expressing the profound dignity and unstoppable desire of Afghan women to assert themselves even in a context of extreme hostility.
And then, to mention some of the other women who spoke, Setara Hassan, Hoda Khamosh, and Shaharzad Akbar, finalist for the Sakharov Prize 2021 and Chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, which the Taliban have dismantled in the context of a violent repression of the activities of human rights defenders in Afghanistan. To Shaharzad, whom we hosted as a speaker at the conference Fight Impunity dedicated to Afghan women last October, we had the honour to present our new Report on Global Rights “The State of Impunity in the World – Another World is Possible”.
We are therefore pleased that our wish, presented during the above-mentioned conference dating back to October, to encourage the creation of a support network for Afghan women inside and outside the country has begun to find concrete expression within the institutions. Fight Impunity will continue to follow this path, which aims at defending the dignity and rights of Afghan women.
Please find below the link to follow the debates that will take place today:
https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/webstreaming?df=2022-02-01
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