Taliban Treatment of Women - International Response

International Response

The protests of international agencies carried little weight with Taliban authorities, who gave precedence to their interpretation of Islamic law and did not feel bound by UN codes or human rights laws, legislation it viewed as instruments for Western imperialism. After the Taliban takeover of Herat in 1995, the UN had hoped the gender policies would become more 'moderate' “as it matured from a popular uprising into a responsible government with linkages to the donor community”. The Taliban refused to bow to international pressure and reacted calmly to aid suspensions.

• In November 1995, UNICEF suspended all aid to education in regions under Taliban control, as they argued the ban on mixing males and females in education was a breach of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In the aftermath of the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference, this action moved to solidify UNICEF’s role as a leading agency in matters concerning women and children.
• In 1996, Save The Children (UK) also withdrew support as communication with women, the primary child carers, was most difficult.
• UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali expressed his concern regarding the status of Afghan women.
• In 1999, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright publicly stated “We are speaking up on behalf of the women and girls of Afghanistan, who have been victimised...it is criminal and we each have a responsibility to stop it”.

In January 2006 a London conference on Afghanistan led to the creation of an International Compact, which included benchmarks for the treatment of women. The Compact includes the following point: "Gender:By end-1389 (20 March 2011): the National Action Plan for Women in Afghanistan will be fully implemented; and, in line with Afghanistan’s MDGs, female participation in all Afghan governance institutions, including elected and appointed bodies and the civil service, will be strengthened." However, an Amnesty International report on June 11, 2008 declared that there needed to be "no more empty promises" with regard to Afghanistan, citing the treatment of women as one such unfulfilled goal.