International Women’s Day is observed on Wednesday by just over twenty women in the capital, Kabul. They marched in a rare event in Afghanistan these days – demonstrations. Here they are asking the international community to protect Afghans.

– The time has come for the UN to make a clear and serious decision regarding the fate of the people, said one of the protesters, according to the AFP news agency.

Roza Otunbajeva is the UN special envoy for Afghanistan and heads the UN UNAMA mission. She believes that the Taliban have made the country the worst in the world when it comes to women’s rights.

– It is painful to witness methodical, well-considered and systematic attempts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere, he said in a statement regarding March 8.

– Hurt yourself

UNAMA believes that the Taliban group that oppresses women is doing their own disservice at a time when Afghanistan is facing one of the largest humanitarian and economic crises in the world.

The Taliban have ensured that women are excluded from most working life, except for a few essential sectors, such as the health care system.

Women are also not allowed to visit parks, amusement parks, gyms or public baths. They have been ordered to cover themselves when they go out, preferably in a full-body burqa, which also hides the face.

But the most serious intervention is that girls and women can no longer pursue education beyond primary school.

Not recognized

Several women have demonstrated against the move, risking arrest and harassment, but the gatherings are usually quickly dispersed by Taliban security forces.

So far no country has recognized the Taliban regime as the country’s legitimate authority. More than half of the country’s 38 million people are food insecure and at risk of starvation, and nearly four million children suffer from malnutrition, according to aid organizations.

The country now receives far less foreign aid than before, and has also lost access to large sums of money abroad that the US has now confiscated.

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