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‘It’s regressive. It’s wrong’ – UK’s UN envoy on IEA hijab
Following a United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday about an order by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) for women to cover their faces in public, the representative of the United Kingdom spoke out in strident terms against the order.
The decree marks a return to a signature policy of the IEA’s past hardline rule and an escalation of restrictions.
“It’s regressive. It’s wrong,” UK’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Barbara Woodward, said. “I think it underlines the Taliban’s (IEA) inability to lead Afghanistan out of its current economic and social and humanitarian crisis.”
U.N. special envoy for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, briefed the 15-member council, said Norway’s U.N. mission, which requested the closed-door meeting “to address the increased restrictions on human rights and freedoms of girls and women.”
Under the IEA’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001, women had to cover up, could not work, and girls were banned from school. But after seizing power in August, they vowed to respect women’s rights.
However in March, the IEA backtracked on their announcement that high schools would open for girls, saying they would remain closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law for them to reopen.
Then on Saturday the group’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, said that if a woman did not cover her face outside home, her father or closest male relative would be visited and face potential prison or firing from state jobs.
Most women in Afghanistan wear a headscarf for religious reasons but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.
“It’s hard to see that the international community and importantly the Afghan people will ever respect the Taliban (IEA) as legitimate authorities if this is the future for Afghanistan,” Woodward said.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Finance, Mohammad Nasir Akhund, has travelled to Iran at the head of a delegation following an official invitation from Iran’s Minister of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance said.
During the visit, Akhund is expected to meet with various Iranian officials to discuss bilateral economic, trade, customs and other related issues.
The visit will also include discussions on key topics for an upcoming meeting of the joint economic commission between Afghanistan and Iran.
Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, on Saturday inaugurated the rehabilitated 110-kilovolt (kV) power transmission line connecting Maimana and Andkhoy in Faryab province.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office for Economic Affairs, the completion of the project will provide around 60,000 consumers with a more stable and reliable electricity supply.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Baradar said the project would help meet local electricity needs, expand industrial activities and contribute to the region’s economic and social development.
He said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) had implemented several electricity generation and transmission projects in a relatively short period, reducing reliance on imported electricity and power outages while creating new opportunities for industrial growth.
Baradar also said several major electricity infrastructure projects would be implemented over the next year to ensure a sustainable power supply, adding that the country’s existing electricity capacity would increase several times.
Addressing Afghanistan’s security situation, Baradar said the country was currently experiencing a level of security that he claimed was unmatched in most countries. He added that foreign tourists and visitors had continued to travel to Afghanistan since the IEA returned to power, including to remote areas of the country.
He rejected security-related concerns raised by some countries over travel to Afghanistan, describing them as unfounded and politically motivated. He called on the international community to strengthen meaningful engagement with Afghanistan based on realities on the ground.
Baradar also invited domestic and foreign investors to invest in Afghanistan, saying a secure and suitable environment had been created for large- and medium-scale investments.
The UN refugee agency’s representative in Afghanistan has called on the international community to maintain their support for Afghanistan, warning that the return of more than 6.5 million Afghans over the past three years has placed significant pressure on the country.
Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative in Afghanistan, made the remarks during the eighth International Conference on Action with Women and Peace in Seoul, South Korea, where he highlighted the challenges facing returnees amid poverty, drought and climate-related disasters.
He said the returning population accounts for around 15 percent of Afghanistan’s total population, describing the influx as one of the world’s largest movements of people. He added that Afghanistan was struggling to absorb the large-scale returns due to its existing economic and humanitarian challenges.
Jamal also highlighted difficulties facing Afghan women, saying that the absence of war does not necessarily mean all citizens enjoy safety.
In a separate interview with The Korea Times during his visit to Seoul, Jamal said supporting refugees and vulnerable countries was not simply an act of charity but an investment in a safer and more stable international environment.
He stressed that Afghanistan’s strategic location, bordering seven countries including China, Pakistan and Iran, makes its stability a matter of wider international concern. Although the country is relatively calm at present, he cautioned that this situation should not be taken for granted without continued international support.
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