Two years into Taliban rule, Afghan women ask Canada for education and accountability

Two years since Taliban takeover Lauryn Oates of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan says women in the country are facing 'the worst situation in the world.'

OTTAWA — Ahead of the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Kabul, Afghan women are asking Canadians to join them in protecting gains in girls' education and resisting legitimacy for the terrorist group.

Meanwhile, Ottawa won't say when Canadian development groups will be able to launch projects in Afghanistan.

"It's a complete humanitarian and human-rights crisis that's been going on for two years," said Murwarid Ziayee, a senior director with Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan.

The group is part of a coalition planning to march on Parliament Hill on Sunday afternoon as part of a global effort to have countries help gather evidence of "gender apartheid." They want to see an eventual International Criminal Court prosecution of the Taliban for crimes against humanity.

The hardline fundamentalist group took over Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, after the pullout of U.S. troops from a two-decade military mission that had heavy Canadian involvement.

There were 165 Canadians, including seven civilians, who died during the mission. During that time, girls were able to attend school and rose through the ranks of universities, companies and government departments.

Immediately after the Taliban takeover, global sanctions deepened an economic crisis, followed by severe weather and earthquakes. Within six months of Kabul's fall, the UN reported that 95 per cent of Afghans were not getting enough to eat.

The Taliban touts a decline in bomb attacks and bribes under its rule, but the UN has documented atrocious treatment of women, who have been denied vital medical services and barred from numerous professions.

This month, the BBC's Persian service reported that Taliban leaders in certain provinces have expanded a ban on education to girls as young as 10. The Taliban had already banned girls from attending secondary schools.

Ziayee was raised in Kabul and spent two decades working on development projects in Afghanistan during its democratic period.

Her group operates schools and recently asked students aged 10 to 12 to draw the way they saw their future. Many sketched themselves behind bars or in a cave, while others drew total darkness.

"The reality of their lives is so hard to digest. What we hear is a sense of hopelessness," she said.

"It makes me want to stand stronger and fight because they cannot do it from inside, although women have shown so much strength and bravery by resisting the Taliban."

Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan has shifted some of its physical schools to online learning, which parents have their daughters attend in secret.

It's an act of faith -- the idea is to maintain the gains in education so that girls can get back to class whenever they're allowed, without missing entire grades.

Among the Afghan diaspora, there is an agonizing debate about whether countries should accept Taliban rule and work with them to alleviate hunger, or stick with principles in the hopes of undermining the terrorist group's grip on the country. UN agencies have been similarly split, with some suspending activities that bar women and others limiting their work to all-male teams.

Ziayee said there shouldn't be a compromise between values and aid.

She said blanket sanctions on Afghanistan are punishing everyday people, and should instead be directed at specific Taliban leaders who travel or do business abroad. She said that might instil accountability for human-rights atrocities.

Canada can fund online-learning projects and follow through on its delayed pledge to resettle 40,000 Afghans. Ottawa could also step up in its promise to allow Canadian development groups to help people in Afghanistan, she said.

The Liberals passed Bill C-41 in June, which changed parts of Canada's terrorism law that barred aid workers from hiring or purchasing anything in Afghanistan on the grounds that paying taxes to the Taliban amounts to funding a terror group.

The law immediately cleared hurdles for humanitarian groups trying to get food and medical supplies into the country. But it subjects development groups, such as those trying to build clinics or wells, to a permitting process that has no launch date.

In a July 14 presentation to stakeholders, the Department of Public Safety said it expects to launch that permitting process "in the coming months."

Sen. Ratna Omidvar advocated for the legislation for more than a year and helped amend the bill so that aid flows faster and to ensure Ottawa reviews the bill's effectiveness.

Omidvar has been given no timeline for implementation, but says bureaucrats have been working to launch the permitting process. She expects them to announce the format sometime in September.

"In political and parliamentary life in Canada, that perhaps is not too long," she said. "The wheels are moving; I know that developmental groups would want to have the permission as soon as possible."

Ziayee said she's anxious that Ottawa still hasn't fixed an issue that allies sorted out within months of the Taliban seizing Kabul.

"While we really appreciate that this passed, we need some clarity," she said. "We can't wait for another two years to have a timeline or a start date."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2023.