IN ANY WAY AND AT ANY COST, WE NEED THEM TO PERMIT US TO WORK AND GET AN EDUCATION

“Before the takeover, I taught and did tutoring as well. Now, my 14-year-old daughter cannot go to school. Prior to the Taliban, I followed many English-language courses, but now I cannot continue due to security concerns and because it has been banned by the Taliban.

I graduated from the Faculty of Sharia Law at a university in Afghanistan. I had started my master’s in law, but unfortunately, due to the Taliban takeover, I was not able to finish my thesis to obtain my degree.

I have approximately eight years of working experience with different national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs/INGOs) and UN agencies in the area of gender.

Before the Taliban takeover, I worked as a monitoring and evaluation specialist with an INGO. Since then, I’ve been working with a national NGO as a provincial facilitator. We work on a project from an international organization, but we don’t receive our salaries on time and we have confronted obstacles because we are working from home.

Before and since the Taliban takeover, I have faced many security issues. The Taliban have checked my house many times. Even though they have all the necessary information about my personal life. Finally, I chose to leave my home and return to my birth village to live. But it is still very hard for me to work from home, my children cannot go to school, and I do not feel safe.

Whenever I encounter an employee of the de facto authorities (DFA), I tell them I am a midwife. But they ask many questions about my previous jobs and tell me that I worked for NGOs and INGOs. They insult my husband and tell him that he should feel ashamed that his wife has worked for INGOS. All of this has affected my personal life and created many issues within my family.

The organization I work for had arranged a separate environment for male and female employees. I worked with female colleagues and would wear the burqa and a very simple outfit. I never carried my bag or notebook on my way to work and I used to pretend that I was going to a relative’s house. But that was before 24 December 2022, as I now have to work from home.

In the current condition, all Afghan women need support.I have one message to the international community, which is to communicate with the Taliban and convince them to allow women to work and get an education. If they want us to use the burqa and a scarf during our work, then we will accept their terms and conditions.”