Deputy Ambassador of Afghanistan in Poland: What is happening in Afghanistan is gender apartheid

Negara Mirdad, Deputy Ambassador of Afghanistan in Poland, has warned about the dire human rights situation in the country and says that what is happening in Afghanistan is not just repression, but gender apartheid.
Ms. Mirdad made these remarks on Tuesday (June 17) at the Human Rights Council meeting and said that Afghan women and girls have not only been eliminated, but have practically disappeared.
She continued to warn: “Our lives, voices and capacities have been purposefully eliminated not only by the Taliban, but also by the slow machine of global justice.”
The Deputy Ambassador of Afghanistan in Poland further emphasized that what is being imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan is neither culture nor religion, but “the systematic destruction of the civil identity of being a woman.”
She also criticized in part of her speech that the international community is still discussing terminology, while Afghan women and girls continue to be excluded from the decision-making process about their future.
She emphasized that the price of ignoring this situation will not only be paid by Afghan women, but all women and men worldwide will suffer.
Negara Mirdad noted: “We Afghan women are not asking for inclusion. We are asking for joint ownership of the future of our country. Because justice is not justice without us, it is bureaucracy. Inclusion and accountability are not a favor, but a duty.”
This is while the UN Women department said in its latest report that eight out of every 10 young Afghan women are deprived of education, training and work.
The UN Women department, publishing a report on the Afghanistan Gender Index in 2024, announced that after the Taliban regime took over, Afghan women have lagged behind global human development standards.