Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General: Afghan Women Have Not Given Up, Nor Can We – We Must Not Look Away
New Age Islam News Bureau
24 June 2025
· SimaBahous, UN Under-Secretary-General: Afghan Women Have Not Given Up, Nor Can We – We Must Not Look Away
· Iranian Women's Rights Used To Justify War Again, Widely Mocked Online
· Ex-Awami League MP Sabina Akter Sent To Jail In Anti-Terrorism Case
· 3t Launches Training Program To Empower Women In Saudi Arabia's Energy Sector
· Black Women’s Beauty, Fashion Choices Intertwined With Black History, Politics
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afghan-women-under-secretary-un/d/135971
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SimaBahous, UN Under-Secretary-General: Afghan Women Have Not Given Up, Nor Can We – We Must Not Look Away
[As delivered]
24 June 2025
UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous briefs the Security Council during a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan held at UN headquarters on 23 June 2025. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown
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Let me begin by commending this esteemed Council for the unity you displayed in March in renewing UNAMA’s mandate, including recognizing the fundamental rights of women and reaffirming their indispensable role in society. Peace, stability, and prosperity in Afghanistan will only be possible with the realization of the full rights and freedoms of its women and girls.
We meet at a time when global peace is elusive, and hope is fragile. The recent escalation in the Middle East, including in Iran, home to more than three million Afghan refugees, have intensified regional and global instability. The growing regional and global insecurity will only deepen the hardships faced by Afghan women and girls, compounding poverty, displacement, violence, and deprivation.
They, and all women and girls everywhere, deserve peace. I echo all calls to choose diplomacy, to de-escalate, and to respect international law and the United Nations Charter.
Since I briefed the Council on Afghanistan nine months ago, the reality for Afghan women and girls has only grown more dire. Not a single restriction has been reversed. Repression has become more systematic and has calcified into structure and law.
Amidst this deepening crisis, Afghan women’s call for the world not to forget about them is too often unheard.
With the many geopolitical shifts, the growing global instability, and the multiple humanitarian crises that the world is grappling with, our attention drifts, returning to them only when the next ban is announced—and their lives grow more constrained.
Despite multiple Security Council resolutions demanding safe and unhindered access for female aid workers, the ability of the UN and our partners to deliver for Afghan women has been drastically undermined. Legal and bureaucratic barriers imposed by the de facto authorities make it harder than ever to hire women safely, to even reach them, all while deep funding cuts have ever more devastating consequences.
Yet, we stay, and we deliver, as we always have. With the UN Country Team, UN Women continues to do our utmost to support Afghan women [to] navigate through endless restrictions, we provide for separate facilities, for male chaperones (the mahrams), and we constantly negotiate with the de facto authorities for exceptions.
And Afghan women continue to lead the way. They have opened underground schools, organized in silence, built lives in those slivers of space left to them. They have shown unshakable determination, even when the world faltered.
The story of Sama, a woman in Bamyan who runs a small shop in the women’s entrepreneur market, is one of courage and inspiration. With solar panels installed by UN Women, she and other women entrepreneurs have saved money on electricity, increased product outputs, and expanded their investments.
In just one year, 35 women-led businesses in the market in Bamyan collectively earned over USD 62,500 in revenue, more than twice their previous annual income. This is resilience. And this is hope and resolve, even in the darkest of times.
While Sama’s story is a pocket of light, the reality remains that a third of the population, mostly women and children, face malnutrition, even starvation at times, as the price of basic staples has surged.
Hundreds of clinics have closed.
Midwives report a rise in maternal deaths.
Mental health issues are on the rise.
Girls are losing access to food, to education, to any vision for their futures.
Child marriage and teenage pregnancies are on the rise.
The narrow window of a sixth-grade education for girls is narrowing.
Some girls now pray to fail their exams, simply to remain in school a little longer.
Others are never sent to school at all. Why invest in hope when hope is banned?
Meanwhile, Afghan boys are growing up in a system that teaches them that women are inferior.
This is not just a crisis for girls. This is generational damage. We can only try to grasp what this means for the millions of girls forced to endure this reality.
The latest data from UN Women’s Afghanistan Gender Index, launched last week, confirms a grim trajectory:
Nearly 78 per cent of Afghan women aged 18 to 29 are neither working, nor studying, nor training, making Afghanistan home to one of the widest and fastest growing gender gaps in the world.
Men are nearly three times more likely than women to own a bank account or use mobile money services.
Rates of intimate partner violence are rising.
And education bans alone are estimated to cost Afghanistan USD 1.5 billion by 2030.
While it has been nearly four years, it is still difficult to comprehend the speed and scale of the rollback: how swiftly women’s rights were erased, how comprehensively their presence was removed from public life.
Allow me to offer you four recommendations:
First, in all our engagements with the Taliban we must put in measures that do not unintentionally support nor normalize the Taliban’s discriminatory policies, norms, and values. These include the discussions on structured engagement with the Taliban, through the Doha process, the Mosaic approach, or other international fora.
Afghan women must not be relegated to the margins. The legitimacy and sustainability of any outcome depend on Afghan women’s meaningful, safe, full, and equal participation.
Member States represented here today can commit to gender parity in all diplomatic engagement with the de facto authorities.
Second, we urge this Council to actively support ongoing accountability efforts.
Earlier this month, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan released a sobering report on the severe barriers Afghan women and girls face in accessing justice and protection. The report reinforces the urgency of establishing an independent accountability mechanism with a comprehensive mandate: to investigate and document violations.
This Council also has the tools and responsibility to act decisively through its own mechanisms. The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 could convene a dedicated session focused on violations of women’s rights in Afghanistan and consider expanding its listing criteria to include such violations.
Third, donors must commit resources.
The significant burdens that funding cuts are bringing to the response in Afghanistan, require us, more than ever, to hold a principled line in ensuring Afghan women and girls are protected and empowered.
At least 30 per cent of all financial assistance to Afghanistan should directly support women and girls. Financial assistance should be channelled to women-led, grassroots organizations: those who are at the frontlines of the response, already doing the impossible, and reaching women and girls where no one else can.
Fourth, investing in digital literacy for Afghan women and girls is crucial. Digital means are often the only way to access education, training, or counselling. And digital literacy and access can support the expansion and growth of Afghan women’s businesses.
To conclude, Afghan women have not given up. Nor can we. We must not look away. We must not grow used to their situation. The systematic oppression of 20 million people simply because they are women is utterly unacceptable.
This Council has repeatedly called for women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation, including in decisions concerning Afghanistan. This call can become action through the ways in which the Taliban is engaged, through the measures for accountability this Council puts in place, and through ensuring our commitments are matched by the financial resources required.
There is no justification for delay. I urge us all to spare no effort in living up to the promises made to the women and girls of Afghanistan.
Source: asiapacific.unwomen.org
https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/stories/speech/2025/06/we-must-not-look-away
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Iranian Women's Rights Used To Justify War Again, Widely Mocked Online
23 June 2025
Iranian women hold up anti-US placards during a rally in Tehran’s Palestine Square on April 9, 2025 to denounce Israel’s resumption last month of massive military operations in the Gaza Strip. ATTA KENARE / AFP
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A renewed debate around the portrayal of Muslim women, particularly in Iran, has gained traction on social media in recent days, with users critiquing and ridiculing long-standing western narratives that frame women in the region as in need of liberation. Many of the tweets raising the issue of women's rights in Iran build on the widespread protests that took place in Iran in 2022 after the killing of Mahsa Amini. Amini died after being taken into custody for wearing her hijab "inappropriately" in September 2022, sparking off widespread demonstrations across Iran against the country's treatment of women and minorities, as well as against the Islamic Republic as a whole.
But the latest debate was ignited after the Israeli military launched an offensive against the Islamic Republic more than a week ago, which initially targeted Iran's nuclear infrastructure and air defence systems, as well as several other targets across the country including housing complexes.
The Israeli military said it carried out wide-ranging attacks on "regime targets" in Tehran, including sites tied to Iran's internal security apparatus, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Evin Prison, which holds prominent political dissidents.
The conversation about the rights and freedoms of women in Iran follows a series of online posts about women's education, including their level of literacy and legal rights in Iran, which portray Iran's treatment of women as unfair.
Many of these posts draw comparisons between Iran, western countries and Israel, suggesting that women are exceptionally discriminated against in the country.
However, many on social media were shocked and outraged by this conversation because the level of female literacy in Iran is extremely high, according to Statista, which suggest that by 2020, the level of literacy among Iranian women was 85.5 percent, higher than that of men, which stood at 80 percent.
Many on social media said that the discourse around Iranian women's illiteracy was served to the public over and over again as a way of "weaponising feminism" to justify Israeli and US attacks on Iran.
Writer and activist Susan Abulhawa made a compilation of these statistics on the social media platform X, where she also shared that Iranian women enjoy free maternity care and subsidised infertility treatments.
She also said that many of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduates in the country are women, and the level of female homicide is much lower compared to western countries, specifically the United States.
According to a report by Quartz, 70 percent of STEM graduates in Iran are women, a higher percentage than in many other countries, including the US.
Human rights groups have in the past substantively critiqued the state of women's rights in Iran, but people on social media have been mocked for using women's rights in Iran as a pretext for justifying Israeli and US attacks on the country.
Specifically in response to the questions on social media relating to the treatment of women in the US and Iran, social media was rife with videos from the US, showing police violence against women in the country.
Commentators online and on various TV programmes recently claimed that Iranian women are "not allowed to get an education", "can't own property", and even "can't leave their homes", which many social media users found to be a ludicrous assertion.
As of 2020, women made up over 55 percent of university students in Iran, according to research by Brandeis University. In postgraduate and doctoral programmes, female enrollment is consistently between 50-58 percent.
Many on social media criticised the discourse of "freeing Iranian women" and compared it to how the west "liberated" Afghan, Iraqi, Libyan and Syrian women which led to innumerable deaths and humanitarian crises in those countries.
Since 13 June, Israeli strikes in Iran have killed at least 430 people and wounded 3,500, according to health officials. Independent sources suggest the death toll could be much higher.
Source: middleeasteye.net
https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/iranian-women-rights-used-to-justify-war-again-mocked-widely
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Ex-Awami League MP Sabina Akter Sent To Jail In Anti-Terrorism Case
Jun 23, 2025
A Dhaka court has sent former Awami League MP Sabina AkterTuhin to jail in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman passed the order today after police produced her before the court and sought her confinement, a court official confirmed.
Police arrested Sabina early in the day in Dhaka's Nawabganj upazila in connection with a case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station in April.
Source: thedailystar.net
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/ex-al-mp-sabina-akter-sent-jail-anti-terrorism-case-3923756
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3t Launches Training Program To Empower Women In Saudi Arabia's Energy Sector
June 23, 2025
3t, a global leader in training and blended learning for high-hazard industries, has unveiled a pioneering initiative to empower women in Saudi Arabia’s energy sector. Delivered at its state-of-the-art GTSC training center in Dammam, the enhanced facilities and new programs mark a significant milestone in supporting female workforce participation and advancing the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
Officially approved by the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), the initiative provides women with access to world-class, industry-accredited training across the energy value chain.
As one of the first global training providers to offer specialist energy sector programs for women in Saudi Arabia, 3t is proud to support the Kingdom’s drive to upskill its local workforce and foster inclusive growth across the region. Through this initiative, female professionals will gain access to the full suite of 3t’s industry-accredited training courses, equipping them with the technical skills and certifications needed to thrive in high-demand, safety-critical roles.
“This initiative represents more than just training, it’s a powerful step toward unlocking the full potential of the Kingdom’s workforce,” said Hani Sagr, Managing Director of 3t MENA. “By empowering women with the skills, confidence, and certifications to succeed in the energy industry, we are helping shape a more resilient, inclusive, and future-ready sector. As the region continues its rapid transformation, we are proud to play a role in ensuring that opportunity is truly open to all, and driving towards Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.”
Enhancements at the recently re-branded state-of-the-art training center in Dammam include a dedicated female changing room and resting room, and modifications to the building that support the culture of Saudi Arabia. Female divers have also joined GTSC’s team of world-class trainers.
The courses, delivered at 3t’s GTSC training facility in Dammam, combine industry-leading expertise with advanced simulation and digital technologies, ensuring the highest standards of safety, compliance, and competence.
The launch of these programs marks a key milestone in 3t’s growth in the Middle East, following its 2024 acquisition of GTSC. This expansion aligns with 3t’s goal to empower local talent and support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 energy objectives.
Source: worldoil.com
https://worldoil.com/news/2025/6/23/3t-launches-training-program-to-empower-women-in-saudi-arabia-s-energy-sector/
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Black women’s beauty, fashion choices intertwined with Black history, politics
JUNE 23, 2025
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Black women’s beauty and fashion are complex, meaningful acts, deliberate strategies for engaging with the world that make bold statements about identity, political resistance and empowerment, Black women said in a recent study.
Researcher Brittney Miles, a sociology professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, interviewed 39 Black women about their fashion and beauty practices, beliefs and experiences. The women were a diverse group, representing various Black cultures and nine ethnicities, as well as differing gender expressions and sexual orientations. Despite these differences and their wide range of ages — from 19 to 56 — when asked to define the concept “Black beauty,” all of them “talked about what it meant to show up in a world that wants to render you invisible,” Miles said.
The participants also shared the belief that Black political history and resistance to injustice were intricately intertwined with their fashion and beauty, “reframing these mundane practices as critical conversations,” Miles wrote.
“Black beauty has always been politically contentious,” said Miles, who conducted the research during her doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati. “Historically, beauty standards have been used to reinforce social hierarchies and maintain power structures, marginalizing people who don’t fit the societal standards.”
However, Black women have a rich legacy of strategically using their bodies, beauty practices and adornment to advocate for social change — a practice called “embodied resistance,” she said.
Acts of embodied resistance were documented as far back as the late 1700s when free Black women in the U.S. rebelled against tignon laws — public policies that sought to undermine these women’s social status, shame and control them by requiring that they cover their hair with headcloths like those of enslaved women. As acts of resistance, free Black women created ornate, beautiful headwraps that they intricately adorned with jewels and feathers instead, making clever fashion statements that revealed their wealth, social status and creativity, according to the study and the New York Historical website.
Published in the journal Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty, the study’s findings were based on interviews with 39 Black women and a research method called photo elicitation, in which the individuals provided photos of themselves and discussed their significance. Miles provided 11 prompts that she categorized and asked each woman to submit up to three photos of herself for each one — such as “a photo of you in girlhood” and “a photo of you at your most beautiful” — but the primary focus was “a photo that captures your Black identity.”
Many of the women submitted photos of themselves at protests or wearing shirts with political messages, Miles said. In one of these photos, a woman is standing on a city street with police officers and their vehicles in the background. The woman has one fist raised in a “Black power” gesture and is wearing a t-shirt with the message: “Hope I don’t get killed for being Black today.”
In another photo, the slogan on the woman’s shirt references the Black national anthem — “My ancestors didn’t lift every voice for me to be silent” — a declaration that links her activism with cultural traditions of resistance.
In these two photos, the women wear Kente garments — brightly colored African fabrics — that symbolize Black panethnicity and strategic and political solidarity with others across various Black cultural subgroups, according to the study.
“There’s this genealogy of thought that audacious aesthetics such as wearing beads, feathers and big hair are strategies for taking up space in the world as part of our cultural politic,” Miles said. “And that (was another facet of) Black panethnicity, shaping how these women understood what Black beauty is.”
Miles said she was prompted to explore Black women’s views on beauty after interviewing a group of high school girls about their experiences with body policing — rules on personal attire and grooming that often marginalize Black students. As the interview began, the girls passed around a tube of lip gloss for each girl to apply “and I reflected in my notes on how that lip gloss was a kind of armor where it literally made the truth come out easier for them as they indicted these systems and people who were supposed to care for them. As they called out these horrible interactions in their schools, they used lip gloss as a strength to be able to facilitate that process of telling their stories,” Miles said.
Likewise, women in the current study described their experiences with body and beauty policing by parents, relatives and romantic partners, “who told them stories or created clear, very stark boundaries about what it means to exist in the world and to be beautiful and attractive,” Miles said.
These women also recalled similar incidents with employers or college officials, who told them that their bright clothing, big jewelry or natural hair were “too loud” or unprofessional.
“One girl say she’d make her afro as big as possible every time she was going into a room with new people because she wanted them to reckon with her presence,” Miles said. “She was younger than most people in her field, and she wanted to make it unapologetic that she was there and her voice mattered. Other participants talked about how they wore wigs and clothes that felt uncomfortable because they felt like that was what was expected of them, and they shrunk themselves to survive.”
Women in the study recalled iconic photos from significant cultural inflection points such as the Civil Rights Movement “and described the beauty in Black people existing in spite of anti-Blackness and misogynoir,” a term that refers to the distinct combination of hatred, racism and misogyny directed toward Black women.
Black feminist scholars such as Angela Davis, along with Mikki Kendall, the author of the book “Hood Feminism,” were highly influential on participants’ self-concepts and their thinking about Blackness and beauty, Miles found.
“Participants talked a lot about Black women writers and feminist scholars who — in the face of a world that’s told them many times that to be beautiful is to be thin, white, blonde and blue eyed — helped them reimagine and rearticulate what beauty was. And that totally reframed these women’s relationship to beauty and served as the basis for how they went on to define Black beauty,” Miles said.
The study is part of a larger book project in which Miles is exploring “girlhood beauty experiences, adult beauty practices and politics, and how adult women’s reflections on girlhood change how they move through the present and maybe even the future,” she said.
“This is something that all of us are negotiating relative to these ideas that are imposed upon us and that very few of us can find comfort in,” Miles said. “We all are trying to squeeze (past) our discomfort to see ourselves as beautiful. And sometimes the world can make that very hard.”
The research was funded by the Kunz Center for Social Research and a Charles Phelps Taft Graduate Enrichment Grant at the University of Cincinnati.
Source: illinois.edu
https://news.illinois.edu/black-womens-beauty-fashion-choices-intertwined-with-black-history-politics/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afghan-women-under-secretary-un/d/135971