Education for Afghan Women: US Secretary Of State Blinken Meets with Women's Rights Icon Malala Yousafzai
New
Age Islam News Bureau
08
December 2021
•
Afghans Make Up Half of BBC List Of ‘100 Most Inspiring Women’
•
‘We’re Not Giving Up’: The Radio Station for Afghan Women
•
Competing In Dakar Rally ‘Dream Come True’ For Saudi Driver Dania Akeel
•
Despite Assurances from the Taliban Afghan Girls' Despair as Taliban Confirm
Secondary School Ban
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Education
for Afghan women: US Secretary of State Blinken Meets with Women's Rights Icon
Malala Yousafzai
Malala
Yousafzai
---
Andrew
John Roesgen
07.12.2021
CHICAGO,
United States
Malala
Yousafzai, famously shot by the Taliban for going to school in 2012, decried on
Monday the turnabout happening now under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, where
freedoms of women and education opportunities have disappeared.
Facing
the media, and meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington
D.C., the poised and newly married Yousafzai told Blinken: "You've
mentioned that we're here to talk about equality in girls' education, but we
know that Afghanistan right now is the only country where girls do not have
access to secondary education."
It
has been nearly 100 days since the US pulled out of Afghanistan after a 20-year
military and diplomatic presence, a presence that saw women and girls make
tremendous educational and professional strides. But the returning Taliban have
taken the country back to a male-dominated society, with few educational
options for girls and women.
"Girls'
education is a powerful tool for bringing peace and security," Yousafzai
said, quoting from a 15-year-old Afghan girl's letter to her. "If girls
don't learn, Afghanistan will suffer, too. As a girl and a human being, I need
you to know that I have rights. Women and girls have rights. Afghans have the
right to live in peace, go to school and play."
"This
is the message of Afghan girls," Yousafzai told Blinken. "We hope
that the US, together with the UN will take immediate actions to ensure that
girls are allowed to go back to the schools as soon as possible, women are able
to go back to work and all the humanitarian assistance that is needed for
education there is provided."
Blinken
praised Yousafzai, calling her an inspiration to girls and women and around the
world, and promised that he would share the Afghan girl's letter with President
Biden.
Blinken
announced in October that the US was providing $144 million dollars in aid to
Afghanistan, but most of that will go towards humanitarian needs. Blinken said
the money would benefit the "people of Afghanistan", not the Taliban,
but it does not appear the US can force any changes to Taliban rule that would
see girls and women go back to getting educations.
Yousafzai
was shot in her home country of Pakistan, then went on to become the
youngest-ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. She now resides in
England.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-blinken-meets-with-womens-rights-icon-malala-yousafzai/2440475
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Afghans
Make Up Half of BBC List Of ‘100 Most Inspiring Women’
A
combination photo of Afghan-Canadian entrepreneur Sara Wahedi (L) and former
Afghan policewoman Zala Zazai (R). — Photos courtesy Twitter
----
December
8, 2021
KARACHI:
The BBC has released a list of what it says the world’s 100 most inspiring and
influential women for 2021.
The
list comprises women who are hitting “reset” — those who are playing their part
in “reinventing our society, our culture and our world”, according to the
British news organisation.
Among
the women on the list are Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize
laureate, Samoa’s first female prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, Prof Heidi
J. Larson, who heads The Vaccine Confidence Project, and acclaimed author
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Women
from Afghanistan make up half of this year’s list, some of whom appear under
pseudonyms and without photos for their own safety.
The
names on the list are: Lima Aafshid; Halima Aden; Oluyemi Adetiba-Orija;
Muqadasa Ahmadzai; Rada Akbar; Abia Akram; Leena Alam; Dr Alema; Sevda
Altunoluk; Wahida Amiri; Mónica Araya; Natasha Asghar; Zuhal Atmar; Marcelina
Bautista; Crystal Bayat; Razia Barakzai; Nilofar Bayat; Jos Boys; Catherine
Corless; Faiza Darkhani; Azmina Dhrodia; Pashtana Durrani; Najla Elmangoush;
Shila Ensandost; Saeeda Etebari; Sahar Fetrat; Melinda French Gates; Fatima
Gailani; Carolina García; Saghi Ghahraman; Ghawgha; Angela Ghayour; Jamila
Gordon; Najlla Habibyar; Laila Haidari; Zarlasht Halaimzai; Shamsia Hassani;
Nasrin Husseini; Momena Ibrahimi; Mugdha Kalra; Freshta Karim; Amena Karimyan;
Aliya Kazimy; Baroness Helena Kennedy QC; Hoda Khamosh; Mia Krisna Pratiwi;
Heidi J. Larson; Iman Le Caire; Sevidzem Ernestine Leikeki; Elisa Loncón
Antileo; Chloé Lopes Gomes; Dr Mahera; Maral; Masouma; Fiame Naomi Mata’afa;
Salima Mazari; Depelsha Thomas McGruder; Mulu Mefsin; Mohadese Mirzaee; Fahima
Mirzaie; Tlaleng Mofokeng; Tanya Muzinda; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Lynn Ngugi;
Amanda Nguyn; Basira Paigham; Natalia Pasternak Taschner; Monica Paulus; Rehana
Popal; Manjula Pradeep; Razma; Rohila; Alba Rueda; Dr Ruksana; Halima Sadaf
Karimi; Roya Sadat; Shogufa Safi; Sahar; Soma Sara; Mahbouba Seraj; Elif
Shafak; Anisa Shaheed; Mina Smallman; Barbara Smolinska; Ein Soe May; Piper
Stege Nelson; Fatima Sultani; Adelaide Lala Tam; Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng; Emma
Theofelus; Sara Wahedi; Vera Wang; Nanfu Wang; Dr Roshanak Wardak; Ming-Na Wen;
Rebel Wilson; Benafsha Yaqoobi; Malala Yousafzai; Yuma; and Zala Zazai.
Discussing
Malala Yousafzai’s inclusion in the list, a BBC article said: “The
youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate… is a Pakistani girls’ education
activist and UN messenger of peace. She has spoken up for the right of young
women to an education since she was 11.
“Her
activism began with blogs for the BBC about living under Taliban rule in
Pakistan and the ban on girls attending school. In October 2012, a gunman
boarded her bus, looking for her, and shot her in the head.
“Following
her recovery, she has continued her work as co-founder of the non-profit Malala
Fund, aiming to build a world where every girl can learn and lead without
fear.”
Source:
Dawn
https://www.dawn.com/news/1662518/afghans-make-up-half-of-bbc-list-of-100-most-inspiring-women
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‘We’re
not giving up’: The radio station for Afghan women
DECEMBER
8, 2021
From
Taliban-controlled Kabul, Radio Begum is broadcasting the voices of women that
have been muted across Afghanistan.
Station
staff fill the airwaves with programming for women, by women: educational
shows, book readings and call-in counselling.
For
now, they operate with the permission of the hardline Islamists who regained
power in August and have limited the ability for women to work and girls to
attend school.
“We’re
not giving up,” pledged 48-year-old Hamida Aman, the station’s founder, who
grew up in Switzerland after her family fled Afghanistan a few years after the
Soviet Union invaded.
“We
have to show that we don’t need to be scared,” said Aman, who returned after
the ousting of the Taliban’s first regime in 2001 by US-led foreign forces.
“We
must occupy the public sphere.”
–
‘Vessel for voices’ –
The
station was founded on March 8, International Women’s Day, this year, five
months before the Taliban marched into Kabul and finalise their defeat of the
US-backed government.
From
a working-class neighbourhood, it continues to broadcast across Kabul and
surrounding areas — and live on Facebook.
“Begum”
was a noble title used in South Asia, and it now generally refers to a married
Muslim woman.
“This
station is a vessel for women’s voices, their pain, their frustrations,” Aman
said.
The
Taliban granted permission for the broadcaster to stay on the airwaves in
September, albeit with new curbs.
Radio
Begum’s 10 or so employees used to share an office with male colleagues who
worked on a youth radio station.
Now
they are separated. Each sex has its own floor and a large opaque curtain has
been installed in front of the women’s office.
Pop
music has been replaced with traditional songs and “quieter music”, Aman said.
Nevertheless,
staff members said working at the station was a “privilege”, with many women
government workers barred from returning to offices.
The
Taliban have yet to formalise many of their policies, leaving gaps in how they
are implemented by the group across the country.
Most
public secondary schools for girls have been shut since the takeover.
But
twice a day the radio studio resembles a classroom.
When
AFP visited, six girls and three boys — all aged 13 or 14 — pored over their
books as the presenter gave an on-air lesson about social justice.
“Social
justice is opposed to extremism,” said the 19-year-old teacher, a student of
journalism until a few months ago.
“What
is justice in Islam?” she asked.
–
‘Golden opportunity’ –
Mursal,
a 13-year-old girl, has been going to the studio to study since the Taliban
blocked some secondary schools from reopening.
“My
message to girls who can’t go to school is to listen to our program carefully,
to use this golden chance and opportunity,” she said.
“They
may not have it again.”
There
are also on-air lessons for adults.
In
one such lesson, station director Saba Chaman, 24, read the autobiography of
Michelle Obama in Dari.
She
is particularly proud of a show where listeners call in for psychological
counselling.
In
2016, just 18 percent of women in Afghanistan were literate compared with 62
percent of men, according to the former education ministry.
“Women
who are illiterate are like blind people,” one woman who cannot read said on
air.
“When
I go to the pharmacy they give me expired medication. If I could read they
wouldn’t do it.”
A
few months after the Taliban seized power, Aman met with spokesman Zabihullah
Mujahid, and told him the radio was “working to give a voice to women”.
He
was “very encouraging”, she said.
But
the future is uncertain.
In
September, the country’s leading independent TV station Tolo News reported that
more than 150 outlets had shut over restrictions and financial troubles.
Radio
Begum is no longer taking in advertising revenue.
If
no funds are received within three months, the voices of these women will
disappear from the airwaves of Afghanistan, Chaman said.
“My
only cause for hope at the moment is knowing that I’m doing something important
in my life to help Afghan women.”
Source: Daily Times Pakistan
https://dailytimes.com.pk/852158/were-not-giving-up-the-radio-station-for-afghan-women/
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Competing in Dakar Rally ‘dream come true’ for Saudi driver Dania Akeel
December
08, 2021
RIYADH:
Dakar Rally 2022 participant Dania Akeel’s determination for motor racing has
remained unwavering, despite injuries and a horrific accident she had while
racing, and has called qualifying for the race in Saudi Arabia as her “greatest
dream come true.”
A
Saudi champion, Akeel was the winner of the T3 category at the 2021 FIA World
Cup for Cross Country Bajas, and is participating alongside her French
co-driver Antonia De Roissard in the sixth and final stage of this season’s FIA
World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in Hail on board her car “Can Am Maverick
X3”, which falls within the T3 category.
This
participation is considered a test for her and her co-driver in preparation for
the Dakar Rally and a chance she has been eagerly waiting for to represent her
homeland.
Akeel
also sees it as an opportunity to discover and familiarize herself with the
stages’ terrain and roads. Through this participation, she seeks to train and
test herself, her co-driver and her car, the same car she will be driving
during her most important race in January.
“The
Hail rally is a great opportunity for me and my team to prepare for the Dakar
Rally, which is the greatest dream that has accompanied me since I started
getting into motorsports. This dream is now closer than ever and the Hail rally
will be a perfect opportunity for me to train and familiarize myself with some
of Dakar Rally’s stages,” Akeel said.
Akeel
made history as the first female Saudi driver to participate in a round of an
international desert rally, which was held in the Eastern Province as part of
the third round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas, along with the
first round of the Saudi Desert Rally Championship.
Akeel
took the first steps of her career in 2019, as she participated in races on
circuits in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. During her first season, she
had an accident on the Bahrain International Circuit. This resulted in a pelvis
fracture, which made her take a break from motorsports for a while.
She
says that the world of cars and motorcycles is very difficult and challenging.
It requires strength, courage and a sense of adventure, especially for women,
who need to have a strong will because this sport is mostly male-dominated.
However, she never backed down and kept pushing forwards to fulfil her
ambitions because Saudi women are currently living in the era of women
empowerment. She also wished that more girls and women would get into this
sport in the Kingdom.
Akeel
hopes that Saudi women will fulfil their wishes in order to score achievements
in the name of the homeland. She also hopes that Saudi women will be able to
achieve their dreams in all sports and fields.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1982736/sport
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Despite
Assurances from the Taliban Afghan Girls' Despair as Taliban Confirm Secondary
School Ban
December
8, 2021
Teenage
schoolgirls in Afghanistan have told the BBC of their growing desperation as
they continue to be excluded from school more than three months after the
Taliban takeover.
"Not
being able to study feels like a death penalty," says 15-year-old Meena.
She says that she and her friends feel lost and confused since the closure of
their school in north-eastern Badakhshan province.
"We
have nothing to do apart from housework… we are just frozen in one place,"
says Laila, 16, whose school in Takhar province shut the day the Taliban seized
power in August.
BBC
interviews with students and headteachers in 13 provinces show girls'
frustration at still being barred from secondary school, despite assurances
from the Taliban that they would be able to resume their studies "as soon
as possible".
Teachers,
nearly all of whom had not been paid since June, said the situation was
affecting girls' wellbeing, with one blaming the closures for the underage
marriage of three of her students.
One
headteacher from Kabul, who stays in touch with her students via Whatsapp, said:
"The students are really upset, they're suffering mentally. I try to give
them hope but it's hard because they are exposed to so much sadness and
disappointment."
Teachers
also reported a worrying drop in attendance among girls in primary schools, who
have been allowed to return. They said that increased poverty and security
concerns meant families were reluctant to send younger girls to school.
Officials
have previously avoided confirming that this was an outright ban. But in an
interview with the BBC, acting Deputy Education Minister Abdul Hakim Hemat
confirmed that girls would not be allowed to attend secondary school until a
new education policy was approved in the new year.
Despite
this, some girls' schools are reported to have re-opened after negotiating with
local Taliban officials.
In
the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province, one head teacher told us
that there were no problems and girls were attending school as normal.
But
another student in the same city told the BBC that a group of armed Taliban
fighters had been approaching schoolgirls on the streets, telling them to make
sure their hair and mouths were not visible. As a result around a third of her
class had stopped coming to school.
"We
have our life in our hands when we leave home. People don't smile. The
situation is not calm. We are shivering with fear," she said. The Taliban
government ordered boys to return to secondary school in September, but made no
mention of girls.
Headteachers
in three different provinces told the BBC that they had reopened schools, only
to be told to close by local officials without explanation a day later. Girls
had been turning up at the school gates every day asking when they would be
allowed to return, one said.
Laila,
who wants to be a midwife or doctor, says she keeps her school equipment clean
and tidy in her room, not allowing anyone to touch it, waiting for the moment
when it can be put to use again.
"When
I see my clothes, books, scarf and my shoes, all new just sitting in my
cupboard without being used, I get very upset. I never wanted to sit at
home," she says.
Meena
wants to be a surgeon, but doubts whether she'll be allowed to continue her
studies.
She
remembers lining up in the playground at school and laughing with her friends,
where they would sing the national anthem before going to lessons.
"Whenever
I think about those moments, I feel upset and hopeless about our future,"
she says.
Mr
Hemat said the current situation was a temporary delay while the government
ensured a "safe environment" for girls to go to school.
He
emphasised the need for girls' and boys' classes to be segregated, something
which is already common throughout Afghanistan.
Girls
and women were banned from schools and universities during the last Taliban
rule between 1996 and 2001.
This
year's closures have already had a permanent effect on the lives of some girls,
according to testimony from one head teacher in south-eastern Ghazni province.
"At
least three of our girls aged 15 and under have been married off underage since
the Taliban took over," said the teacher, who feared others would follow
as their families grow frustrated seeing them at home "doing
nothing".
Unicef
has said that it is deeply concerned about reports that child marriage is on
the rise in Afghanistan.
One
headteacher in central Ghor province told the BBC that the issue of school
closures was irrelevant compared given the other problems facing her students.
"I
think many of our students are going to die… They don't have enough food to eat
and they cannot keep themselves warm. You cannot imagine the poverty," she
said.
Source:
BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59565558
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