UNESCO: Girls’ Education Ban Hinders Afghanistan’s Progress
New Age Islam News Bureau
23 March 2024
·
UNESCO: Girls’ Education Ban
Hinders Afghanistan’s Progress
·
US State Department's Instagram Post
Featuring Faezeh Hashemi, Former MP, Sparks Outrage Among Iranians
·
Najia Sultani Workshop: Afghan
Woman’s Jam And Pickle Workshop Employs 50 Women
·
Female Syrian Doctor Talks About
Challenges Treating War Victims From Underground Hospital
·
Sara Netanyahu Sought To Dismiss
An Adviser In The Prime Minister's Office - Sparking Uproar
·
UN Women Welcomes The Adoption Of
Robust Blueprint To End Women’s Poverty
Compiled by New Age Islam News
Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/unesco-girls-education-ban-afghanistan/d/131986
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UNESCO:
Girls’ Education Ban Hinders Afghanistan’s Progress
Photo: The Frontier Post
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Fidel
Rahmati
March
22, 2024
As
the new academic year begins in Afghanistan, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) states that 1.4 million girls
above the sixth grade in Afghanistan are deprived of attending school.
UNESCO
in Kabul wrote on its social media platform X on Thursday, stating that the
deprivation of girls from education will cause severe psychological and
emotional harm to them.
The
organization continues to warn that the deprivation of girls from education
will hinder Afghanistan’s development.
Meanwhile,
the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
emphasizes girls’ education in Afghanistan, stating that education is critical
to a brighter future for the country.
Alison
Davidian, the representative of the UN Women’s Office in Afghanistan, updated
on Thursday in a post on the social media platform X that the ban on girls’
education in Afghanistan must end.
At
the beginning of the new academic year, many international organizations and
institutions reacted strongly to the continuation of girls’ deprivation of
education, calling for lifting this restriction.
This
comes as the Taliban administration commenced the new academic year on
Wednesday, the first of the month, without any mention of the fate of secondary
schools and girls’ high schools.
For
the third year in a row, the Taliban have banned girls from attending school
beyond the sixth grade and universities. This has had a devastating impact on
the mental and economic development of females in society.
Source:
khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/unesco-girls-education-ban-hinders-afghanistans-progress/
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US
State Department's Instagram Post Featuring Faezeh Hashemi, Former MP, Sparks
Outrage Among Iranians
March
23, 2024
Iranian
social media users expressed their fury following the US State Department's
Farsi-language Instagram page's decision to feature a photo of Faezeh Hashemi
Rafsanjani as part of its Women's History Month tributes.
Hashemi
Rafsanjani is a former Iranian MP turned activist – who was most recently
arrested amid the Women, Life, Freedom protests in 2022, after she expressed
support for the protests.
Her
father, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, oversaw a long string of
terrorist plots during his eight years in office. For almost 30 years he was
one of the top decision makers in the Islamic Republic, even playing the key
role in installing Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader. He was accused as one of the
Iranian leaders responsible for planning a deadly attack on a Jewish community
center in Argentina in 1994.
Despite
Hashemi Rafsanjani's recent public criticism of the Islamic Republic, Iranian
social media users strongly denounced the US State Department's post featuring
her – calling her a “reformist” and “regime insider”. Most Iranian dissidents
view Iran's Reformists as part of the Islamic Republic and a political group
that wants to save the regime.
Tagging
the US Envoy for Iran, Abram Paley, social media users from different political
backgrounds questioned why the US government would promote her as “the defender
of women’s rights across Iran”.
Many
users expressed outrage, viewing the post as a direct insult to those battling
for freedom in Iran, especially Iranian women.
The
State Department's Instagram page, USABehFarsi ("USA in Farsi"),
appears to be directed towards Iranians in Iran, as it predominantly posts in
Persian.
On
Instagram, where the majority of Iranians using social media inside Iran are
active, the comments were overwhelmingly negative.
Within
just 4 hours of the post being uploaded, nearly 1,500 comments poured in.
Numerous
users, labeling Hashemi Rafsanjani as a "fundamentalist reformist,"
expressed their frustration, asserting that Iranians are not merely seeking
reform but rather a complete regime change.
Notably,
the State Department restricted comments on its page.
This
recent controversy follows days after another contentious moment for the Biden
administration, stemming from the President’s New Year message to Iranians,
commemorating the ancient spring celebration of Norouz.
President
Biden's mention of the Gaza conflict in his statement raised eyebrows and
fueled anger, since neither Palestinians nor Arabs celebrate Nouruz. Adding to
the outrage, is the fact that Norouz has been celebrated in Iran for over 2,500
years – and is not an Islamic occasion.
Arash
Aalaei from Iran International further highlighted that, besides President
Biden, the only other world leader to include mention of Palestinians in Norouz
greetings to Iranians was Ayatollah Khamenei and the Iranian regime.
Source:
iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202403220848
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Najia
Sultani Workshop: Afghan Woman’s Jam And Pickle Workshop Employs 50 Women
Fidel
Rahmati
March
23, 2024
People’s
tables in Afghanistan are almost always decorated with containers of jam and
pickles. There is a high demand for these two foods. Najia Sultani, a
43-year-old woman, has established a workshop for producing these two foods
with an initial cost of 500 Afghanis, and now about 50 women are working in
this workshop.
Najia,
who is about 43 years old, says it has been about four years since the
establishment of this production workshop. She is pleased with this initiative
because, as she says, she has set up this workshop using her children’s “lunch
money.”
She
told Khaama Press, “I didn’t know how to support my husband financially because
his income was low, and he couldn’t cover expenses alone. I opened my
children’s lunch money, took five hundred Afghanis from it, and bought
materials to prepare pickles.”
While
Najia learned pickle making from her mother-in-law, she sells the prepared
pickles in plastic bottles for five Afghanis each. Eventually, she earns more
money and expands her business using the money she earns.
Najia
Sultani, who was forced to marry at the age of 15, says that this marriage was
a definite obstacle to her education. In addition to home education for pickle
making, she has also participated in formal education at various times to
prepare pickles. Now, she uses all her skills to produce jam and pickles.
Although
she had no choice in marriage, she is happy with her husband’s support in the
field of work she does today. She says, “No woman can work without her
husband’s support. I am currently benefiting from my husband’s support in my
work.”
Najia’s
eldest son, about 20 years old, accompanies his mother in the marketing section
and works shoulder to shoulder with Najia to expand and prosper the jam and
pickle Production Company.
Najia’s
production company operates under the name “Sumbul Production Company.” She
says she named this jam production company after her daughter and only women
work in this company. This production company is a source of income for dozens
of widowed and single mothers.
Many
women work at the Sumbul Production Company. Many of these women have come to
this company for learning and apprenticeship and are making jams and pickles.
Women
who are apprentices at this production company have started various small
businesses using Najia’s training and make jams and pickles half a day from
their homes. They see the establishment of this production company as a good
opportunity.
According
to Najia, the Sumbul Production Company prepares various pickles and jams.
Najia
Sultani, who started her work with 500 Afghanis and now has achieved a
satisfactory income, says that every woman can start a small or large business
using her abilities. She said, “While women have a lot of power, creativity,
and ability, why not use it?”
Source:
khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-womans-jam-and-pickle-workshop-employs-50-women/
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Female
Syrian doctor talks about challenges treating war victims from underground
hospital
March
23, 2024
For
over a decade, Dr. Amani Ballour has helped treat Syrians who have been caught
in the crossfire of the violence in their country.
She
became the only woman to ever run a wartime hospital in Syria.
In
her new book, "The Cave: A Secret Underground Hospital and One Woman's
Story of Survival in Syria," Ballour details her hard work at the hospital
and her perseverance through the male-dominated environment.
She
spoke with ABC News' Linsey Davis about her career.
AMANI
BALLOUR: Well, it's very important to me because it's my reality. It's my life.
I was born there in Syria, and I wanted to tell the whole truth for everyone
around the world.
I
wanted to tell all the people that we were innocent people. The people in Syria
started to protest to get some human rights, democracy, [and] freedom, which we
don't have in Syria.
And
immediately the Syrian regime started to shoot the people, kill them and then
bomb us.
I
saw in front of my eyes the innocent children who just do nothing, just because
they live in the place, so they are being bombed. I saw the fear in their eyes.
I saw the victims, many, many children who died and many children who are
starving, who were suffering.
I
wanted to tell their stories. Tell everyone about these people and about other
people who are still suffering now.
ABC
NEWS LIVE: You write about how it was so important to you to stay there at the
hospital, despite the dangers. And, in particular, you say, "I wanted to
be where I was needed. That's why we all stayed there in that underground
hospital." How did providing care for others also provide a sense of hope
for you at the same time?
BALLOUR:
Exactly. I studied medicine because I wanted to help people, and I wanted to be
a pediatrician to help with children because I love children. And when I see
the children really needed help and, unfortunately, many doctors decided to
leave, I said, "It's simple." This is the time when they need me to
help them and I have to stay.
It
was very hard circumstances between blood and destruction every day. We were a
target of bombings.
So
I was suffering with these people.
BALLOUR:
Yeah, that was frustrating. I mean, I'm from a conservative community. I know
my community. I know that we have traditions and customs against women. They
don't like to see a woman in a position that controls men.
When
I became the manager of the hospital, they said, "No, we don't want a
woman in this position." That was frustrating to me, but that was also a
challenge and that motivated me to do more. So to continue doing this, because
I wanted to change this idea about women. I wanted to prove that women can do
more and women can lead, [and] women can do everything.
And
I believe that I did my best for the hospital, and I believe that it was very
good hospital at that time.
Source:
abcnews.go.com
https://abcnews.go.com/International/female-syrian-doctor-talks-challenges-treating-war-victims/story?id=108387568
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Sara
Netanyahu sought to dismiss an adviser in the Prime Minister's Office -
sparking uproar
MARCH
23, 2024
The
Prime Minister's wife Sara Netanyahu requested to terminate the employment of
adviser Gal Dubosh, offering no explanation for the office staff. Dubosh
distanced herself saying, "Sara is amazing, she's not related to my
departure from the office."
Dubosh,
who worked last year as part of Netanyahu's close team, demanded explanations
for her dismissal.
Meanwhile,
she moved to work for the office of Transportation Minister Miri Regev. Sources
told KAN that after Dubosh finished her time at the PM’s office, there was a
major commotion after her departure.
The
turmoil was sparked when employees did not receive explanations regarding her
discharge, KAN reported, and senior staff in the office tried to disassociate
themselves from "responsibility" for the firing. The same sources
added that although the dismissal itself occurred a few months ago, the turmoil
in the office persists to this day.
On
behalf of Dubosh, it was stated: "Mrs. Sara Netanyahu is an amazing
person, and if only everyone had a big heart like hers. It's sad how much the
media tries to vilify her name, and of course, she's not related to my
departure from the office, everything is simply not true."
Past
issues Sara Netanyahu had with employees
This
January, Sara Netanyahu tried to have Eylon Levy released from his position as
a spokesperson. Levy participated in protests against the Israeli judicial
reform, and it was reported that his tweets circulated among the Prime
Minister’s inner circle, and some were upset with his stance.
Sara
Netanyahu’s attempt to have Levy dismissed sparked a backlash, leading the Movement
for Quality Government to request the government legal advisor issue guidelines
defining the area in which she is permitted to intervene.
In
2017, a police complaint was filed against her by a former employee. The former
PM Residence filed a lawsuit against Sara, testifying for eight hours while
presenting details of her time working as a cleaner at their house. According
to Channel 10 News, S.R. (the former employee) said that Sara Netanyahu wanted
to hit her and did hit another employee.
Another
former employee, Meni Naftali sued the couple for Sara’s behavior, and in 2016
he won 170,000 NIS in his civil case against them. Naftali worked as a house
manager for the couple. He reported that the Sara often drank large amounts of
alcohol. Naftali also accused Sara and Benjamin Netanyahu of running an
incitement and intimidation campaign against him that included breaking into
his home.
When
Sara testified, she rebuked both Naftali and the media, claiming that nasty
rumors were spread and that her voice was not heard until her testimony. She
further claimed that “most of the things I see in the media are incorrect.”
Source:
jpost.com
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/benjamin-netanyahu/article-793298
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UN
Women welcomes the adoption of robust blueprint to end women’s poverty
22
MARCH 2024
The
68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) delivered today
robust commitments by UN Member States to strengthen financing and institutions
to eradicate women’s and girls’ poverty.
Globally,
10.3 per cent of women live in extreme poverty today, according to the report
presented by the UN Secretary-General to the Commission, and progress towards
ending poverty needs to be 26 times faster to achieve the Sustainable
Development Goals by 2030.
The
outcome document (or Agreed Conclusions) recognizes that women and girls living
in poverty become ‘shock absorbers’ in times of crisis, and that further
efforts are needed to increase resources to address women’s and girls’ poverty.
UN
Women welcomes the adoption of robust blueprint to end women’s poverty
Acknowledging
that the international financial architecture is not fit for a crisis-prone
world, the Commission called for reforms to enable countries to mobilize and
invest resources in gender equality. These measures include debt relief and
progressive taxation and ensuring that public resources are allocated to
address the needs and rights of women and girls.
The
Agreed Conclusions also recommend mobilizing financial resources from public
and private sources, strengthening the international financial architecture,
ensuring a gender lens in national budgeting processes, and preventing
regressive taxation that disproportionately impacts women and girls with low or
no income.
The
outcome document also notes that official development assistance must be
increased to address women’s and girls’ poverty. The share of total aid with
gender equality as a policy objective decreased for the first time in a decade
from 45 in 2019 to 43 per cent in 2020, per the latest data of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The
Commission also called for the implementation of gender-responsive economic and
social policies, including increased women’s representation, leadership and
participation in economic institutions, enforcing core labour standards to
ensure equal pay for work of equal value, and implementing policies to support
women-owned businesses.
Engaging
and financing women’s organizations is another key recommendation. Robust,
flexible and multi-year financing for locally led feminist movements and
women’s rights organizations is critical to address poverty, as proven by
existing mechanisms such as the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and
the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund.
The
Agreed Conclusions also call to strengthen national capacities to collect and
use disaggregated data on multidimensional poverty, and to adopt new
development strategies towards sustainable economies. These include
strengthening inclusive and gender-responsive social protection systems and
scaling up investment in the care economy to reduce women’s time and income
poverty and expand their employment opportunities.
During
the session, the Commission also adopted a resolution on HIV-AIDS led by the
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), which calls to increase
investment in gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the
HIV-AIDS response.
The
two-week session is the largest UN gathering on gender equality. CSW68 brought
together world leaders – including two Heads of State, three vice-presidents
and over 100 Ministers – and 4,800 representatives of civil-society
organizations, marking the second-highest attendance in CSW records.
On
the sidelines of CSW68, approximately 270 side events were organized by UN
Member States, intergovernmental organizations and UN entities; and more than
760 parallel events were organized by civil society and youth-led organizations
as part of the NGO CSW68 Forum.
The
participation of young people, including adolescent girls, across the various
sessions, including the Youth Forum, enabled youth delegates to exchange
experiences, knowledge, lessons learned and good practices with an emphasis on
the multiple dimensions of inequality which exacerbate how young women and
girls experience poverty. The sessions, particularly the Youth Interactive
Dialogue, demonstrated the importance of continuing with the practice of
integrating critical youth perspectives in the official sessions of the CSW.
Attention
is now turning to next year’s 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing
Platform for Action. The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
(CSW69) will take place from 10 to 21 March 2025 in New York.
Source:
unwomen.org
https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2024/03/un-women-welcomes-the-adoption-of-robust-blueprint-to-end-womens-poverty
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/unesco-girls-education-ban-afghanistan/d/131986