At a speaking engagement in Doha, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban, Amir Khan Muttaqi, avoided questions about education for women and girls and reiterated the group needs more time on girls’ education—despite international outcry after last month’s decision that schools above sixth grade would only reopen for boys.
Tag: Global Women’s Rights
Rest in Power: Kamla Bhasin, Feminist Icon of India
Kamla Bhasin, an early leader of the women’s movement in India, died in New Delhi on Sept. 25 at the age of 75. Bhasin played an integral role in the second wave of feminism and was a prominent voice in the women’s movement in India and other South Asian countries from the 1970s to the present. Her impact will live on for years in the songs, poems, art and music of the thousands of people that she inspired across South Asia.
The Most Powerful Women in D.C.; Where are the Women Nobel Laureates? (Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation)
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: The Nobel prizes remain male-dominated; wins and losses in women’s political representation around the globe; just 5 percent of people who have served in congress are women; and more.
Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk: How to Strengthen U.S. Foreign Policy Commitments for Girls
The risks of being an adolescent girl are perhaps worse this year than any year since we began celebrating International Day of the Girl. The voices of girls are rarely centered, their solutions are rarely considered, and their needs are rarely addressed.
But an executive order from Biden could develop a whole-of-government strategy for children and youth. Empowering girls as leaders benefits us all and should be a priority.
It’s Time to End Gender Stereotypes in Schools
On this International Day of the Girl, two feminists share how their childhood experiences with gender stereotypes have shaped their feminism, their work—and indeed, who they are.
“When I started school as a child, I was bombarded with rules that my body had to follow.”
“I was 8 years old when I was punished at school for refusing to do needlework with the rest of the girls in my class and wanting to do carpentry like the boys. I was awful at needlework. I was dying to swing a hammer.”
To Protect Afghan Girls, the Biden Administration Must Take Real Action: “No More Empty Promises”
Taliban nostalgia threatens 20 years of progress for Afghan girls. The lives, aspirations and rights of girls are not just getting lost in the mix—they are actively being squashed.
How the U.S. responds will be a true test of whether the Biden administration’s stated commitment to gender equality applies in practice and beyond rhetoric. We don’t need another speech or more photo opportunities. We have enough promises. What we need is for President Biden to galvanize real action. Afghan girls deserve nothing less.
Taliban Announces Additional Government Officials—All Male, and All Members of Their Old Guard
Early this week, the Taliban announced additional members of their Cabinet, and once again, all of them are part of the old guard of the Taliban, despite promises of an inclusive government during peace talks. The 38 new members of the interim government of the Taliban were appointed to military and civilian positions. The leadership team still doesn’t include a single woman.
Ms. Global: Arab World Gets Its First Female Head of State; Historic Trans Representation in Germany; Islamophobia in the U.K.
The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.
The Voices Excluded From the U.N. Climate Change Conference: “Women Are Vital to Solutions”
Beginning on October 31, the United Nations will host the U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow. The conference, which will last until November 12, aims to bring “parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.” But environmental activists say COP26 is lacking adequate representation of voices from the Global South and Indigenous communities.
“Equal Rights May Ring Hollow”: The Precarious State of Abortion Rights
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case concerning a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of gestation, federal abortion rights enter a precarious state. States around the country have also set up “trigger laws”—abortion bans—that are ready to go into effect the moment Roe gets overturned. As attacks on abortion rights escalate, federal legislation guaranteeing reproductive rights is needed more than ever.