On August 15, 2021 Taliban forces secured control of Afghanistan, capturing the capital city Kabul. The Taliban’s takeover has thrown the country into a critical state of emergency. The consequences have been devastating, especially for Afghan women and girls. The equality Afghan women have been fighting for was stripped away by the Taliban, who immediately ended girls’ education past primary school and banned women’s employment. Many Afghan women have been forced to flee the country and others remain in hiding, afraid for their lives. With great courage across the country Afghan women have stood up and demonstrated for their rights, for which they have been beaten and detained. 

   

On September 20th, 2021, following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the Sisterhood is Global Institute in collaboration with the Roosevelt House Human Rights Program of Hunter College and Women for Afghan Women, organized an online high-level forum between global women leaders and Afghan women leaders to discuss the current situation of women in Afghanistan and the future of the country. The forum was chaired by former Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström and included among the attendees: former UN High Commissioners for Human Rights Navi Pillay and Mary Robinson, Gloria Steinem, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee, former South Korean Foreign Minister Kyung-wha Kang, Jennifer Lawrence and many other women leaders. Afghan women leaders included Shaharzad Akbar, Former Chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Fawzia Koofi, Former Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, and Asila Wardak, Former Director General of UN Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For security reasons, the names of some Afghan attendees were withheld, although many of these brave women signed the public statement that came out of the meeting demanding that governments and humanitarian organizations prioritize women’s rights in Afghanistan. This forum sparked the creation of the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan.