Restrictions imposed on Afghan girls will lead to 25 percent increase in child marriage: UN agencies

UN agencies have said restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women and girls will increase the number of child marriages among Afghan girls by 25 percent, Afghanistan-based Tolo News reports.

UN Women, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) have released a joint two-page brief. In summary, UN agencies have highlighted the issues faced by Afghan women and their demands from the international community.

According to the two-page brief, continued Taliban restrictions on women and girls will lead to a 25 percent increase in child marriage, a 45 percent increase in early childbearing, and a 50 percent increase in the risk of maternal mortality. According to the brief, currently 82 percent of Afghan women consider their mental health to be poor.

It further states that Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans girls from studying in schools beyond the sixth grade. Additionally, Afghan women are banned from going to university, Tolo News reports.

Afghan women have not given up fighting for their right to live a life with dignity despite restrictions imposed on them by the Taliban, according to a joint statement issued by UN agencies.

The brief said, “Afghan women are still forming civil society organizations, still running businesses, and still providing services to their communities; Most importantly, Afghan women have continued to find ways to articulate their demands to the international community.

Afghan women urged the international community to remain focused on the situation in Afghanistan and restore women’s rights, including the rights to education and work, UN Women, IOM and UNAMA said in the brief, Tolo News reports. .

UN Women, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) summarized that Afghan women call on the international community to focus on the situation in Afghanistan and restore women’s rights, These include the right to education and work, in addition to women’s participation in public decision making.

Meanwhile, many analysts said that the world has no policy to deal with these sanctions. Political analyst Nesar Ahmed Sherzai emphasized that forced marriage can be considered a very small part of the barriers preventing girls from continuing their education.

“Forced marriage may be considered a very small part of the barriers preventing girls from continuing their education, but UN Women claims this is not the case. The UN, credible international institutions and major powers are aware of the main and critical barriers to girls’ education, but they are wasting time. Tolo News quoted Nesar Ahmed Sherzai as saying that they do not have fundamental and principled work to remove these limitations from the girls and women of Afghanistan.

Women’s rights activist Soraya Paikon said, “Now that schools and education for girls have been restricted and denied to them, families are once again forcing their daughters to marry against Afghanistan’s principles and civil law. which determines the minimum age.” Girls marry at the age of 16,” Tolo News reported.

Earlier, several countries, including the US, had called for the lifting of restrictions against women in Afghanistan and said that the Taliban will not be formally recognized until women’s rights are respected.