Taliban Finalizing Women in NGO Rules

I am not a journalist, though I sometimes play one on the internet.  I have no obligation to be neutral or cleanse my soul of ethnocentrism.  But I should admit my biases. So let me just say, the Taliban are really stupid.  Call me Archie Bunker for disrespecting the culture but this whole “subservient women” Handmaids Tale thing makes the Taliban look like post-apocalyptic cavemen.  There, I said it.  I have four daughters, all college educated at considerable personal sacrifice.  I’m not finna indulge anybody’s right to tell them what to do or how to go.  So yeah, the rule prohibiting women (women, literally the mother of all charity!) from work, charitable or otherwise, is stupid.  And if your religion says so, well . . . your religion is . . . not smart, lets just say.  Sorry, not sorry.

Anyway, various media report that the Taliban are close to finalizing rules allowing grown women to reenter the volunteer sector, though apparently not the schools or businesses, at least not without a 13 year old male “chaperon.” Stupid. I told myself I would editorialize only in the first paragraph so I’ll just cut to the chase. 

So here is what you thought you were gonna read, and thanks for the therapy:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The head of a major international aid agency said Tuesday that key Taliban officials told him in meetings that they are close to finalizing guidelines that will allow Afghan women to resume working for nongovernmental organizations. But they were unable to give a timeline or details when pressed.

The Taliban last December barred Afghan women from working at NGOs, allegedly because they were not wearing the hijab — the Islamic headscarf — correctly and were not observing gender segregation rules. In April, they said this ban extended to U.N. offices and agencies in Afghanistan. There are exemptions in some sectors like health care and education.

. . . 

Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, is visiting Afghanistan for the second time in five months to persuade the country’s Taliban rulers to reverse the ban on the organization’s female staff.

He was told the Taliban couldn’t guarantee anything as everything needed to be put to the supreme leadership. They also told him they had been working on the NGO matter for months and that most issues have been resolved. The guidelines are likely to cover dress codes, gender segregation in the workplace, and a chaperone for travel.

Egeland warned that it would not be a lifting of the ban if the guidelines went beyond that.  The Norwegian Refugee Council stands to lose 40% of its funding for Afghanistan because of the bans on female employment and education, he said. Egeland said he pressed the Taliban officials for a timeline and clarity on the word “soon” but they didn’t elaborate.

But these guys aren’t on the verge of an enlightenment.  They are only doing it for the money.  

darryll jones