OpinionThe women and girls of Afghanistan need hope for the future after Taliban takeover

Name: Malala voices fear for ‘Afghan sisters’ as women and girls face uncertainty under Taliban rule
Uploaded: 2021-08-31T19:30:13.000Z
Duration: 4 min 33 s
Description: Malala voices fear for ‘Afghan sisters’ as women and girls face uncertainty under Taliban rule

If the Taliban wants to ease the fear of half the population and build trust, it has plenty of opportunities

Afghanistan’s new leaders need to set a precedent with their actions to convince capable, qualified people to stay and help build a peaceful society

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Afghan women approach posters of Taliban leaders and flags in Kabul on August 25. Photo: AP

Maryam Baryalay

Published: 3:30am, 1 Sep 2021Updated: 5:29am, 1 Sep 2021

Along with millions of others, I am trying to wrap my head around what happened, what is happening and what will happen in Afghanistan. The grief is overwhelming.

People are frightened. While the people of Afghanistan have internalised adaptation as a survival strategy – perhaps like no other nation in the world – most of those who are under 25 years of age know the past only through the stories of their parents, which were usually horror stories.

These young people, with whom I have lived and worked for many years, are scared. I try to ease their anxiety, but how can I tell them that everything will be all right when I am in a stable environment in Germany while they are in agony and too polite to tell me to shut up?

In Afghanistan, people are grappling with yet another regime change – eight in less than 50 years. Some are dying trying to escape. But whether inside or outside Afghanistan, we continue to try and find a little bit of hope.

As a woman, as one member of half of the population of Afghanistan, I can say that if the Taliban wants to ease the fear of half the population and build trust, it has plenty of opportunities every single day.

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Malala voices fear for ‘Afghan sisters’ as women and girls face uncertainty under Taliban rule

Its leaders can encourage women from the former Afghanistan National Security Forces to provide assistance alongside the men – who have partially resumed their work alongside Taliban fighters – to ensure Afghan women are not mistreated.