OIC Says Talks with Taliban on Afghan Women’s Rights Continue

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has said that talks with the Taliban administration on women’s and girls’ rights to education and work are continuing, but no specific action or deadline has yet been announced to lift restrictions on women.

Ismail bin Shaikh Ahmad, the organisation’s secretary-general, said at the 52nd meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad that these issues remain under review. He also spoke about the organisation’s support in meeting the humanitarian and economic needs of the Afghan people.

The two-day meeting of the OIC foreign ministers, held under the slogan “Dialogue and Solidarity: Two Essential Pillars for Strengthening Peace and Sustainable Development,” took place in Baghdad, with the situation in Afghanistan among the main topics of discussion. Meanwhile, the OIC secretary-general’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Tariq Ali Bakheet, during his recent visit to Kabul, met with the Taliban administration’s ministers of public health and education and discussed the needs of the health sector, educational programmes and girls’ right to education.

In his meeting with the Taliban’s minister of public health, Tariq Ali Bakheet stressed the importance of women specialists in the health sector and creating educational opportunities for girls in medical fields. He also discussed reforms to the curriculum and proposed projects to support Afghanistan’s education system in his meeting with the minister of education.

Despite claims that talks are continuing, the lack of practical action and the delay in lifting the Taliban administration’s restrictions on women’s rights mean concerns about the human rights situation, particularly women’s rights in Afghanistan, remain. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is among the bodies that have repeatedly called for respect for women’s rights in Afghanistan, but it has so far been unable to take effective steps to improve conditions for women in the country.