Three-Day Conference of Afghan Women Protesters Begins in Albania to Counter Taliban Restrictions

The conference, which began on Wednesday (September 11), includes about 130 Afghan women from various countries, including Iran, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Rina Amiri, the US Special Envoy for Women and Human Rights in Afghanistan, Sima Samar, former chairperson of the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, Manizha Bakhtari, Afghan Ambassador to Austria, Masooma Khavari, former Minister of Communications, and Mahbouba Seraj, a women's rights activist, are among the participants of this conference.

The event is organized by the "Women for Afghanistan" group, established by Fawzia Koofi in Switzerland, and is being hosted by the Albanian government.

In a message posted on the social media platform X, Albania's foreign minister, Igli Hyseni, announced his participation in the opening ceremony, stressing his country's collective support for Afghan women in their fight for rights stripped away by the Taliban. He added, "As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Albania is steadfast in defending the rights of women and girls, both in Afghanistan and beyond."

Fawzia Koofi, a former member of Afghanistan's Parliament and the conference organizer, stated that the event brings together Afghan women from diverse backgrounds to coordinate efforts and develop strategies to improve the situation of women in Afghanistan, especially at a time when women have been completely excluded from public life within the country.

She emphasized, "Our goal is to reach a consensus and strategy on how to hold the Taliban accountable for human rights violations and how to improve the economic conditions of women inside the country."

Reports indicate that some women protesters from Afghanistan had planned to attend the conference, but their travel was blocked.

The conference comes amid severe restrictions imposed on women by the Taliban since they came to power, including a ban on girls’ education beyond certain levels, strict limitations on women's employment, the requirement of a male guardian for travel, and the prohibition of women in public spaces.

The Taliban's new law on promoting virtue and preventing vice has further added to these restrictions, even labeling women's voices as 'awrat' (a private part that should be concealed) and forbidding them from being heard outside the home.

At the end of this conference, participants are expected to present their demands to the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for human rights abuses in Afghanistan.