Work, education & political participation is every afghan woman’s right

The following is the oral statement we delivered on September 22 at the 48th session of the Human Rights Council during the General Debate on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development (Item 3). 

Make Mothers Matter reiterates the critical importance of women and girls’ economic, social and cultural rights everywhere in the world, but particularly in Afghanistan given recent circumstances: “Work, education and political participation is every Afghan woman’s right”.

We must all stand in solidarity with women and girls in Afghanistan for their rights, among them the right to education and the right to participate in public life.

As a mother we recently interviewed said: “We are someone, not no one”.

We call for – in the longer term – conditioning International Aid on the upholding of Afghan women’s human rights, in particular the realisation of every girl’s right to education.

We also fully support the High Commissioner’s plea for the setting-up of a “fact finding mission” to assess the compliance of this conditionality and its progress.

The UN must offer special protection for women and girls’ rights.

We at Make Mothers Matter will continue to #RaiseAPen to raise awareness on this specific issue, and we invite you all to join us.

MMM Oral Statement for download

We welcome the UN Deputy Secretary General’s call for supporting a future for girls’ education in Afghanistan. Ms Amina Mohammed made an impassioned plea at a panel discussion held on the margins of the UN General Assembly:

“This is where we have to have resolve: that recognition comes with your ability to be part of a global family. That has a certain set of values and rights that must be adhered to.  And education is up front and centre, especially for girls and for women.”