Afghanistan under Taliban: Narrated by an Afghan woman

August 15th 2021 is a date which is etched in the memories of all Afghans across the world. It was a nightmare to witness the fall of the Afghan Republic and our flag - the symbol of our identity within the international community.

One year down the road and majority of Afghans have still not come to terms with everything that happened post August 2021. Personally, I still struggle to comprehend the events that unfolded and eventually, led to the fall of Kabul, my homeland.

Conflict has been synonymous with Afghanistan’s name for the past four decades. Globally, Afghanistan is commonly associated with terrorism, war and opium. No one cared to look beyond the stereotypical, generalized notions about my homeland. I am not saying those projections were all false, but they weren’t entirely true. Afghanistan has so much more to offer.

Here we are on 15th of August 2022, marking the one-year anniversary of Kabul’s fall and victory of the IEA forces in Afghanistan. While we all know how the political transition happened and what unfolded afterwards, it is much more important to understand the serious implications this transition brought for the millions of common Afghans - especially women and girls.

A roller coaster of emotions took over us. Dread, pain, grief, loss and uncertainty eclipsed our hopes. The trauma will continue to haunt us for years to come and perhaps, only perseverance and time will heal us.

With the fall of the republic and the establishment of the new regime, the public sector took a big hit. While the system already faced a number of challenges, political transition just made it worse. Sectors such as healthcare, education and economy were severely crippled and continue to struggle till date.

Access to education is considered one of the most vital rights for a child and every nation must ensure that all children get an equal opportunity to quality education.

However, the prohibition on teenage girls to go back to school is the perfect example of how political chaos has deprived Afghan girls from their basic right to education for over 330 days (and counting).

The Twitter hashtag #LetAfghanGirlsLearn has been trending for months on different social media platforms while, on the other hand we have some INGOs and local NGOs who have been trying to advocate and appeal to the world and current authorities in Afghanistan in order to provoke a change regarding this issue. However, there are no actual results.

Every day my teenage cousins ask me whether they would ever go back to school? Whether they will be able to fulfil their aspirations? Unfortunately, I have no answers for them. I feel absolutely helpless thinking about the millions of other deprived girls.

With each passing day, the world is failing Afghan girls by choosing to be silent. In my opinion, no good will ever come to a country where girls are denied their right to education.

Following the collapse of the previous government, I still remember the mayhem one could witness outside banks after 15th of August 2021. Everyone was just trying to rush to the banks and get their money out because they knew that they would lose all their savings if the banking system collapsed.

Unfortunately, there is not much of an improvement for the Afghan economy. Even after a year the economy is only plummeting and deepening the already existing humanitarian crisis.

In the initial days post 15th of August 2021, there was a huge liquidity crisis across the country which crippled the banking system and to further add to our miseries, Afghanistan’s foreign currency reserves were frozen as well. Additionally, Afghanistan was a country highly dependent on foreign funding for its survival so with the fall of the republic and the halt in funding from donor countries, the situation worsened.

People across Afghanistan have plunged into deeper levels of poverty over the past year and the situation remains dire. Almost 97% of families are struggling to provide enough food for their children (Save the Children, August 2022) and this inch-meal we are getting poorer in all respects.

Furthermore, it is not only the banking system, but also the healthcare system and other basic public services that are being affected and will jeopardize the lives of millions of Afghans.

We are in a deep humanitarian crisis.

Most importantly, let us be mindful to acknowledge that the fate was my country is nothing but a manufactured catastrophe.

Sadly, there has also been a significant brain drain since the Taliban came to power, I am certain that majority will return to Afghanistan if and when the conditions are stable. No one wishes to leave their home and stay away by choice.

Like me, there are many in Afghanistan who chose to stay back and are yearning for a better future. It is inspiring to see many Afghan-led initiatives such as PenPath, Charmaghz, Ehtesab, LEARN AFG and many more who continue to bring the best out of the worst conditions for us.

May the Afghan spirit never cease to exist!

The author is a postgraduate scholar pursuing International Relations, with a specialization in Peace & Diplomacy from Kardan University, Afghanistan. She is currently engaged with a prominent INGO working in the humanitarian sector.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)