Top UN chief to Muslim nations: Remind Taliban of women’s rights in Islam

The UN’s deputy secretary-general called on Muslim nations to remind Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, the Taliban, that women have rights in Islam.  Amina Mohammed travelled to a few countries including Türkiye, Indonesia and some of the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, before her delegation visited Afghanistan to gain insights from an engagement with the Taliban. […]

The UN’s deputy secretary-general called on Muslim nations to remind Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, the Taliban, that women have rights in Islam. 

Amina Mohammed travelled to a few countries including Türkiye, Indonesia and some of the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, before her delegation visited Afghanistan to gain insights from an engagement with the Taliban.

‘‘There’s a proposal on the table now that the UN together with the OIC — the Organization of Islamic Cooperation — would co-convene with a number of countries an international conference within March on women in the Muslim world, and this would bring in the issues of Afghanistan, but also the region,’’ she told reporters at UN headquarters after completing a four-day trip to Afghanistan.

She emphasised that it is very important for Muslim countries to come together and remind the Taliban that women have rights in Islam.

‘‘A lot of what we have to deal with is how we travel the Taliban from the 13th century to the 21st, and that’s a journey,’’ she said.

The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021 followed by the disruption of international financial assistance has left the worn-torn country in economic, humanitarian and human rights crises.

The Taliban regime has recently moved to close universities to female students across the country until further notice and has barred girls from attending secondary school, restricted women and girls’ freedom of movement, excluded women from most areas of the workforce and banned women from using parks, gyms and public bath houses.

Women get leadership roles in Mecca, Medina mosques

Saudi Arabia has announced the appointment of 34 women in leadership positions at the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques to develop services for women’s pilgrims, local media reported.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Sudais, President of the Two Holy Mosques’ Affairs, issued a decision assigning 34 women in the agencies and departments of the Kingdom’s highest Islamic entity to serve female pilgrims in the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina.

The decision is among qualitative shifts that aims to empower qualified Saudi women in high-profile positions dedicated to serving women who visit the Two Holy Mosques.

In August 2021, the Presidency of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques announced for the first time the appointment of two women as assistants to the general president. (Anadolu Agency)

(gulfnews.com)