Taliban leaders receive medical treatment abroad, while Afghan women and children lack basic care

Imagine you are a mother and your baby is so malnourished that his little body can barely function because very cold, lack of clean waterand: constant hunger destroy their immune systems and infections such as pneumonia and acute watery diarrhea spread.

Local clinics do not function due to corruption and lack of funding. Seeking help is difficult because a male escort would have to escort you on the street, let alone a larger town or city where services may be available.

Afghan women struggle every day to get basic medical care for themselves and their families, as innocent children and desperate mothers are left with the terrible and unnecessary burden of preventable and treatable diseases. But at the same time, the Taliban leaders responsible for the destruction of the health system have no problem getting help abroad, even though many of them are under international sanctions.

This is unforgivable. Through the sadistic imposition of gender apartheid, these power-hungry men and their peers are ruthlessly stifling the agency, well-being, and rights of Afghan women and girls. The UN and its member states should fully implement the existing international sanctions regime and use it as leverage to push the Taliban leadership to improve conditions for Afghan women.

Over the past three months, the UN Security Council has issued temporary travel ban and asset freeze waivers, allowing three internationally permitted Taliban leaders will go to Turkey for treatment. They include Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki; Abdul Baqi Bashir Abdul Shah (also known as Abdul Baqi Haqqani), acting head of the National Examinations Authority of Afghanistan; and Hedayatullah Badri, head of Afghanistan’s central bank and former acting finance minister.

There may be some precedent for UN-approved individuals receiving exemptions from the travel ban to seek medical care on humanitarian grounds, but allowing sanctioned members of the Taliban to do so is a grave injustice when the people of Afghanistan are suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis that only happens. aggravated by the actions of the Taliban.

For example, the shortage of medical personnel due to the Taliban has exploded barriers on women’s employment, education and free movement. Female medical students were exit is prohibited exams (by the National Examinations Authority, which oversees Abdul Baqi Haqqani), which prevents the majority from accessing specialized courses and the necessary certifications.

Worse still, Afghanistan’s health care system is on the brink of collapse as the Taliban wave most state resources to the defense and intelligence services despite record recruitment tax and customs income Banning nonprofits and UN organizations from hiring Afghan women and funding humanitarian aid disadvantages have limited the access of aid organizations. In turn, vital community lifelines such as rural clinics and food centers have been closed.

Inadequate access to health services has had disastrous consequences for vulnerable Afghans, especially mothers and their children, who face pregnancy and childbirth complications, malnutrition, and preventable or treatable infectious diseases (e.g. measles COVID 19:, choleraand: dengue). Worst of all, UNICEF grades At least 167 Afghan children die every day from treatable health problems. Moreover, one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world continues to rise. with about one woman Every two hours in Afghanistan, a person dies from preventable prenatal and postnatal complications.

Women and children According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization, earthquakes that devastated Herat province in October accounted for more than 90 percent of the dead and more than two-thirds of the injured. This perverse effect is no doubt exacerbated by Taliban edicts restricting women to their homes.

The Taliban’s extremist ideology harms the Afghan population at the same time as Taliban members fill their personal coffers. So it’s a serious mistake United Nations allow Taliban leaders to travel abroad and access financial assets they have hidden in other countries.

Outwardly, the Taliban portray themselves as reformers who can guarantee Afghanistan’s stability. But they continue to profit from drug, arms and human trafficking, as well as the distribution of humanitarian aid and the exploitation of natural resources.

The UN-sanctioned list of Taliban leaders and organizations has not been comprehensively updated since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021. comply with the travel ban or follow the proper procedures for requesting an exemption.

To promote greater compliance and accountability, the Security Council Sanctions Monitoring Committee should publish a detailed and permanent record of exemptions granted, which are currently only available during the period in which the exemption is in effect. The UN and the US government are also expected to update their sanctions lists to include new Taliban leaders who have risen since August 2021.

The people of Afghanistan deserve better than life under the brutal rule of the Taliban. While the international community’s leverage has shifted, it still has a role to play in holding the Taliban accountable.