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Much of that money has paid for educating Afghan women, training them for jobs and making sure they have better access to maternal, pediatric and other health care. One U.S.-funded program, known as Promote, prepared nearly 24,000 women who were once housebound to join the country’s work force and sharpened the negotiation skills of 5,000 so that they could press for gender equity — including in the peace process with the Taliban that is now defunct.
A U.S. aid program that trained midwives proved so successful that it became a flagship project for the World Bank and secured funding from the European Union.
Understand the Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan
Who are the Taliban? The Taliban arose in 1994 amid the turmoil that came after the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including floggings, amputations and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Here’s more on their origin story and their record as rulers.
But while some schools across Afghanistan remain open, others are closing. In some parts of the country, the Taliban have assured women who are doctors and health workers that their clinics will remain open. In other areas, women are unsure if they should even venture outside their homes without their husbands.
“I want to go out, I want to drive — I like driving,” Fahima Saman said in an interview from Kabul on Tuesday, speaking only on the condition that she not be identified by her full name for fear of a Taliban reprisal. “But because of this situation, I cannot — I am afraid.”
A high school teacher and mother of two, Fahima, 29, said she and her husband never applied to immigrate to the United States, given that they both had jobs and believed Afghanistan’s future would be more stable than its past. More recently, as the threat of the Taliban rose, Fahima said she did not approach the U.S. Embassy or international diplomats for help for fear that other Afghans would think she was doing something improper or immoral.
Fahima said she did not believe the Taliban would respect her rights. “It’s a very bad situation; it’s very dangerous,” she said.
Ms. Amiri, a native of Kabul who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, demanded that the Biden administration back up its words of support for the rights of Afghan women by evacuating at least those who were at high risk.
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