Director-General's remarks at the Exhibition “A glimpse into the lives of Afghan women: stories of struggle and resilience” by IOM and UN Women

“A glimpse into the lives of Afghan women: stories of struggle and resilience” by IOM and UN Women

Thursday, 14 March 2024, at 9:45 a.m.
Ground Floor Exhibition Gallery, Palais des Nations

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Dear colleagues and friends,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all at the Palais des Nations. 

First of all, I wish to thank the International Organization for Migration and UN Women Office in Geneva for organizing this exhibition highlighting an extraordinary courage and resilience of Afghan women. 

This event is very timely. Last week we celebrated the International Women’s Day and paid tribute to women and girls around the world who have demolished barriers, dismantled stereotypes and driven progress towards a more just and equal world. At the same time, women and girls in many parts of the world continue to face marginalization, injustice and discrimination: at our current rate, legal equality is some three hundred years away. 

 Since the Taliban's takeover of power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the living conditions of millions of Afghans, especially women and girls, have deeply worsened. The continued deprivation of women’s rights and freedoms constitutes a serious obstacle to a united and peaceful Afghanistan. 

The Secretary-General recently reiterated his appeal to allow Afghan girls and women to return to work, school and university, and for women to continue playing their essential roles in humanitarian assistance delivery. Women aid workers play a vital role in the delivery of assistance globally – often serving as the only lifeline for women and girls – and their unique contribution cannot be undertaken or replaced by others.

As our OCHA colleagues tell us, an estimated 23.7 million people – more than half of Afghanistan’s population – are projected to require humanitarian assistance in 2024. The return of some 471,000 Afghans refugees from Pakistan, as well as the recent earthquake that hit Afghanistan in late 2023, have further exacerbated the humanitarian situation in the country.

This exhibition sheds light on Afghan women’s life filled with multifaced challenges they must overcome on a daily basis to survive and sustain their families. 

Let me recall you the words of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan when he delivered his Nobel Lecture in Oslo in 2001. He started his speech with the following words: 

“Today, in Afghanistan, a girl will be born. Her mother will hold her and feed her, comfort her and care for her – just as any mother would anywhere in the world. In these most basic acts of human nature, humanity knows no divisions. But to be born a girl in today’s Afghanistan is to begin life centuries away from the prosperity that one small part of humanity has achieved. It is to live under conditions that many of us in this hall would consider inhuman.”

I believe Kofi Annan could not have imagined that his words would still ring so true today, twenty-three years later.

This exhibition reminds us that Afghan women and girls have suffered enough, having paid too high a price for simply being who they are – women and girls. Together, let’s make their voices heard and spare no effort to ensure they receive support they need. 

Thank you.