Senators Hyde-Smith, Wicker comment on the one-year mark, expressing concern for the people left under the Taliban’s oppression.
A year ago, twenty years after being removed from power in a U.S.-led invasion, Taliban militiamen swept into Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul.
NBC News reported that at least 43% of the population is now living on less than one meal a day and 97% of Afghans are expected to be living below the poverty line by the end of this year.
The White House plans to mark the anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan later this month, according to NPR.
Mississippi U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) said that a year ago, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, marking one year of oppression for all the women living under the regime.
A year ago today, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, and marks one year of oppression for all the women living under the regime. @JoeBiden's botched evacuation is still felt by so many today.
— U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (@SenHydeSmith) August 15, 2022
On Monday, three United Nations (UN) agencies reported that a year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan has led to a deterioration in the lives of women and girls, affecting all aspects of their human rights.
“It has been a year of increasing disrespect for their right to live free and equal lives, denying them opportunity to livelihoods, access to health care and education, and escape from situations of violence,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director at UN Women.
“The Taliban’s meticulously constructed policies of inequality set Afghanistan apart. It is the only country in the world where girls are banned from going to high school,” Bahous continued. “There are no women in the Taliban’s cabinet, no Ministry of Women’s Affairs, thereby effectively removing women’s right to political participation. Women are, for the most part, also restricted from working outside the home, and are required to cover their faces in public and to have a male chaperone when they travel. Furthermore, they continue to be subjected to multiple forms of gender-based violence.”
Head of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Natalia Kanem, pointed out Afghanistan remains in the grip of a deep economic and humanitarian crisis.