Freshta Karim on how to change the lives of Afghanistan’s women

THIS IS THE first International Women’s Day in years that I will not be home in Afghanistan. I am writing to mark it instead from the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. I am here not as a scholar, but as an exiled alumna, exhausted by conflict and violence, seeking solace. It reminds me of the chain of mobile libraries named “Charmaghz”' which I run in Kabul. Charmaghz means walnut in Farsi; it represents the brain and the importance of fostering critical thinking. Children visit our libraries with excitement, eager to dive into new stories and imagine a world beyond war. There is not a day when I don’t fear for their future.

In Afghanistan, 97% of the population is at risk of dropping below the poverty line according to the United Nations Development Programme. Our institutions and systems—from education to health care to banking—are on the verge of collapse, after two decades of progress. There is still a de facto ban on girls’ secondary education; women’s right to work in public office as civil servants or politicians has been suspended. The world paid attention to the immediate details of the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan. But there is too little discussion about what happened afterwards. We need political stability, economic recovery and respect for human rights.