The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has roiled the lives women and girls in the country. The new regime has restricted their movement, prohibited many from working and banned most from secondary and higher education. At the same time, an escalating humanitarian crisis has plunged more than half the country’s population into extreme food insecurity. Meanwhile, the Afghan women who were evacuated and resettled in the U.S. after the fall of Kabul face uncertain fates as they adjust to their new lives. Many of these women are members of the Female Tactical Platoon, Afghanistan’s only all-female Special Operations unit.
On March 8, International Women’s Day, at 11:45 EST, Women Rule editor Elizabeth Ralph will host a panel discussion on the future for Afghan women. Hawa Haidari, a member of the Female Tactical Platoon, will join U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture Cindy McCain, Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the U.S., Roya Rahmani, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to discuss how the female Afghan veterans now in the U.S. are planning their futures, what the women still in Afghanistan are facing and what the U.S. should do to support these groups.
