Despite the humanitarian crisis spurred by the return of the Taliban, 46-year-old former member and vice-president of the Afghan Parliament Fawzia Koofi remains hopeful.
© Curtesy of S.K. Vemmer (U.S. Department of State)
Afghans, she says during an interview at the Hotel de Matignon, the official residence of the French Prime Minister Jean Castex whom she met in September, have changed from who they were when the Taliban first governed the country. Social media has raised awareness of their rights and any Taliban misdeed is immediately posted on the internet.
With the Taliban now ruling Afghanistan, Koofi is out of a job. Yet that hasn't stopped her from pursuing the fight for her people's rights and freedom. She met with European state officials and ministers, and international organisations like UN Women and UN Human Rights during the last two months to raise awareness and support for her people.
"I will continue to do my political activism. Although I won't be able to do government elected jobs because the Taliban don't believe in elections, I will continue to be engaged, protecting women's rights and trying to raise international awareness, and mobilise people", she says.
International pressure and resistance from the local population could force the Taliban into agreeing on a permanent political settlement, participating as just one reality of Afghanistan and allowing other social and political groups to be part of the caretaker government. This could potentially pave the way for elections. But that's still a faraway dream at the moment.
"It's a very negative and disappointing picture now. Everything that I was a part of for the last twenty years fell like a sand-made castle," she says, recalling how she cried when she saw the airport that she was evacuated from was completely destroyed when it used to be in full fonction a month ago.
Instagram @fawziakoofi77
Her political career started twenty years ago when the Taliban left the country, and has been centred around women's rights and access to education. She was the vice president of the National Assembly from 2005 to 2019. Now that the Taliban are back, her life's work is on the line.
"The way the Taliban govern now is not only against feminism and women's rights and participation, it's against any other social segment. They've formed a government that is not inclusive in terms of ethnic representation, religious minorities, and there are no women", she says.
Koofi was there when the Taliban took over Kabul in September and stayed in the country for three weeks before being evacuated. Yet after completing her European tour, Koofi plans to go back to Afghanistan despite threats to her security.
Koofi survived multiple assassination attempts and was shot in 2010 but she doubts that the Taliban will target her directly. They might try to pressure her indirectly to stop doing her job.
"I think people in Afghanistan deserve a better life and they need their leaders to be with them now. I have a moral obligation to be with my people. They've supported me so much and suffered through so much, my duty is to be with them".
Koofi was one of the few women part of the delegation of the former Kabul regime who negotiated with the Taliban in Qatar for two years. She says that the Taliban tried to pretend to be more moderate because they knew the World was watching. Now that they're back, they're repressing civil disobedience just the same as before. Koofi says she hoped that the negotiations would work but the international community made a mistake when it withdrew troops so early. She wanted the international military presence to stay for another year and pressure for a peace deal. Instead, their announced departure comforted the Taliban who already believed that they were going to win militarily, which further demoralised Afghan troops.
She adds that another issue was the corrupt government in Kabul , which did not drive support from Afghan troops. "They were not paid. If an officer doesn't receive a salary for six months, who do we expect him to fight?", she asks.
Even so, Koofi believes that achieving a deal with the Taliban would have been better than what they have now. The issue remains that the Taliban don't negotiate seriously.
"It's why I participated. I also wanted to show them that I am also a representative of my country, and today Afghanistan is different and women cannot be avoided."
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