After five brutal years of Taliban rule, Afghan women and girls need our help – and I have a plan | Gordon Brown

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>Even in the face of appalling repression, girls yearn to fulfil their educational potential. We must set up a global fund to help them</p><p>Next weekmarks the fifth anniversary of the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban as <a href="https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/US-Withdrawal-from-Afghanistan.pdf">US coalition troops were evacuated</a> from the country. That’s five years for the terrorists to have consolidated their grip, so now is a good time to reflect on what the “coalition of the willing” left behind.</p><p>Through vindictive edict after edict, these five years have brought <a href="https://gordonandsarahbrown.com/the-talibans-oppression-of-women-and-girls-is-gender-apartheid-and-a-crime-against-humanity/">an ever-escalating repression of Afghan girls and women</a> – with far too little done by any outside authority to speak up or stand up against the most egregious denial of girls’ rights in the world today.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/04/five-years-taliban-rule-afghan-women-and-girls-need-our-help">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.