U.S. announces technical and academic opportunities for Afghan women

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced new partnerships aimed at empowering Afghan women and countering the Taliban’s suppression of women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Blinken, speaking at the US-founded Afghanistan Women’s Economic Resilience Summit (AWERS) conference, said Microsoft and LinkedIn will provide virtual training and certification to Afghan girls around the world, helping them gain valuable skills and connect with potential employers.

In addition, he said, U.S. academic institutions will provide scholarships to Afghan women and girls who have resettled in the United States in the past two years. The State Department did not detail which schools participated in the program.

AWERS was established in 2022 to empower Afghan women inside and outside Afghanistan.

“We are investing in skills, training, jobs and female entrepreneurs,” Blinken told a State Department meeting in Washington. “This mission is more important than ever.”

women’s rights eroded

The news comes as the United Nations reports that women’s rights have been systematically denied in Afghanistan over the past two years.

Human rights groups accuse the Taliban of practicing “gender apartheid” by systematically erasing women from public life.

The Taliban reject such criticism, insisting their policies uphold Islamic and traditional Afghan values.

Blinken did not say whether the United States would resume its flagship Fulbright program for Afghanistan, which has been suspended since the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Limits ‘killing Afghanistan’s potential’

It is unclear how the AWERS project will benefit women in Afghanistan, given the rampant persecution of women’s rights activists by the Taliban.

“The Taliban’s restrictions are killing Afghanistan’s potential,” Blinken said, adding that the lack of women in the workforce has cost the country’s economy more than $1 billion.

Despite the Taliban’s desire for international recognition, Washington insists that restoring women’s rights is a core requirement for normalizing relations.