Women entrepreneurs in Parwan province, eastern Afghanistan, participate in business development training. Education in spite of prohibitions: women’s radio in Afghanistan Women
Nearly 70,000 women in Afghanistan listen to Radio Femme, an online radio station run entirely by women. She spreads knowledge and raises awareness about the rights of women and girls in Afghan provinces.
With Afghan women prohibited from attending schools and universities, Radio Femme offers alternative forms of education. Eight teachers teach classes in subjects such as mathematics and science.
This state of affairs continued until September 30, when the Taliban, without explanation, cut off the Internet and mobile communications throughout the country, effectively squeezing Radio Femme out of business. air.
The suspension of the radio station is just one of many examples of how important the internet is to Afghan women. The lack of online radio coverage, coupled with the effects of an earthquake in the east of the country, ongoing drought in the north and the return of millions of refugees expelled from neighboring countries, is making life increasingly miserable for women and girls in Afghanistan.
“The current crisis is superimposed on an existing one,” said Arafat Jamal, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “Such interference is completely unjustified, and its consequences will directly affect the lives of the Afghan people.”
In an interview with UN Women, an Afghan woman named Sama said that the Internet is vital for her to work, create a small business and sell products.
“Thanks to my online store, I became famous,” says Sama. “I earn money, solve my financial problems and become independent.”
After the Internet shutdown, Sama, like many other women, suddenly lost her only source of income: “This deprives many of the last opportunity to study, earn and communicate.”
Now that Internet access in Afghanistan has been partially restored, the outage demonstrated how valuable and fragile this channel of information exchange is. UN Women emphasizes that the importance of the existence of the digital space cannot be assessed from a purely technical point of view, but the education, mental health and livelihood of Afghan women are at stake.